Extraction of aluminium and

advantages of recycling aluminium

Al
 •
Aluminium is extracted from the elecrtrolysis of bauxite
(

• Bauxite has very high melting point (2070 °C ).

• Cryolite () is added to aluminium oxide to lower its

melting point about 900 °C.

• This helps aluminium oxide to dissociate into and ions.

 •
The reaction take place at the electrodes

Anode :

Cathode :
 •
The liquid aluminium which is denser than the electrolyte
sinks to the bottom of the cell and is drained out from
time to time.

• A side reaction occurs at anode. The gas evolved at anode

reacts with electrode to produce carbon dioxide gas. As a
result, carbon anode has to be replaced from time to time.

• In this electrolysis, high current is used to maintain the

high temperature of the molten electrolyte and a low
voltage is used to prevent the from cryolite from being
discharged.
• The extraction of aluminium by electrolysis requires high
amount of energy.

• Extraction of 1 mole of aluminium by electrolysis requires

297 kJ.

• In the recycling process, only 26.1 kJ energy is required

to produce 1 mole of aluminium and it saves 91% energy.

Energy to produce 1 mol Al through recycling = 26.1 X 100%

Energy to produce 1 mol Al through electrolysis 297
= 8.8%
• This process happens by clean the aluminium containers and heated
to 660 °C. The molten aluminium is then drained off to be solidified.
Advantage of recycling aluminium

• Recycling of aluminium not only saves energy as well as to

reduce disposal problems of discarded aluminium
containers.

Disadvantages of recycling aluminium

• Requires bigger landfill to collect the aluminium

• High energy costs in reprocessing and transporting

material.