Question

What is the electrolytic process of extraction of aluminum from bauxite known as?

Answer 1

Electrolytic reduction of Aluminium: Hall-Heroult process

• In the metallurgy of aluminum, the purified Aluminium oxide $\left({\mathrm{Al}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3\right)$ is mixed with ${\mathrm{Na}}_3{\mathrm{AlF}}_6$/ ${\mathrm{CaF}}_2$ in order to decrease the melting point and brings conductivity.
• The mixture is now electrolyzed. The cathode that is used is a steel vessel with a lining of carbon as cathode while graphite anode is used.

Overall chemical reaction:

• The overall chemical reaction can be depicted as:

$\underset{\mathrm{Aluminium}\mathrm{oxide}}{2{\mathrm{Al}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Carbon}}{3\mathrm{C}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Aluminium}}{4\mathrm{Al}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{3{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$