HUNDRED YEARS OF THE BAYER PROCESS FOR ALUMINA PRODUCTION.

Abstract

On August 3, 1888, German Patent No. 43977, entitled A Process for the Production of Aluminum Hydroxide, was issued. The discovery which led to the patent was made by the Austrian chemist Karl Josef Bayer (1847-1904) who was at that time in Russia, and the process became known as the Bayer Process in his honors. The Bayer Process involved the pressure leaching of bauxite with NaOH solution to obtain sodium aluminate from which aluminum hydroxide was precipitated by seeding. Today bauxite is not only the principal source of aluminum but also of gallium. The paper outlines the historical background of this discovery.