Materials Used in the Production of Aluminum

All types of clay contain aluminium compounds, but bauxite is the ore that can be used to produce pure aluminium. The main component of bauxite is aluminium oxide, which makes up 45–60% of the material. Other impurities include sand, iron, and other metals. Although some bauxite deposits are made of hard rock, the majority are made of relatively soft dirt that can be extracted without difficulty from open-pit mines. More than a third of the world's bauxite supply is produced in Australia. 1 lb (0.5 kg) of aluminium metal can be made from 4 lb (2 kg) of bauxite.

The aluminium compounds present in bauxite are dissolved using caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), which allows for their separation from impurities. Relatively little quantities of other chemicals may be used in the extraction process, depending on the makeup of the bauxite ore.

The Bayer process, which turns bauxite ore into aluminium oxide, and the Hall-Heroult process, which melts the aluminium oxide to produce pure aluminium, are the two steps in the production of aluminium.

metal aluminium. Examples include sodium sulphide, lime, and starch.
The electrolyte (current-conducting medium) used in the smelting process is cryolite, a chemical made of sodium, aluminium, and fluorine. Cryolite is a naturally occurring substance that was once mined in Greenland, but it is now made synthetically and used to make aluminium. To lower the electrolyte solution's melting point, aluminium fluoride is added.

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Carbon is the other important component used in the smelting process. Electric current is passed through the electrolyte by carbon electrodes. Some of the carbon is consumed during the smelting process as it reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. In actuality, 0.2 kilogrammes (kg) of carbon are used to produce every 2.2 kilogrammes (kg) of aluminium. A portion of the carbon used in the smelting of aluminium comes from the byproducts of oil refinement, and additional carbon comes from coal.

Aluminum smelting needs a lot of electrical energy because it involves running an electric current through a molten electrolyte. A typical 2 lb (1 kg) of aluminium requires 15 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy to produce. About one-third of the price of smelting aluminium is the cost of electricity.



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