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A Hundred Years of the Bayer Process for Alumina Production

Chapter · January 2016

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-48176-0_12

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 NOTTS
METATLURGY
HISTORICAT
A hunclreclyears of the Bayer Process
for aluminaprocluctionx
by
FathiHabashi,
Departmentof Miningand
Metallurgy,
Laval,
Universite
QuebecCity
On Ausust3, 1888,Ger-
man Patent No. 43977
entided "A Proce$ for
the Productionof Alum-
inum Hydroxid€" was
issued+'.The dhcovery
$hich l€d lo the pat€nlwar madeby the
Auetrian chemistKarl Josef BaYer
(1847-1904) (Fi8,l) whowa!at ihattime
in Russia,andlhe proc€ss becamekno\ren
1. KarlJosalaayet(1847-19UI
a! theBayerProc€$in hishonoud'n.Th€ FIGUFE fhe Austanlom chenisllnvanlad theptoc-
pro€€ssirnmediatelyachievedindusirial ess knownby hlsnanelot thananulaclute
succ€ss, dhplacingth€ p)'ronetsllurgical at aluninun hydroxldewhil6workhgin a
process that hadbeenus€duntil thattime chenicallactotyin SalntPetetsbutg (now FIGUBE 2. Tonnage tte1ted
ol bauxlte an'
to producealumina.The BayerProc€ss Leningtad) ln 1888.
involvedthe prcssurcleachingof bauxite
wilh NaOH solutionto obtarn sodium alumina dihydrate, AIlor.2HrO; chst.licr Processfor the productionof
aluminatesoluiionholn whichsluminum howcver,later it wasghownby thcrmal sluminum oxid€ snd th. Saintc-Clair€
hydrordde warprecipitated by sccding. .nalysisio containa mixture of th€ Dcvile Pros$s for th. production of
Todaybauxileis not only the principsl hydroxidesAI(OH)3and AIOOH. aluminumchlorid! and it! r.duction to
sourceof aluminun but alsoof gallium, Dircoveri.sof bauxitcwcrclaterrcported them.tal by met-alicsodium.Thcacproe
bothmetslsbeingeffectivelyrecovered by in mary parts of the world including . e$esareno$,d€scdbed.
the Bay€rProcess. The purposc of this Jamaica,Surinam, Guyana,Auslralia,'
papcr h to outlinc the historicalback- U.S.S,R., U.S.A.,rnd Hungary.It now The Le Chateliet Prcc6s
groundof this di&ov€ry and its impor' reprer€nts one of th€ highesttonnagc Aluminumcanb€solubili?tdrcsdilvfrom
t6nce1ohydrometallurgy. mineralraw natcrisls tr€aredchenicrly bauxiteby acidsbut on addinganalkalilo
- about68 million tonsannuallyworld- th€ solutiona baiic aalt, rath.r thar a
Background wide(FiB.2), hydrodde,is preciprtat€d.Furthcrmore,
Bauxit€ wss discov€red in 1821 by the Bryer'c Process reliec on the t€chnolo- b€causc kon ,nd lit nium arcabodi$olv-
F €nchch€mist,P. Berthier, who cdled it gi€sof thrce unr€latedindustdesr the ed in acid the pr€cipitat. will be con-
alunine hydrat6e des Beaux afl€r the recentlydevelopcdaluminuminduttry, taminated,cre{tinga s€paralion Fobl€m.
village of Les Bealx nea.rArl€s in south' the old l€xtileindustry,and the pr€$urc As a rcsultthis .oute wa! neverul€d to
em France.The r€d colour of th€ deposit technoloSyof the rising synthe0cdve- preparepur€ Alro!. The Frcnchmining
had anractedB€rthier\ irterst asa possi- stuffsindusiry. cnsine€r,LouisLe Chatclicr(1815-1873),
ble iron ore for the blait fumace in the whoscsonthech€mrst,Hcffi L€Chal€li$
district. However, he found that it con- TheAluminum Industry (l85Gl93O', is b$t knownfor th. ther-
tained too much Alror to b€ of value for After the 1854 discov€ry by Sainte-Claire modynamicprincipl€ which b€ars his
this purpos€. The name was chang€d(o D€ville of a m€thod for separating nsme,obtaincdaluminafron bauxitein
bcauxil€ in 184?,by A. Dufr€noy and to kilogam amountsof aluminum'from its 1855by a thcrmalroutein thre€steps:
bauite in 1861 by the French metal- oxide,attemptswerenadeto produc€the 1. An intimate mixture of powdered
lursist, H€nri Sainte-Clair€Devilleo). m€talon a largpscale.To thisenda plsnt bauxil€andsodiumcarbonate wash€ared
Bauxite was first thought to contain wa.sconstructedat Salindresin France h a r€verb€ratory fumac€to traNform
which combinedtwo proc€ss€s: the Ir aluminun hydrond€into sodiun aiumi-
. Published sin'rltd@uly in d€ Jduay
nate:2A(OIDr + NazCOr-2NaAlO1 +
1988 i$oe of thc CIM Bulletin 6d Lighl . Tte m.tal wa6isolat d h minuremouts for co, + 3Hro.
,]|4?rdtr1988by sp..ial dregmat. rh. IiBt riD. in lE25 by rh. Daish phydosr 2. Soahumaluminatewas th€n le{ched
.. This invdtion wa md€ one yd aftd Hs chrisriu o€rlr.d (17771851) by ib€ from the insolubleferric oxide v,/itha
@thfi invdtion of equal inponde b .€a.tion of AICL with pota$iun analgtm; hc dilut€ solutior of aluminat€from the
hydromadlusy, th€ socaled CyanidElion Nruelf prcDded Alclr for thc fi$t liEc in the pr€cednU step.
Pr(Ns by John SrMd MtcAnhu .r al, s@. yer. The doubtful crD.rihcnt was
(A Prcs of Obtdning Cold ad Silvd fron r€pear€d in 1827 by thc Gernd cbcmist
oB, British Parc No- 14174istr d ocroba F.cdrich Wdhl€r (180G1884) usirs D€lsllic .L. Chst li€r's Iatld s chid ispetor of
19, 1887). S€e F. Habdhi, "One Hundrcd poIa$im in$@d ol sh3k@r by this tchni- min6 in Fme, th€ $d *s prcf4or in Eole
Ya of C\^\d$ion", CrM Bull., vol. 80, qu. he obtaired snal nEtllic padiclB of d6 min6 iD Peis. Tbe srddfath€r B d it-
No. 905, 1987,pp. ]&t14. dBlrialilt who opqat.d lin ki!8.

70 V o l u m s 8 1N, o . 9 0 9

FIGUFE3. Prccipitalot
fot seededaluninunhydtaxide
3. The concentratedliquor was th€n
ireated with ca.rbondioxide to precipitale
aluminun hydronde analyzing tlpicilly
41.5oloAlro., 50qo HrO, and 2.5q0
Na,COr. Carbon dioxide was obiained
from thc furnaceexl gases.
A dr8wback of this processwas the €x-
ccssiv€re{8ent consurnplion becauseany
silica in the balxite resctedwilh soda to
form sodium aluminum silicatewhich
represent€da seriousloss,
The Sainte-Claie Deville Prccess
Henri Saint€-Clair€D€vilc (1818-l88l ), a
profesror of chemistry at Ecole Normale
suparicurein Paris,laid rhe foundaiion of
the ,luminum industryin 1854when he
pf€pared the m€tal by making us€ of the
reaction bewcenm€t ilic sodium and the
double chlorid€of aluminum and sodiurn:
Alclr + 3Na - Al + 3Nacl, the sodium
chloride acting sE a protcctive flur.. In
1856a small planl construded at claliare
nea.rPads produc€d about 25 kg of the
netal. Aluminum chloride{odium chlo-
rid€ waspreparedby heatingAlpr vith a
mixaur€of NaCl and crrbon in a strenmof
chlo.in€; th€ doubl€ chloride was then
distill€d off and condensed.Metallic
sodium was produced by r€ducing
NarCO, with ca.bon at hr8ll t€nperatue
ard condensingth€ vapours.
Hamilton Y. Castrcr (1859J89) of
Columbia Universily in New York, was
responsiblefor reducinS lhe cost of
aluminum by htu inv€ntion of two ch€ap
methods for producing sodium from
molten NaOH, th€ tust in 1886by reduc
tion with an iron-carbon mixture, and the
lecond in 1890by el€cirolysis.How€ver,
this was too lale for the Sainte-Claire
Deville Process. Besinning in 1886 the
Sainte-claire D€vill€ Processfor th€
matrufacture of aluminum was rapidly
displacedby a new processinvent€d
simultaneously by Paul Heroult (1863- -.iroa-r
l9l4) in France and Clwles Manin HaI
(1863-1914) in the U.S.A. The new proc- A.D.; at that tine natuially ecuoing alum
esswar bded on the electrol]iic reductiof, {allninln sulphare)wd used.
C I MB u l l e t l nJ,a n u a r y 1 9 8 8
desc bedby Bayetin hispatent
of Al?Or dissolvedin fusedcryolite
(NaAlFJ foundin Creenland(4.
TheTextileIndustry
ln lEE5lhe Austnu-boh ch€mistBayer
immiSrared to Russia to *ork in th€
T€ntelev chdnical Plant in Sainl P€ters-
burS (now known as Red Chemisl).
Russia al that time war open to all
foreignerswilh technical and anisti€
skills.This plant using$e Le ChaElier
Processto produce aluminum hydroxidc
which was useda! a mor.lant' for .lycing
couon, wool, and silk. The textilesto be
dyed were soakedin a solulion ol the
hydroxide dissolvedin a weak acid, then
squcezed,dried and steamedwhereupori
th€ hydroxide precipitaled on thc fibres,
Thus treated,rhe textilescould be im-
mers€din a dye solution to a form a col-
oured "lake". Thk was a standdd
merhodof dyeing at that [im€. For exam-
pl€, Turkey Red, a popular r€d colour was
prepared by dyeing with alizarine on
aluminum hydronde mordant.
Durins this period, with the aluninum
industry in is infancy, the chemistry of
aluminum hyd.onde was under iniensive
irvesaigation. E&ly invesligatos were
avare of two t}?es of aluminum hydro-
ide: The gelatinous and the crystalin€
foms. Th€ selalinous hydronde was
forned by rapid precipitation from alum-
inate solution for exanple, by CO! and it
vrassoluble in dilute acid. The crystalline
hydonde {as formed by slow precipi-
tation and war slightly solublein acid. The
gelatinoushydroxide wasinsolublein am'
monium hydroxide but soluble in sodiun
hydroxide. It 'rvasalso krc*a that if a
saturaled solution of the gelatinous
hydroide in NaOH was kept in a closed
vess€lfor many days,a crystallinehydrox-
ide wa deposited.Bayer assumedthat a
solurion saturated{ith the gelatinous
ay"ios** a.*it.d uy rrny ln to
hydroxide must be supersaturatedwith
respect to the crystalin€ form. Conse_
quently, if the solution of the gelalinous
hydroxide wereseededwith the crystalline
form, precipitation of the crystalline
hydroxide shouldslowly occur. Bayersuc-
ceededin precipitatingthe crystalline
Al(OH)r usinsthe asitatedtanks shownin
Fisure 3. Precipitation took placein 2 to 3
In modernterms the precipitationof
crystalline aluminum hydroxid€ from
alkaline solution can be described as
followsr The aluminale ion undergoes
hydrolysisaccording1othe equilibrium:
IAIO(OH)1]-+ Hro = A(OH)r + OH-
The functionofthe seedis twofold:
l To shifl the aboveequilibrium to the
right by reaclion with OH ions (a
dissolution process),and
2. To provide a aucleus on which
Al(oH)r can srow.
In todiy\ practice, the seed is fin€ly
divided Al(OH)r obtained from a
pr€vious preqipitation batch by classifl-
cation,i.e. allowingthe coarseproductto
setdeas a product and recyclingthe fines
ss a se€d. The s€€dusually arnounts to
about one third of th€ product-an ap-
preciablezunount.
Bayer fien argued that if the mother
liquor could be used to solubilize alum-
inum hydroxidein bauxiF then such a
processshould be more €conomicalthan
the Le ChatclierProccss.Thc rcaciionof
baurdte wilh NaOH was, however, very
slow unlessa high t€npcraiure wa! used
so that il war necessaryto use a reacbr
which was clos€d and able 10 withstand
the high vapour pr$sure generated,
Pressure
Technology
Colou.ing naners have been uscd since
the ancient tim€s, but these we.e all
naturally occuning, for exanpl€ indigo,
alizarine, €.c., we.e mainly extracted
from plants and insects and were im-
poded to Europe from far countries. h
the 1870ssynrhelic dyestuffs werc pro-
duced for the first lime on a comnercial
scaledd it lvas in this industry that high
pressurercactors were first applied.
O.g6ic intermediateswhich weren€€ded
to manufacture the synthelic dyesluffs
were produced in heated aSitated reac-
tors that were able to withstand the
reasonablepressur€srequir€d for rcac-
tions such a sulpbonation, nitmtion,
Afte. discoveringlhe precipitation
method for obtaining crystalline alum-
inun hydroxide, Bayer found thal
alumina coniahed in baunte could be
dilsolved seleclively by hearing wilh a
solution of sodiun hydroxide und€r
pressurein an autoclave 10 form sodium
aluminate solution, A typical reactor of
this period is shown in Figure 4.
RecantTrends
Bayer'sproces involvingboth pressure
T1
 This is mainly iron oxide with smal
Prcssu,re
uessel, amounh of rutile, ilinenite, quartz, and
hydrated sodium aluminum silicates.
Each ton of alumina producesabout one
ton of red mud (on a dry basis).With in-
creasedproduction of metalic aluminun
world-wide, the anount of red mud pro'
duced has reached tremendous propor-
tions-about 1m m ion tons eachyear.
No ue for this material h$ yet beelr
found and eachplant has large pon.ls to
store its wastemat€rial.
EnergyEconomy
CondnLserwq,trr ln theearlydaysofthe BayerProcess, 1
ton of bauxiterequired2.33tonsofcoal
for processing;today,it requiresonly
FIGUBE4 Aulaclavefot leaching bauxite
at lhe tine ol it
Bayet: is 2 1/2n long, 1 n 0.15 tons(5).
Thus in the earlydaysih€
30640AkPaat 16Q"G170'cand
dianeter,withslands cantteal40OA SAOO kgbauxite/day. bauxitehadto betransponed to r€gions
wherecoal was available,wh€reasnow
alunina plants are situated rcar the
bauxite(Fig. 5). Th€ €cononyin etre.sy
is dueto two factors:
l. Increasedheat r€covery-healex,
changersand flashtanksarenow exten-
sivelyused10economize energy,Flash
lanksserv€an additioul purposerthe
evaporation of rolutions(Fis,6).
2. Useof larseautoclaves*th€ larg€rthe
reactorthe lesswill be the heal loses.
Constructionof slch €quipmentthat can
beusedreliablyis du€to improvements in
engineering decignand nanufacturing,
Along with autoclaves,precipitation
FIGURE5 Bayet Prccessbauxlletealnenl plantin Kwinana,neat Petlh,in Austalia tanks have increasedin size corres-
prcduclng1 2540AAlans/yeatalunina. pondingly(aboull€n limesthe sireof an

Furthermore, slcamis now uscdfor

heatingandagitalionandautoclav€sare
connectcd to permitconlinuous
in series
operation.This allo\res
automationand
decreasinS
manpower.A lypicalmodern
auloclave
k shownin Figure7.
TubeAutoclaves
The useof tube autoclaves(Fig. 8) besan
in Germanyin 1967for the leachingof
bauxite by a modifi€d Bayer Process.In
this process a temperature of 3000C h
used, r€suhing in a vapour pressure in
the systemofabout 13 0m kPa. For this
reason a .€action tine of oDly 2 to 3
minutes inst€ad of 4 to 6 hours h suffi-
cent to extract the aluminu. The proc-
FIGURE
6 Healecanonysystensin a sadiunaluninale plantin satdinia essis continuous and has a high thermal
evaparation
Shown
arclhteelinesat9llashevaparalars prcheaterc.
eachwith Evapontiancapacilyol €fficiency due to th€ effecrive heat ex-

TABLE 1. Capacity of reactors bachinsand conrrolled is GalliumProduction

precipitation
used in the Bayer Process usedtodayin practicatly
rhesamewayas Gallium was dtucover€din 1875 in zinc
when it was discoveredone hudred years blende and its first production was from
Auloclaves Preclpitators ago. However, tremendous improve- this source. In 1896 it was discover€d
Y€ar m3 menls in the engineeringaspectshave in bauxite by W.N. Hartley and H.
taken place and theseare responsiblefor Ramagd6). callium ir now produced
1907 5 50 decreasingthe cost, Furth€ mainly from this source alrhough its
1916 '12 170 importancewasSivento the Eocesswhen average concentration is usually les!
1920 25 gallium becam€neededby th€ semicon- than 0.010/0. Gallium is also found ir
225
duding industry and its recovery from coal fly ash. Atusuiss€,a major aluniun
1963 150 1300 processsolution becamedesirable. maufactuer ir Switzerland, commenc-
1970 250 3000 A problem of the Bayq Process,how- ed industrial scaleproducrion of galium
1982 420 4500 ever, is the disposal of the so-caleal red iom bauite in 1955.Carliun follows
mud-the r€sidue of the leaching st€p. aluminum in the Bay€r Process, and is
72 CncleNo. 19on ReplyCard V o l u r n e SN
l, o.909
 TABLE2. Bayermedalists
1161 AllEd von Z..d€.d.. (1890- 1976).A Swiss melalruroist,sluded n"zij ch and
Aachen,oblalnedDi Ing.degreein 1916,appoinredas €s€achsr at A uminiumln.
du.li€ AG n Neuhausen, Swilze and wherehe developeda numborol alumnum
6lloys becameprclessorrl Eldoeno.sischeHochschulein Zilrich frcm 1930until
relir€ment.He was awad€d an honoErydoctoralelrom MonlanUnlverslStLeobei,

1963 Hlns Glnrb.O (1397,1974). A Gormancheo st ltudied in Braunschweta. obla ned

Df. Ino.d€Ore6in 1923,appoinr6das .$€a@heral VereinloleA uminiumWerke n
kusirz, B€ in,Oslo,andBonn,becam€prolessorallheTechntsche Llniversi€lBedin
chanoltonbue(1941)Msinz(19s1),lhsncrausrhal(1s55). co.authororTone.rdeond
A/unirlu, n 1953wh ch was oxDand€dnlo lwo volumesin 1964.
Rol.nd Mb.h. (1903.1978). An Ausrrianmeratturosr srudi€din Leob€n,obtained
Dr. monl.d€gG6in 1929,appoinledprof6sor oi Physica Melaturly al the Monlan
u n l e e r s l l Le et o b e u
n n tl h i s r e l n e m e nnl l 9 T 3 . A m o n o h i s n u m . r o u s c o n l r l b u t r o n e t o DtscllAS6t
physicalm€rallueywasrh€ boak,Angewdndte Mettttogaphte,as coauthor.He was IUEE
the orqanizerotlhe Liohl lMolalsCongrcssn L6ob€nandViennaIn 1934

Dl.ler Alt.npohl(boh 1923).A G€hsn chefllsl,6tudledin Hannoverand Gilrinqen,

oblainoda doclor€l€degG€ in physcal melalurgy.In 1949h€ joined Alumlnum.
walzw€rko in Sing€nG€manyas hoadoi lhe Res€arch Oopanm€nt. From1957.1960
ho was wirh rh€ Am€ncanAlusuissesubsldaryin the LJ.S.A. th€n n Swlze.and.
Aulhatol Aluniniuh 6ndAluniniun Allaysin 1965
All.nS. R{...1(boh 1915).
An Ade canoh€mistlrcm PonnsyvaniaSlsi€ Univ€fsity.
l-t€lo nedAlcoaal Nsw KonsingronIn P€nnsylv.ni.In 1940and promoledOradlary
untll he becamevl.e.p@sld€nt In 1978.Ho doveopodthe A coa Chlond€proo€sstor

Klru. Bl.ll.ldl (born1926),A Goman chemlst,studledIn Hannov€r, Amsterdam, and

Malnz,roceiveda doclorat€d€orceIn 1954,He lolnodVsreln1916 Aruminlumwe*on
Bonnwhor€rr€devolopodth€ p perinoroactorlrom bau 16diO6llonandth6lluld z€d
bedalumliumhydroxidocalclner,
(.1orlorh.ln (born1919), A Nod.e an ch€mlst,studlodlnTondhom, Nodaywhere
h6 rocsivoda docloral€dsoEe in 1950.Altorspendlnoeom6llm€rl lhe un veF(y ol
Torcntoln csnsda,h€*as.ppolnted prolossorEllh6Inst lur6 ol Inofganlcchemlslry
n Trondholnin 195s,In1S73h€relt toroslo Lhlv6Glry.Heconrribuiedoxrensvelylo
th€ chomslry ol tu36d 5all6 and padlculady aumlnumpbducllon.1.16coallhoEd
and"r/!D/.
Atonlnlrn Electolf6ls,Frndanentalsolthellall.llebult Pto@ssIn (1982, oPEil||0
foRslt^t ttLfl
ntuh Sn.llet fechnotogy, A Porc and Applled Apprcech ln 19Aa

FIGURET. A noden autacla\le tat leaching

rccovc.edfrom th€ aluminatesolution
eilher by el€ctro-d€positio
cury cathode,or by ccmefltalionusing
sodiumamalgam,or by selectivccarbona-
rion. After precipitaion of AI(OHI and
recirculation of the caustic solulion,
galliumnay be enriched10a concentra-
tion of about 0.2 gi L. The present
weste.n world produciionof salliun is
about 50 tons Deryear.
Calliun (Fig. 9) is a vital naterial in
t h e s € m i c o n d u c t o ri n d u s r r y w h i c h
slariedin rhe l960s.It is Bainly usedin
the form of arsenideand phosphide,
GaAs and GaP, r€spectively. Aolh com-
pounds show el€ctroluminescence, and
are us€d in the ndufacture of light-
emitting diod€s. Callium arredde in
combinationwith (Ga, Al) Aslaycrois a
material used in solid-slat€ lasers,
especiallyin telecommunicalion systems
with opticai fibres. Gallium arsenideis
also a promisingmalenalfor solarcells
and for computer nemories.
Baysrand His Medal
Bayer was born on Mech 4, lE47 in
Bielitzi. Sil€sia,al that time a Province
ofthe AustrianEmpire,now in Poland.
The empir€was compos€dof a va$ ter-
ritory €ncompa$ing the presenl-day
Austria plus Donhern llaly, Boh€nia
and Moravia (pans of present-day
C r e c h o s l o v a k i a ) ,H u n s a r y , T r a n -
sylvania(pdi of present-day R!meia),
Croatia, Dalmatia and Bosnia-Herze-
govenia (pafts of Fesenrday Yugos-
C I MB u l l e t i nJ,a n u a r 1y 9 8 8
lavia), atrd Silesiaand Calicia (soulh€rn bautite,about30 n3 capacily,
Poland),whil€ th€ ollicial lansuasewas
Cerman, many other lsnguageswcre
spoken, e.g. Hungarian, Rumanian,..
Czech, Polish, Ruthenian(Ukranian), .
Slovak, Slovenian, Serbo-(Croatian,
and ltalian). Th€ muhitud€ of na-
tionalities and languages caused many
revol$ and politicalagilation.
Bayerv/enlto schoolathis hom€town
and at $€ wishofhis father,who wasan
architecl!shrted to study archit€cture.
Later he switch€dover to rcicnceand
wentto wiesbadenin cermany ro sludy
chemistry und€r lh€ fanous arablical
chemist,C. Renisius Fresenius(1818-
1897).After a short period of inrenup- FIGUAE8. Tubeauloclaveslat digestianal
tion durins which he worked in a s|eel bauxiteat the VeteinigteAluniniun Wetke
factory in Belgium,h€ weni to Heidel-
berSlo continu€his chemislrystudiesat
the Univenity of Heidelberg.There, h€
becameassistantto profe$or Robert In Heidelb€rgBayer gol the docrorate
B u n s e (nl 8 l l - 1 8 9 ) i n r h ep e r i o dl 8 6 9 r o after submiuing a thesisentirled "A Con-
1871.At that time Bunsen'slaboratory tribution to the Ch€misrryof lndium,'.
was visjled by mary chemists who lndiun had been discovereda few years
becamefmous later on. Among those edlier (in 1863) by the two Cerman
were Dimitri Mendeleev, Friedrich B€il- chemistsFerdinand Reich (179G1882)
slein, Henry Roscoe,Auer von Welsbach, and Hieronymus Theodor Richter (1824-
Lorh& Meyer, Victor Meyer,and many 1898) utilizing BuNent spectroscope.
othe6. Bunsenkreputationstemsfrom Atterward, Bayer returned to his home
his discoverytogeth€rwith the physicisr country Austria wherc he was appointed
GustavKirchoff (18241EE7) oftbe spec, a leturer ar the University ofTechnology
troscopicmethod of analysis,ad rhe at Brno in the Morvian Province of lhe
discoveryof rhe two metals rubidiuh Ernpne (now in cEboslovalda). He re
and cesiumby this new tool. Bunsenis mainedthereunlil 1E73,whenhe left the
alsofamousfor the burnerknown byhis University ro eslablish a research
name and now Iound in every chemical laboralory in Brno. However,he later
 ,Ji

. ..l1rlt\: ,".
FlGuFE9 Galliunfran bauxilecanbetecavetedbylhe BayetPrccess. is
Metallicgalliun r.'*rl{!i{l/:.,;i
salidat rcon tenDetalurc
andliouidat 29 78"C "i
\tr,1,llS;L"-
gaveup thisvenlureandin lEE5movedto oi synthetic cryol'te which is used as an
St. Pelenburgin Russia. eleclrolytein the aluminum iadustry.
Bay€r'syearsin Russiaweremost fruit- While in tuetzdorf, he planfled to build
ful and crealive.He join€d the Tentelev an aluminum industry in Austria.
Chemical Plant near St. Petersburg in However, he was unable to raise the
1887,to work on problemsofproduclion n€cessarycapital, and thus his plans fail-
of pure aluminun hydronde for the dye- ed in his homecountry.
ing of cotton fabrics.There in l88E he Bayerwasmarriedto Alma von Wiite,
made the discov€ry that aluminum a ni€ce to the Russiu prime minisler
hydrodde could be precipitaFd from Counl von Wille. They raisediive sons
sodiumaluminatesolulionif a seedof a and a daushter.One of his sons,Friiz
freshly precip'tatod aluminum hydroxide Bay€r was proiessor of electroch€mistry FIAUFE1A Medalin hanoutol KatlJasel
lvasagilatedvigorouslyin the cold solu- at the Technische Hochschul€in Vienna Bayet awatdedby the lnlenatianatLight
tion. Bayermenlionedthat the producl (now known ar TechnischeUniversitel Metals Canlercncein Leoben, Austrla
shawinglhe inventatol the ptacessal
obtainedby his processwas puref than Wien)until 1956whenhe r€tired.
that obrainedby CO, precipitationsince Bayer'shom€in Rietzdorflvasa m€et-
no phosphates or sio, precipitat€d.
Fur ing c€nne for many famous indusrialists Bayer, and informat'on supplied by
ther, th€ aluminum hydroxide precipi anons whom wereH4roultand Hall. He Dipl. lns. R. Ralzi, Leoben,regardins
raredwas also cryslallineand could be Iovedmusicand theans; hehimselfwar a the BayerMedal.
easilyfiltered and washed.The process talentedanist. He spoke six languages:
wassoonadoptedby th€ TenlelevPlant. G e r m a n , F r e n c h , E n s l i s h , R u s s i a n ,' R E F E R E N C E S
Bayer'sseconddiscov€rywasin 1892a1 Ilalian and Slovac.He had an exceuent l .
HABASHI, F,, Karl Josef Bayet
the ElabugaPlanr on lhe Kama River collectionof mineralswhichhe displayed (184?-1904). A Pion€cr in Hydronctal-
(Tatai SSR).He found thai aluminacon- at the Chicagoexhibitionin l8t'0. lurBy od Pr.ssure Techrologyi P.osresr
tainedin bauxiEcouldbe di$olv€dselec- Bayer died suddenlyon October 4, in Exttu rive Metaluryr, YoL I,1973,
tively by beating *ilh a solutior of 1904,atlheaseof5?, and hiswidowdied 2. HABASHI, F., Hydrom.t8llur8y, Its
sodium hy&ond6 und€r pressurein an in 1962at th€ a8€of 94. The for€ign com- Pas1, Presenl and Futur.i Lz6, t diat
autoclaveto form sodiumaluminalesolu- pani€s(ercept two) who wereapplins his INt. Metab, Vol. 31, No,1, w, 231-238,
tion. He found also that the alkalin€ patentsstoppedpainS royaltiesafter his 279, !978.
mother liquor obtarnedafter lhe pr€ci- deaih. 11was difficult at that rime to sue 3. MELLOR, J.W., A Compr.he.$ve
pitation of aluminumhydroxrdeby th€ them, and consequenllyhis hous€and T.catisc of lnorgeic dd Th.or.tical
labo.atory had to pay for his debts. Chemislry, Vol,5, pp. 253-263,
Bayeris honouredin his nativecoun- Lonsn$s, London, 1929.
While ar Elabuga,he receivednumeF
EDWAIDS, J,D,, FRARY, F,C,, od
ous conlrads from foreign countries to try Ausbia by the medal bearing hk 4, JEFFRIES, 2.. Tlt. Aluminu Indut.y;
build alumina factories.Thus h€ built one name(Fig. l0r) this is awardedeverysix Mccraq HiI, Nd Yort, 1910, Se also
in England for the Bri*h Aluminium yearsto adistinguish€dresearch€r in the N.c.CRi8 a.d C.M- Bickcn, Hall ed
Compuy in London, one in Frdce for field ofaluminuln. The awardceremony Heroult th. M@ ud Thcn Invmtion;
the Compagnie desproduilschimiques et tak€s place during the Internatiotal cIM BtI., l/ol. 79, No. 892, IW.
electron€tallurgjques in Froses,onein Italy Light Metak Congress which is held in 5. OEBERC,N., dd FRIEDERICH, R,O,,
for the so@iete Italiana Electrochimica Leobenand in vienna. Oltl@k of llc Bayer Pre6s; in HaI
in Bussi,one in $e U.S.A. lor Merimae Thus, Bayer'sinventionro satisfythe -Harodt C.ntcnnial, W.S. Pdden ud
ChemicaConpdy in Boston,dd onein need ol the Russian lextile manufac R,E, Miler, €dr,, The M€talugicd s@-
Germany for Cebruder Ciulini in tu.ers soon lu.ned out to beome mosl iety AIME, warrendalc, PA,, pp,
Ludwisshafen. He was awardedthe sold important for suppling the needof th.
medal of th€ Acad6nie Parisienne des Srowing eleclrob'1ic aluminum industry 6, HARTLEY, W.M,, dd RAMACE, tl.,
on th€ oeMene of the Eldmt
Inventeursindustriels et exposantsfor his which had been discovered four years
e&lier by Hall and H€rouli. Gallim i. the Clay{ro6tone oi the
scienlific and lechnical services. Cla.lod Dst.icl of Yorksh'..; E@.
Ih 1894,Bayerr€tumed 10Austria dd Ror. S@. London, Vol. 60, w. 35-37
llnally settled in Rietzdorf in southem Acknowledgmenl (!8 ) ibid,, vol, 60, pp, 393407 (1896),
Styria in order to devotehimself to scien The writer acknowledges withthanksthe
rific resedcb. During this period he biosaphical information abour Bayer E"y".'" r.,1r*" "pp.-, "s "(dl" in his
develoFd a method for the manufactur€ suppliedin 1966by his son Prof. Frilz par€nts bur Es "cel" on his nedal.

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