INTRODUCTION TO ALUMINUM AS

A BUILDING MATERIAL
ASSIGNMENT 1
NAME: KRITISH DUA
B.ARCH 3RD YEAR
A SECTION
 INTRODUCTION TO ALUMINIUM
❑ Aluminium occurs in abundance on the earth's surface. It is available in various forms such as oxides,
sulphates, silicates, phosphates, etc. But it is commercially produced mainly from bauxite (Al2O3,
2H,0) which is hydrated oxide of aluminium.
❑ Bauxite: it is rock formed from a reddish clay material called laterite soil. It is most commonly found in
tropical or subtropical regions. It is composed of Aluminium Oxide compounds (alumina), silica, iron
oxides and titanium dioxide.
❑ It is world’s primary source.
PROPERTIES TO ALUMINIUM
1. It is a good conductor of heat and electricity.
2. It is a white metal with bluish tinge.
3. It is rarely attacked by nitric acid, organic acid or
water. It is highly resistant to corrosion.
4. It is light in weight, malleable and ductile.
5. It melts at about 658°C.
6. It possesses great toughness and tensile strength.
7. It readily dissolves in hydrochloric acid.
8. Its specific gravity is about 2:70.
 MANUFACTURING OF ALUMINIUM
The following are the two processes to manufacture Aluminium:
1. BAYER PROCESS:
❑ Purification of ore
❑ Refining of bauxite ore to obtain aluminium oxide
2. HALL- HEROULT PROCESS:
❑ Reduction to aluminium
❑ Smelting of aluminium oxide to release pure aluminium
BAYER PROCESS
1. Ore is mechanically crushed and mined with
caustic soda. Grinded in a mill to produce slurry
containing very fine particles of ore. Slurry is
pumped into a digester- a pressure cooker like
tank. It is heated to 230- 520 degree F. Under
pressure of 50lb/in2 till aluminium containing
the compounds are dissolved.
2. The hot slurry, which is now sodium aluminate
solution, passes through a series of flash tank
that reduce the pressure and recover heat that
can be reused in the refining process.
3. The slurry is pumped into a settling tank. As the slurry rests in the tank, impurities that will not dissolve in the
caustic soda settle to the bottom.
4. Aluminium in the settling tank remains dissolved in the caustic soda, hence the residue also known as red mud,
accumulates in the bottom that consists of fine sand, iron oxide and oxides of traced element like titanium.
5. The remaining liquid, i.e., coffee is pumped through a series of cloth filters. Any fine particles of impurities that
remain in the solution are trapped by the filters.
6. This material is washed to recover alumina and caustic soda that can be reused.
7. The filtered liquid is pumped through a series of 6 story tall precipitation tanks. Seed crystal of alumina hydrate are
added through the top of each tank. The seed crystals grow as they settle through the liquid and dissolved alumina
attaches to them.
8. The crystal precipitate are removed. After washing, they are transferred to a kiln calcining. A screw conveyor moves
a continuous stream of crystals into a rotating cylindrical kiln that is tilted to allow gravity to move material through
it.
9. A temperature of 1100 degree Celsius drives off the water molecule, leaving waterless alumina crystals.
10. After leaving the kiln, crystal pass through a cooler.

HALL- HEROULT PROCESS

1. The resulting reaction breaks the bands between the Aluminium and Oxygen atoms in the aluminium molecule. The
oxygen that is released is attracted to the carbon rods, where it forms Carbon Dioxide.
2. The freed aluminium atoms settle to the bottom of the pot as molten metal.
3. The smelting process is a continuous one, with more alumina being added to the cryolite solution to replace
decomposed compound.
 4. A constant electric current is
maintained. Heat generated by the
flow of elements at the bottom
electrode keeps the content of the
pots in a liquid state, but a crust
tends to form at top of the molten
electrolyte.
5. Periodically, the crust is broken to
allow more aluminium to be added
for processing. The pure molten
Aluminium accumulates at the
bottom of the pot and is siphoned
off. The pots are operated for 24
hours a day for 7 days.
6. A crucible is moved down the potline, collecting 4000 kg of molten Aluminium which is 99.8 % pure. The metal is
transferred to a holding furnace and then cast as ingots.
7. One common technique is to pour the molten Aluminium into a long, horizontal mould.
8. As the metal moles through the mould, the exterior is cooled with water, causing the Aluminium to solidify. The solid
shaft emerges from the far end of the mould, where it is sawed at the appropriate intervals to form ingots of the
desired length.
9. Liking the smelting process itself, casting process is also contained.
 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF ALUMINIUM

1. Aluminium (Al), when present in high concentrations, has for long been recognized as a toxic agent to
aquatic freshwater organisms, i.e. downstream industrial point sources of Al-rich process water.
2. Today the environmental effects of aluminium are mainly a result of acidic precipitation; acidification
of catchments leads to increased Al- concentrations in soil solution and freshwaters.
3. Large parts of both the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are affected.
4. In the aquatic environment, aluminium acts as a toxic agent on gill-breathing animals such as fish and
invertebrates, by causing loss of plasma- and hemolymph ions leading to osmoregulatory failure. In
fish, the inorganic (labile) monomeric species of aluminium reduce the activities of gill enzymes
important in the active uptake of ions.
5. Aluminium seems also to accumulate in freshwater invertebrates. Dietary organically complexed
aluminium, maybe in synergistic effects with other contaminants, may easily be absorbed and
interfere with important metabolic processes in mammals and birds.T
6. he mycorrhiza and fine root systems of terrestrial plants are adversely affected by high levels of
inorganic monomeric aluminium.
7. As in the animals, aluminium seems to have its primary effect on enzyme systems important for the
uptake of nutrients. Aluminium can accumulate in plants. Aluminium contaminated invertebrates and
plants might thus be a link for aluminium to enter into terrestrial food chains.
 REFERENCES
❑ ENGINEERING MATERIALS, SC RANGWALA
❑ BUILDING MATERIALS, SK DUGGAL
❑ NOTES TAKEN IN CLASS
❑ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24202562/