Karl Bayer
Encyclopedia
Karl Josef Bayer was an Austria
n chemist who invented the Bayer process
of extracting alumina from bauxite
, essential to this day to the economical production of aluminium
.
Bayer had been working in Saint Petersburg
to develop a method to provide alumina to the textile industry, which used it as a fixing agent in the dyeing of cotton
. In 1887, he discovered that aluminium hydroxide
precipitated from an alkaline solution which is crystalline and can be filtered and washed more easily than that precipitated from an acid medium by neutralization
. In 1888, Bayer developed and patented his four-stage Bayer process
of extracting alumina from bauxite
ore.
The 1855 Paris Exhibition exhibited a bar of aluminum alongside the Crown Jewels. Along with the Hall-Héroult process
, Bayer's solution caused the price of aluminum to drop about 80% in 1890 from what it had been in 1854.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n chemist who invented the Bayer process
Bayer process
The Bayer process is the principal industrial means of refining bauxite to produce alumina .Bauxite, the most important ore of aluminium, contains only 30–54% alumina, Al2O3, the rest being a mixture of silica, various iron oxides, and titanium dioxide. The alumina must be purified before it can...
of extracting alumina from bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
, essential to this day to the economical production of aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
.
Bayer had been working in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
to develop a method to provide alumina to the textile industry, which used it as a fixing agent in the dyeing of cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
. In 1887, he discovered that aluminium hydroxide
Aluminium hydroxide
Aluminium hydroxide, Al3, ATH, sometimes erroneously called Hydrate of alumina, is found in nature as the mineral gibbsite and its three, much more rare forms, polymorphs: bayerite, doyleite and nordstrandite. Closely related are aluminium oxide hydroxide, AlO, and aluminium oxide, Al2O3,...
precipitated from an alkaline solution which is crystalline and can be filtered and washed more easily than that precipitated from an acid medium by neutralization
Neutralization
In chemistry, neutralization, or neutralisation is a chemical reaction in which an acid and a base react to form a salt. Water is frequently, but not necessarily, produced as well. Neutralizations with Arrhenius acids and bases always produce water:Y and X represent a monovalent cation and anion...
. In 1888, Bayer developed and patented his four-stage Bayer process
Bayer process
The Bayer process is the principal industrial means of refining bauxite to produce alumina .Bauxite, the most important ore of aluminium, contains only 30–54% alumina, Al2O3, the rest being a mixture of silica, various iron oxides, and titanium dioxide. The alumina must be purified before it can...
of extracting alumina from bauxite
Bauxite
Bauxite is an aluminium ore and is the main source of aluminium. This form of rock consists mostly of the minerals gibbsite Al3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, in a mixture with the two iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite, and small amounts of anatase TiO2...
ore.
The 1855 Paris Exhibition exhibited a bar of aluminum alongside the Crown Jewels. Along with the Hall-Héroult process
Hall-Héroult process
The Hall–Héroult process is the major industrial process for the production of aluminium. It involves dissolving alumina in molten cryolite, and electrolysing the molten salt bath to obtain pure aluminium metal.-Process:...
, Bayer's solution caused the price of aluminum to drop about 80% in 1890 from what it had been in 1854.
Sources
- United States Patent Application 20050238571: Process and apparatus for the production of alumina
- The History of Aluminum