What property of bauxite ore allows concentrated NaOH to be used in the Bayer's process?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking about a specific property of bauxite ore that facilitates the use of concentrated sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in the Bayer's process. This process is used to extract alumina (aluminum oxide) from bauxite, and the efficiency hinges on the selective dissolution of aluminum-containing compounds in the ore.
Answer
Aluminum hydroxide in bauxite ore is selectively soluble in hot, concentrated NaOH, allowing separation from insoluble impurities during Bayer's process.
The property of bauxite ore that allows the use of concentrated NaOH in Bayer's process is the selective solubility of aluminum hydroxide present in the ore. Hot, concentrated NaOH dissolves the aluminum hydroxide to form sodium aluminate, while impurities like iron oxides remain insoluble and can be separated.
Answer for screen readers
The property of bauxite ore that allows the use of concentrated NaOH in Bayer's process is the selective solubility of aluminum hydroxide present in the ore. Hot, concentrated NaOH dissolves the aluminum hydroxide to form sodium aluminate, while impurities like iron oxides remain insoluble and can be separated.
More Information
The Bayer process is the principal industrial means of refining bauxite to produce alumina (aluminum oxide). Alumina is the raw material used to produce aluminum metal by the Hall–Héroult process.
Tips
A common mistake is thinking NaOH dissolves the entire bauxite ore. Only the aluminum hydroxide components dissolve, allowing the separation of impurities.
Sources
- Case Study: Conversion of Bauxite Ore to Aluminum Metal - chem.libretexts.org
- Bayer Process - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics - sciencedirect.com
- Extracting aluminium from bauxite - aluminum - Chemguide - chemguide.co.uk
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