Bauxite and Alumina Process Operations Presentation by Kimberly Report by Anique Senior University of Technology

Chemical and Biological Processes Mrs. Jan-Cherie Campbell Fraser September 25, 2012

Bayer Process The Bayer Process is the process used to produce alumina from bauxite ore. The main stages involved in the process include digestion, clarification, precipitation and calcination. Auxilary processes include the power plant, evaporators, cooling towers, sand removal system and the oxalate removal system. The main products that are produced from this process include alumina, hydrate (also a by-product), spent liquor and steam. Raw materials involved in this process include bauxite ore, the source of alumina; sodium hydroxide which is used to extract alumina during the digestion process. It also used in descaling the vessels; Bunker C Oil for fuel combustion; lime used to remove the iron, phospohorous, and sodium oxalate from the alumina and to filter pregnant liquor. Main Process in the Bayer Process 1. Digestion The bauxite ore is mined. Ball mills are used to grind the mixture into a slurry. The slurry passes through a screen to remove impurities. Bauxite slurry is pumped from the holding tanks to the vessels where it is mixed with hot concentrated caustic soda liquor. The spent liquor (when it loses the alumina) is heated to increase the temperature to about 160oC. The reaction that occurs is: 2NaOH (aq) + Al2O3.3H2O (aq) ---------> 2NaAl (s) + 4H2O (l) The alumina is removed by the addition of the sodium hydroxide. The slurry is then passed through regular open vessels where the pressure is reduced. The heat that is given off is re-used in the process. The slurry is then passed through a Sand Removal System (SRS). Dissolution of alumina then occurs in which the alumina content in caustic is monitored. This is known as the A/C ratio. The amount of caustic added in this step is proportional to the concentration of alumina in the stream. 2. Clarification Decantation is the first step in the clarification process. Impurities in the slurry, things like sand and iron and other trace elements that do not dissolve eventually settles to the bottom and the pregnant liquor floats at the top. The mud is then washed through a series of Mud Wash Thickeners. This is a counter-current wash system which washes the mud to recover the liquor for re-use. Flocculent is added to aid in settling. This is done by coagulating the mud to allow the removal of finer particles in the
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mud. The mud is then pumped to the mud lake. Effluent is collected into a holding pond to be reused in the plant. Sprinklers are placed in and around the mud lake to control fugitive dusting from the mud lake Pregnant liquor goes from the decanter to filter. Press filters push the pregnant liquor through the filter bag using high pressure. To remove iron from the alumina, the filter bags are lined with lime to react with the iron. 3. Precipitation The pregnant liquor is cooled to remove the aluminium hydrate from the solution. Seeding allows this process to proceed faster. It is cooled by passing the liquor through flash tanks. The cooled pregnant liquor is then pumped to a precipitator where the A/C ratio is analyzed again. At this stage the pregnant liquor now becomes the spent liquor as hydrate has now precipitated and the liquor no longer contains the alumina. Classification of the alumina occurs where the hydrate is classified from coarse to fine, coarse being the desired size for consumers. It is classified by passing through primary, secondary and tertiary settlers. The coarse particles are products and the fine particles are used for seeding or agglomerated to form coarse particles. 4. Calcination Washed hydrate passes through a rotary filter. The wash water is filtered out through a filter cloth and the hydrate remains on the filter table. This is assisted by a dewatering aid which helps in removing the water. After filtering the hydrate, it enters the kiln where it is heated using Bunker C oil. The reaction is as follows: Al2O3.3H2O (s) Al2O3 (s) + 3H2O (l) High temperatures remove the water leaving anhydrous alumina crystals. The hot alumina in the kiln is then rotated in barrel coolers. Combustion gases are removed and mixed with steam and passes over the alumina. The dust is passed through a collection system of consisting of cyclones and an Electrolysis Precipitator (ESP).