United States Patent to 1 4,010,247 Wassermann et al. 45 Mar. 1, 1977 54 METHOD FOR MAKING WATER 3,385,663 5/1968 Hughes .............................. 4231626 DSPERSIBLE ALUMINUM HYDROXDE 3,411,876. 1 1/1968 Michel et al. ..................... 4231626 3.41 1,877 1 1/1968 Michel et al. ..................... 4231626 75 Inventors: Martin Wilhelm Wassermann, 3,653,937 4/1972 Koenig et al. ..................... 423/625 Hamburg; Arnold Wilhelm Meyer, 3,743,709 7/1973 Shaw et al. ........................ 423/630 St. Michaelisdonn, both of Germany 3,839,536 10/1974 Sato et al. ......................... 423/630 73 Assignee: CONDEA Petrochemie-Gesellschaft 3,907,982 9/1975 Leach ................................ 423f630 m.b.H., Brunsbuettel, Germany FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 22) Filed: Feb. 10, 1975 562,372 8/1958 Canada .............................. 4231628 21 678,220 1/1964 Canada ......... ... 4231625 Appl. No.: 548,804 6,407,784 1/1965 Netherlands ...................... 423/626 30 Foreign Application Priority Data 1,062,124 3/1967 United Kingdom ............... 4231629 Feb. 21, 1974 Germany .......................... 2408233 52) U.S. Cl. ............................... 423/626; 423/629; Primary Examiner-Herbert T. Carter 423/630; 423/631 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cushman, Darby & 51 Int. Cl”........................................... C01F 7/02 Cushman 58 Field of Search .......... 423/626, 629, 630,625, 423/631 57 ABSTRACT - References Cited Water dispersible aluminum hydroxide is prepared by 56) treating an acid dispersible aluminum hydroxide with 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS to 9 weight % of a gaseous acid. 2,377,547 6, 1945 Fuchs ................................ 4231626 3,207,578 9/1965 Brown et al. ...... A A 4231626 3,262,754 7/1966 Lindsay et al..................... 4231625 15 Claims, No Drawings 4,010,247 1 2 nitric acid and acetic acid. Other acids which can be METHOD FOR MAKING WATER DISPERSIBLE used are hydrogen bromide, sulfurdioxide, sulfur triox ALUMNUM HYDROXIDE ide, hydrogen fluoride, formic acid. The gaseous acid is brought into contact with the aluminiumhydroxide for Aluminiumhydroxide is used, for instance, for coat 5 such a period of time or in such amount until the opti ing supports for exhaust catalysts, as an anti-slip agent mum concentration of addition for the particular acid in the field of paper manufacture and in the plastics is achieved, whereby it is unimportant whether a small industry, as an antistatic agent in the textile industry, as amount is present for a long period of time or whether a binding agent in the ceramic industry or for removing a large amount is used for the treatment during a short resins in the manufacture of cellulose. Aluminiumhy O period of time. droxide is a very fine light pulverized material and Preferably the acid dispersible aluminiumhydrate is should be present for the above-mentioned and other treated with HCl up to an addition concentration of 1.8 uses in an easy-to-handle form; namely as a dispersion to 4.5% by weight most preferably at least 2.3% and in a carrier liquid. with NO, up to an addition concentration of 2.5 to It is known to disperse aluminumhydroxide in oily 15 4.5% by weight. carrier liquids, by using surface active agents, such as Surprisingly, it has been found that aluminiumhy alkyl aryl sulphonates. However these oily dispersions drate pre-treated in a simple manner in this way has a are unsuitable for the above-mentioned and other pur dispersibility of at least 97% based on the total amount poses, because of both the presence of oily substances of aluminiumhydroxide added, namely, for dispersion and because of the presence of the surfactant, besides 20 having a solids content of up to 30%. The powder ob the use of such oily dispersions is uneconomical. tained according to the process of the invention can be It is further known to disperse aluminiumhydroxide stirred into water without any difficulties and almost in weak acids. The preparation of these dispersions is immediately forms an excellent usable dispersion. uneconomical and impractical because at the place of It is critical that the addition concentration of acid be charging by the worker there has to be prepared a weak 25 maintained because the dispersibility decreases consid acid solution and there must be added the correspond erably when working with a lower addition concentra ingly precisely measured amount of aluminiumhydrox tion, while at an addition concentration above the ide and there must be thorough mixing of aluminium given value a gel is formed immediately upon disper hydroxide into the dilute acid. Furthermore, the use of sion of the material in water. such dispersions is in many cases disadvantageous be 30 Surprisingly, however, it has been found, further, that cause of the presence of the acid. For this reason it was if aluminium hydroxide is treated with an excess of aimed to prepare aluminiumhydroxide which can be gaseous acid beyond the desired addition concentra dispersed in pure or neutral water. tion it can be mixed with untreated aluminiumhydrox For the preparation of such water dispersible alumi ide until the desired value of the acid addition concen num hydroxide up to now it has been proposed to dis 35 tration is again achieved, and that this mixed product perse acid dispersible aluminiumhydroxide in slightly again shows an excellent dispersibility. This additional acidic water by using customary tanks equipped with a knowledge makes possible a greater certainty in the stirrer. The dispersions made in this way are then con preparation of water-dispersible alumina; in case the centrated or concentrated by evaporation of the water, treatment with gaseous acids is accidently carried out in order to then again disperse the concentrates in 40 for too long, or in case too much gaseous acids are water at the charging place. This method of evapora added, then it is not necessary to discard this alumina tion to obtain concentrates which may be later redis which can no longer be dispersed in water, but forms a persed in water at the charging place by use of a stirrer gel, or to regenerate this product in a complicated is also uneconomical. manner, because a simple step of admixing untreated The object of the present invention is, therefore, to 45 alumina again leads to the desired product which is propose a simple and economical method for preparing easily dispersible in water. All aluminium hydroxides aluminiumhydroxide which can be dispersed in water, dispersible in acids can be used in the process accord which does not have the above-mentioned disadvan ing to the present invention; especially suitable are tages, and in which a product is obtained which can be aluminium hydroxides of the Boehmite-type containing dispersed practically up to 99% without any difficulties 50 65 to 85% by weight of AlOs having a bulk density of and which yields highly concentrated, for instance, up 500 to 700 grams per litre and a specific surface area to a 30% dispersion of aluminium oxide. (measured according to the Brunauer-Emmet-Teller To solve this problem the invention provides a method), of 140 to 300 m/g and an average particle method by which an acid dispersible aluminiumhydrox size of below 100um; whereby an aluminium hydroxide ide is treated with a gaseous acid up to an addition 55 is especially suitable which is obtained by aqueous concentration of from 1 to 9 weight% and preferably 3 hydrolysis of a mixture of C-C2 straight chain alumin to 5% by weight of acid. Preferably, the addition of acid ium alcoholates obtained according to the ZIEGLER is effected in a fluidized bed or in a moving bed, or process and which complies with the above specifica discontinuously in a simple container with a stirrer. tion. Other typical examples of aluminium alcoholates All inorganic or organic gaseous acids can be used 60 are aluminium tributylate, aluminium tris (isobutylate) which are gaseous at the working temperature. The and aluminium tripropylate. temperature is not critical and is usually room tempera Unless otherwise indicated all parts and percentages ture but can be varied widely. Thus when acetic acid is are by weight. The invention is described in more detail used the temperature should be above 118°C. There in the following examples: are also included as gaseous acids gaseous acid formers 65 which lead to acid addition under the reaction condi EXAMPLE 1. tions, for instance, NO, or NO/NO-mixtures. Espe In a series of tests acid dispersible aluminium hydrox cially suitable and economical are hydrogen chloride, ides were treated in a flask with 900 mg of gaseous HCl 4,010,247 3 4. under high turbulence, whereby the amount of alumina hydrate (aluminium hydroxide) was varied to obtain Table 2-continued different addition concentrations for the acid after the Amount of HCl Reaction time treatment. The concentration of the acids are, in the in liters/minute in minutes Dispersability 1.45 240 98.8 present example, calculated as content of chlorine. In Test 2 all tests the dispersibility of the treated alumina in 9.2 5 76.0 water was determined as well as the pH-value of a 10% 9.2 O 98.7 9.2 15 98.5 dispersion; the values are listed in the following table 1: 9.2 20 96.2 9.2 22 Gel TABLE 1 10 Arnount of Dispersibility pH value of C content after alumina in of the treated a 10% dis- the treatment in The above values show that the same favourable dis g alumina in HO persion % by weight persability is obtained with a small amount of HCl, e.g. 20 99.1 38 3.6 1.45 liters per minute during a long reaction period 30 98.7 3.8 2.8 15 compared with a large amount of hydrogen chloride 40 98.5 3.9 23 during a short period of time.