Bayer Process And Hall Heroult Process example essay topic

Once upon a time, in a far away land of Britain in 1807, a soft silvery-white solid's existence was first established by Sir Humphrey Davy. Davy was born in Penzance and was an apprenticed surgeon. He named his discovery alumium. Of course, this name was re-spelt by later scientists.

However, although Davy underlined the existence and named aluminium, he did not succeed in actually producing any. Davy made numerous attempts to isolate aluminium by electrolyzing a fused mixture of aluminium oxide and potash, but was clearly unsuccessful. It took many years of painstaking research to unleash the metal from its evil ore bauxite, a very common hard clay-like material containing 40% of aluminium oxide. It was only in 1825, when a minute lump of Aluminium was produced by Hans Christian Oersted, a Danish chemist. His work was further developed by Frederick Wohler of Germany in 1845, who successfully produced pin head sized aluminium. However, aluminium was considered expensive, as Oersted and Wohler's separation processes produced impure aluminium.

In 1886, aluminium was thought to have reached the peak of his fame. This costly and prized metal attracted a young American chemist by the name of Charles Martin Hall. He developed an inexpensive electrochemical method for the isolation of pure aluminium from aluminium-oxide. Hall was born December 6th, 1863 in Thompson, Ohio.

His interest in chemistry became evident whilst a student at Oberlin College. Hall's focus on developing a new process for extracting aluminium began when his professor, Frank Fanning Jewett, offered a challenge to the students. They were to find an economical method by which aluminium can be purely extracted. After graduation, Hall continued this challenge and on February 23rd, he successfully produced globules of Aluminium metal. Soon after, Hall formed the aluminium Company of America and became a multi-millionaire. Coincidently, Paul Heroult, a French chemist also discovered this inexpensive process at the same age and year as Hall.

Today's history books tell us that Hall and Heroult independently invented this reduction process. However, it is said that Heroult made the first discovery. Both of these highly skilled chemists died in 1914. Thus, the commercially known chemical method is identified today as the Hall-Heroult process.

But not long after, the evil bauxite returned to cause more havoc. Until 1888, aluminium oxide remained trapped inside bauxite's clay-like realm and scientists had to work with small amounts of aluminium compounds. It took the brains of Karl Josef Bayer to unlock bauxite's secret. Bayer was born in 1847 in Germany and studied at the University of Heidelberg.

His economic discovery is known today as the Bayer Process, which produces alumina (aluminium oxide) from bauxite. This process is vital for the production of aluminium metal. The Bayer Process and Hall-Heroult Process are widely used today. Aluminium grew up to be a spectacular metal. In fact, it by far outshone copper in the metal family! This young family member is highly beneficial to us, as it provides reliable, safe and economical solutions to many problems.

Thanks to Sir Humphrey Davy, the element of the Periodic Table are all very pleased to have Aluminium as an addition to the family. Karl Bayer did us all a good deed to rid Alumina from Bauxite, Hall and Heroult combined their work to discover aluminium's independence and alumium himself proved to us that you don't have to be the heaviest, the noblest or the most malleable element of them all to shine. aluminum is currently living at atomic number 13 in the transition metals family. At one hundred and ninety six, he couldn't feel better!