SYNTHESIS OF NANO SIZE GAMMA ALUMINA FROM INDIGENOUS

NAGARPARKER KAOLIN

Ahsan Ali, Suhail A. Soomro, Naveed Ali, Sanwal Hussain, Nareesh Kumar

Department of Chemical Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering & technology Jamshoro

Pakistan

Email: ahsanalijatoi45@gmail.com
Suhail.soomro@faculity.muet.edu.pk

:Abstract
 Kaolin is one of the most common industrial mineral and is generally known as China clay, occurs in
abundance in soils that have formed from the chemical weathering of rocks in hot and moist climates. The most
important element within kaolin is alumina (Al2O3). It is an important material, used in the materials and
metallurgy industry for the production of variety of ceramics, alloys and a very important zeolite catalysts used
for processing petroleum, gas, and petro-chemicals. In Pakistan many industries spend massive taxes and money
for buying such material from other countries. Then formation of alumina from kaolin in Pakistan will help to
enhance or develop the economy of Pakistan and will also help the Industrialist and researchers to secure their
money. The work is paying attention on the Characterization and Synthesis of gamma alumina from Nagar
Parker raw Kaolin. Kaolin samples have been collected from Nagar Parker mining sites. Then raw clay was wet
beneficiated, Metakaolinized and Dealuminated. Amorphous aluminum hydroxide was precipitated from the
aluminum sulfate produced, using sodium hydroxide solution as the precipitating agent. Mineralogical,
physiochemical and morphological analyses of the products were carried out using XRF, XRD and SEM. The
aluminum hydroxide produced was subjected to thermal treatment at variable calcination temperatures in the
range of 300,600 &900°C. Gradual phase transformation was observed, a fully formed gamma alumina phase
was observed at 900°C. This process is an industrially feasible alternative to the conventional Bayer process,
and it offers a solution to the environmental hazards posed by the wastes generated by the Bayer process.

Key word: Gamma Alumina, Kaolin, nano material, environment friendly.