Knowra Aluminium smelting Aluminium smelting Aluminium smelting produces aluminium metal by electrolyzing alumina dissolved in molten cryolite. The Hall–Héroult process is the dominant industrial method.
Hall–Héroult process : An industrial process that reduces alumina dissolved in molten cryolite to aluminium by electrolysis. This is the standard process used in modern aluminium smelting.
Bayer process : A process that extracts alumina from bauxite using hot sodium hydroxide solution. It supplies most smelters with the alumina that their cells reduce.
Hall cell : An industrial electrolytic cell in which alumina is reduced in a molten fluoride bath to produce aluminium. The Hall cell is the unit where smelting’s electrochemical reaction occurs.
Carbon dioxide : A colorless greenhouse gas with chemical formula CO₂, emitted by combustion and industrial reactions. Conventional carbon anodes generate carbon dioxide as alumina releases oxygen during reduction.
Cryolite : A sodium aluminium fluoride mineral, also produced synthetically, that dissolves alumina in a lower-temperature molten electrolyte. The electrolyte’s cryolite-rich melt makes electrolysis practical below alumina’s melting point.
Bauxite : A heterogeneous aluminium-rich ore composed mainly of aluminium hydroxide minerals and impurities. It is the principal mined source from which smelter alumina is made.
Potline : A series of electrically connected electrolytic reduction cells used in an aluminium smelter. A smelter operates many cells together as a potline to produce metal continuously.
Perfluorocarbons : Fluorinated compounds containing only carbon and fluorine, several of which are potent, long-lived greenhouse gases. Anode effects can emit tetrafluoromethane and hexafluoroethane from smelters.
Alumina : Aluminium oxide, Al₂O₃, the refined ore feedstock electrolyzed to produce aluminium metal. Its dissolved aluminium ions are reduced at the cell’s cathode.
Aluminium oxide : A chemical compound of aluminium and oxygen, commonly called alumina, with formula Al₂O₃. Its stable oxide chemistry makes direct carbon reduction impractical, motivating electrolysis.
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