Extraction of Alumina from Local Clays Using Hydrochloric Acid
International Journal of Scientific Research and Engineering Development-– Volume 2 Issue 4, July – Aug 2019 Available at www.ijsred.com Extraction of Alumina from Local Clays Using Hydrochloric Acid 1Eze, J.U., 2Anyakwo, C.N., 3Osoka, E.C. 4Nnodum, A.N., 5Onuoha, C., 6Anusi, M.O., 1,2,4,5Department of Material and Metallurgical Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri 3,6 Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri -------------------------------------- ************************ -------------------------------- Abstract The present work investigates the extraction of alumina from different local clay samples; Ihiala clay (sample A), Nsu clay (sample B), and Umuhu clay (sample C), which contain 27.83%, 29.93%, and 28.31% of Al 2O3 respectively and are extremely abundant in the Eastern part of Nigeria. The clay samples were crushed, ground and sieved using 100 mesh standard tyler screens and were further calcined at a temperature of 700 0C, held for 1hr and then leached with 5ml of concentrated hydrochloric acid at different leaching temperatures (25 0C,50 0C,75 0C, 100 0C) and time (10,30,60,80,100 and 120mins). A relatively large increase in percentage extraction of Al 2O3 was also observed with increasing leaching temperature in the range of 25 0C to 100 0C. The effects of the leaching time and temperatures were investigated using response surface methodology. A pure- quadratic model fit well to experimental data for the three clay samples. The surface plot revealed a linear relationship with temperature, which had more effect of percentage alumina extracted, and a quadratic relationship with time. An estimated optimum extraction condition for the three clay samples would be a leaching time of 76minutes and temperature of 100 OC.
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