The process of producing pure alumina from bauxite (the Bayer Process) has changed very little

since the first plant was opened in 1893. The Bayer process can be considered in three stages:
Extraction
The aluminium-bearing minerals in bauxite - Gibbsite, Bhmite and Diaspore - are selectively
extracted from the insouble components (mostly oxides) by dissolving them in a solution of
sodium hydroxide (caustic soda):
Gibbsite: Al(OH)
3
+ Na
+
+ OH
-
---> Al(OH)
4
-
+ Na
+

Bhmite and Diaspore: AlO(OH) + Na
+
+ OH
-
+ H
2
O ---> Al(OH)4
-
+ Na
+

Depending on the quality of the ore it may be washed to beneficiate it prior to processing. The ore
is crushed and milled to reduce the particle size and make the minerals more available for
extraction. It is then combined with the process liquor and sent in a slurry to a heated pressure
digester.
Conditions within the digester (concentration, temperature and pressure) are set according to the
properties of the bauxite ore. Ores with a high Gibbsite content can be processed at 140
o
C.
Processing of Bhmite on the other hand requires between 200 and 240
o
c. The pressure is not
important for the process, as such but is defined by the steam pressure during the actual process
conditions. At 240
o
C the pressure is approximately 35 atmospheres (atm).
Although higher temperatures are often theoretically advantageous there are several diadvantages
including corrosion problems and the possibility of oxides other than alumina dissolving into the
caustic liquor.
After the extraction stage the insoluble bauxite residue must be separated from the Aluminium-
containing liquor by a process known as settling. The liquor is purified as much as possible through
filters before being transferred to the precipitators. The insoluble mud from the first settling stage
is thickened and washed to recover the caustic soda, which is then recycled back into the main
process.
Precipitation
Crystalline aluminium trihydroxide (Gibbsite), conveniently named "hydrate", is then precipitated
from the digestion liquor:
Al(OH)
4
-
+ Na
+
---> Al(OH)
3
+ Na
+
+ OH
-

This is basically the reverse of the extraction process, except that the product's nature is carefully
controlled by plant conditions, including seeding or selcetive nucleation, precipitation temperature
and cooling rate. The "hydrate" crystals are then classified into size fractions and fed into a rotary
or fluidised bed calcination kiln. Undersize particles are fed back into the precipitation stage.
Calcination
"Hydrate", is calcined to form alumina for the aluminium smelting process. In the calcination
process water is driven off to form alumina:
2Al(OH)
3
---> Al
2
O
3
+ 3H
2
O
The calcination process must be carefully controlled since it dictates the properties of the final
product.