Recovery of aluminum

The recovery of aluminum metal is divided into two steps, i. e., the production of pure alumina (Bayer Process) and its molten salt electrolysis. Raw aluminum obtained by reduction electrolysis already has a high purity (99.5-99.7%). Refining methods for raw aluminum to obtain higher purities include the segregation process (99.94-99.99% Al) and three-layer electrolysis (99.99-99.998% Al) [142, 236]. Besides these, processes are available whereby the aluminum is anodically dissolved in an organic electrolyte and then cathodically deposited [37, 118, 217, 221]. The dissolution as well as the deposition process contribute to the electrolytic refining of aluminum. 

Hall process. The electrolytic recovery of aluminum from bauxite or, more specifically, from the... 

The principal producers of aluminum trifluoride in North America are Alcan, Alcoa, and AUiedSignal. It is also produced in other countries, eg, France, Mexico, Norway, Italy, Tunisia, and Japan. Total worldwide production of aluminum trifluoride in 1990 was 400,000 metric tons and the price was 1100/t. In 1993, because of excess recovery of fluorine values, use of energy efficient smelters, and the worldwide economic climate, the price was down to 750/t. 

Precipitation. The precipitation of aluminum tribydroxide ia the recovery step of the Bayer process is achieved either by loweting the temperature or by diluting the pregnant Hquor and reduciag its pH. Both methods reverse the direction of equation 35, but seeding with previously precipitated crystals is required ia order to initiate nucleation. 

Phosgene can be employed in a variety of metal-recovery operations, eg, in the recovery of platinum, uranium, plutonium, and niobium (69—73). Phosgene has been proposed for the manufacture of aluminum chloride, beryllium chloride, and boron trichloride (74—76). Phosgene has been patented as a stabilizer, either by itself or in combination with thionyl chloride, for Hquid SO2 (77). 

One appHcation patented ia 1989 is the injection of sodium alumiaate into silica-containing formations for enhanced petroleum recovery (39). Additionally, the pharmaceutical industry uses sodium alumiaate as an alkaline source of aluminum for the production of certain antacids (40). 

BeryUium reacts with fused alkaU haUdes releasing the alkaU metal until an equUibrium is estabUshed. It does not react with fused haUdes of the alkaline-earth metals to release the alkaline-earth metal. Water-insoluble fluoroberyUates, however, are formed in a fused-salt system whenever barium or calcium fluoride is present. BeryUium reduces haUdes of aluminum and heavier elements. Alkaline-earth metals can be used effectively to reduce beryUium from its haUdes, but the use of alkaline-earths other than magnesium [7439-95-4] is economically unattractive because of the formation of water-insoluble fluoroberyUates. Formation of these fluorides precludes efficient recovery of the unreduced beryUium from the reaction products in subsequent processing operations. 

Metal or metal oxides may be added to perform specific functions. Brass chips and copper powder are frequently used in heavy-duty organics where these metaUics act as scavengers to break up undesirable surface films. Zinc chips used in Class A organics contribute significantly to recovery of normal performance following fade. Aluminum is also used. Most of these inorganic materials tend to detract from antinoise properties and mating surface compatibihty. 

A clear solution of aluminum citrate neutralized to pH 7 is used for in situ gelling of polymers in polymer flooding and well stimulation in enhanced oil recovery techniques (128—132). The citrate chelate maintains aluminum ion solubiUty and controls the rate of release of the aluminum cross-linker. 

The vinyl ether may be further purified by dissolving it in 15 ml of dry ether and adding a solution of 0.25 g of lithium aluminum hydride in 10 ml of dry ether. The mixture is refluxed for 30 minutes, and excess hydride is destroyed by addition of ethyl acetate (1 ml). Ice-cold dilute (0.5 N) sulfuric acid (25 ml) is gradually added to the cooled mixture, the ethereal layer is rapidly separated, the aqueous layer is extracted once with 10 ml of ether, and the combined ethereal solution is washed once with water and dried over potassium carbonate. Removal of the solvent, followed by distillation of the residue affords about 85% recovery of the pure vinyl ether, bp 102-10376 mm, 1.5045. 

PET has the second highest scrap value for recycled materials, second only to that of aluminum.1 A typical PET beverage bottle consists of PET (60 g), polyethylene (1 g), and label and glue (5 g). Therefore, the PET bottle scrap must be separated before the PET can be recycled. The bottles are sorted at a material recovery facility and compressed. The compressed PET bottles are then washed and converted to flake by grinding. The flakes may be converted to pellets in an extruder. The pellets are more suitable for material handling. Currently recycled PET is being used to make food and nonfood containers, straps, sheeting, and... 

The zone elution method has been used for quantitative estimation or recovery of heavy metals in plants and vegetable juices [29], mercury (11) in river and waste waters [52], zinc in different environmental samples [46], nickel and copper in alloys [53], zirconium in Mg-Al alloys [22], cobalt, zinc, nickel, and copper in natural water and alloy samples [54], thiocyanate in spiked photogenic waste water [55], and aluminum in bauxite ores [42],... 

The quality of the refined metal, and the current efficiency strongly depend on the soluble vanadium in the bath and the quality of the anode feed. As the amount of vanadium in the anode decreases, the current efficiency and the purity of the refined product also decrease. A laboratory preparation of the metal with a purity of better than 99.5%, containing low levels of nitrogen (30-50 ppm) and of oxygen (400-1000 ppm) has been possible. The purity obtainable with potassium chloride-lithium chloride-vanadium dichloride and with sodium chloride-calcium chloride-vanadium dichloride mixtures is better than that obtainable with other molten salt mixtures. The major impurities are iron and chromium. Aluminum also gets dissolved in the melt due to chemical and electrochemical reactions but its concentrations in the electrolyte and in the final product have been found to be quite low. The average current efficiency of the process is about 70%, with a metal recovery of 80 to 85%. 

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