Southwire Company, LLC

National Steel Corporation

Earth Sciences Limited

Other

George J Hartman

Vernon R Ewing

Michael G Darland

An improvement in processes for recovering aluminum from alunite ore which processes include roasting the ore to remove water of hydration, removing sulfur and potassium compounds from the roasted ore by a procedure including a first leaching step resulting in a residue and a solution containing potassium sulfate, effecting partial recovery of potassium sulfate from the solution by crystallization with some potassium sulfate being bled off from the mother liquor, converting aluminum values in the residue to alkali metal aluminates by digesting the residue with alkali metal hydroxide including a substantial amount of sodium hydroxide, removing silicon from the alkali metal aluminates leaving a waste desilication product, recovering aluminum values from the desilicated aluminates by precipitation, circulating the mother liquor from the precipitation step to digestion as contaminated sodium hydroxide is bled off, the improvement which comprises enhancing the economics of the overall process by introducing therein an ion exchange procedure in which potassium hydroxide for the first leaching step is produced through ion exchange by use of potassium sulfate and sodium hydroxide, a further improvement being the use of the desilication product as the ion exchange agent.

Process for recovering aluminum from alunite

An improvement in the process for recovering aluminum from alunite ore disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,890,425 and 3,890,426, the improvement being in the recovery of potassium sulfate by crystallization from the leaching solution resulting from potassium hydroxide leaching of the roasted ore, the improvement consisting of adding potassium hydroxide to the concentrated leach liquor prior to crystallization to increase the concentration of the potassium ion so that increased recoveries of potassium sulfate are obtained at a given temperature over those obtained when this procedure is not used. By this procedure a yield is obtained at a temperature below that which is required to obtain the same yield when potassium hydroxide is not used so that the high temperatures formerly necessary to hold enough potassium sulfate in solution for an economic crystallization are avoided. The improvement is particularly adapted to the process of the patents using potassium hydroxide as the leaching agent and in which the mother liquor is recycled to the leach as potassium hydroxide in an amount up to that required for the leaching step can be added in the crystallization step so that the potassium hydroxide serves both as a crystallization aid and as a leachant.

Process for recovering aluminum from alunite ore

An improvement in processes for recovering aluminum from alunite ore which processes include roasting the ore to remove water of hydration, removing sulfur and potassium compounds from the roasted ore by a procedure including a final leaching step resulting in a residue and a solution containing potassium sulfate, effecting partial recovery of potassium sulfate from the solution by crystallization with some potassium sulfate being bled off from the mother liquor, converting aluminum values in the residue to alkali metal aluminates by digesting the residue with alkali metal hydroxide including a substantial amount of sodium hydroxide, removing silicon from the alkali metal aluminates leaving a waste desilication product, recovering aluminum values from the desilicated aluminates by precipitation, circulating the mother liquor from the precipitation step to digestion as contaminated sodium hydroxide is bled off, the improvement which comprises enhancing the economics of the overall process by introducing therein an ion exchange procedure in which potassium hydroxide for the first leaching step is produced through ion exchange by use of potassium sulfate and sodium hydroxide, a further improvement being the use of the desilication product as the ion exchange agent.

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Arvada, CO, United States of America

George J Hartman