Alumina (Aluminium Oxide) - The Different Types of Commercially Available Grades

Alumina (Aluminium Oxide) is the most widely used oxide ceramic material.  Its applications are widespread, and include spark plugs, tap washers, abrasion resistant tiles, and cutting tools.  

Very large tonnages are also used in the manufacture of monolithic and brick refractories. It is also mixed with other materials such as flake graphite for other, more difficult applications are envisaged, such as pouring spouts and sliding gate valves.

Key Properties

Aluminium oxides key properties are shown below.

        High compression strength

        High hardness

        Resistant to abrasion

        Resistant to chemical attack by a wide range of chemicals even at elevated temperatures

        High thermal conductivity

        Resistant to thermal shock

        High degree of refractoriness

        High dielectric strength

        High electrical resistivity even at elevated temperatures

        Transparent to microwave radio frequencies

        Low neutron cross section capture area

        Raw material readily available and price not subject to violent fluctuation

Annual Production

Annual production of aluminum oxide is 45 million tonnes. 90% of this is used in the manufacture of aluminium metal by electrolysis.

Where Does Alumina Come From?

Most of the aluminium oxide produced commercially is obtained by the calcination of aluminium hydroxide (frequently termed alumina trihydrate or ATH). 

The aluminium hydroxide is virtually all made by the Bayer Process.

This involves the digestion of bauxite in caustic soda and the subsequent precipitation of aluminium hydroxide by the addition of fine seed crystals of aluminium hydroxide.

Phases

Aluminium oxide exists in many forms, α, χ, η, δ, κ, θ, γ, ρ; these arise during the heat treatment of aluminium hydroxide or aluminium oxy hydroxide.  The most thermodynamically stable form is α-aluminium oxide.

Aluminium Hydroxides

Aluminium forms a range of hydroxides; some of these are well characterised crystalline compounds, whilst others are ill-defined amorphous compounds.  The most common trihydroxides are gibbsite, bayerite and nordstrandite, whilst the more common oxide hydroxide forms are boehmite and diaspore.

Commercially the most important form is gibbsite, although bayerite and boehmite are also manufactured on an industrial scale.

Aluminium hydroxide has a wide range of uses, such as flame retardants in plastics and rubber, paper fillers and extenders, toothpaste filler, antacids, titania coating and as a feedstock for the manufacture of aluminium chemicals, e.g. aluminium sulfate, aluminium chlorides, poly aluminium chloride, aluminium nitrate.

Commercial Grades

Smelter Grade

Smelter or metallurgical grade is the name given when it utilised in the manufacture of aluminium metal.  Historically it was manufactured from aluminium hydroxide using rotary kilns but is now generally produced in fluid bed or fluid flash calciners.  In the fluid flash processes the aluminium hydroxide is fed into a counter-current stream of hot air obtained by burning fuel oil or gas.  The first effect is that of removing the free water and this is followed by removal of the chemically combined water; this occurs over a range of temperatures between 180-600ºC.  The dehydrated aluminium oxide is principally in the form of activated alumina and the surface area gradually decreases as the temperature rises towards 1000ºC.  Further calcination at temperatures > 1000ºC converts this to the more stable α-form. The conversion to the α-form is typically of the order of 25% and the specific surface area is relatively high at >50m²/g due to the presence of transition metals.

Calcined

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If aluminium hydroxide is heated to a temperature in excess of 1100ºC, then it passes through the transition phases  referred to above.

The final product, if a high enough temperature is used, is α-alumina.  The manufacturing process is commercially undertaken in long rotary kilns.  Mineralisers are frequently added to catalyse the reaction and bring down the temperature at which the α-alumina phase forms; fluoride salts are the most commonly used mineralisers.

These calcined products are used in a wide range of ceramic and refractory applications.  The main impurity present is sodium oxide.  Various grades are produced which differ in crystallite size, morphology and chemical impurities.

The calcined grades are often sub-divided into ordinary soda, medium soda (soda level 0.15-0.25% wt%) and low soda.

Low Soda

Many applications, particularly in the electrical/electronic areas, require a low level of soda to be present in the aluminum oxide.  A low soda alumina is generally defined as with a soda content of <0.1% by weight.  This can be manufactured by many different routes including acid washing, chlorine addition, boron addition, and utilisation of soda adsorbing compounds.

Reactive

“Reactive” alumina is the term normally given to a relatively high purity and small crystal size (<1 μm) sample which sinters to a fully dense body at lower temperatures than low soda, medium-soda or ordinary-sodas.  These powders are normally supplied after intensive ball-milling which breaks up the agglomerates produced after calcination.  They are utilised where exceptional strength, wear resistance, temperature resistance, surface finish or chemical inertness are required.

Tabular

Tabular aluminum oxide is recrystallised or sintered α-alumina, so called because its morphology consists of large, 50-500 μm, flat tablet-shaped crystals of corundum.  It is produced by pelletising, extruding, or pressing calcined alumina into shapes and then heating these shapes to a temperature just under their fusion point, 1700-1850ºC in shaft kilns.

After calcination, the spheres of sintered alumina can be used as they are for some applications, e.g. catalyst beds, or they can be  crushed, screened and ground to produce a wide range of sizes.  As the material has been sintered it has an especially low porosity, high density, low permeability, good chemical inertness, high refractoriness and is especially suitable for refractory applications.

Fused

Fused alumina is made in electric arc furnaces by passing a current between vertical carbon electrodes.  The heat generated melts the alumina.  The furnace consists of a water cooled steel shell and 3-20 tonne batches of material are fused at any one time.  The fused alumina has a high density, low porosity, low permeability and high refractoriness.  As a result these characteristics, it is used in the manufacture of abrasives and refractories.

High Purity

High purity aluminas are normally classified as those with a purity of 99.99% and can be manufactured by routes starting from Bayer hydrate using successive activations and washings, or via a chloride to achieve the necessary degree of purity.  Even higher purities are manufactured by calcining ammonium aluminium sulfate or from aluminium metal.  In the case of the route via ammonium aluminium sulfate, the necessary degree of purity is obtained by successive recrystallisations.  Especially high purities can be made from aluminium by reacting the metal with an alcohol, purifying the aluminium alkoxide by distillation, hydrolysing and the calcination.  A minor route involves subjecting super purity aluminium metal pellets under distilled water to a spark discharge.

Applications include the manufacture of synthetic gem stones such as rubies and yttrium aluminium garnets for lasers, and sapphires for instrument windows and lasers.

Primary author: AZoM.com

Comments

  1. Ravikumar Kumar Ravikumar Kumar India says:

    hi,
    i have one question regarding crushing strength of the alumina. it read through some article that it depends on curing temperature of ATH if it is true let me know how.....

  2. sandy macfarlane sandy macfarlane South Africa says:

    hi,
    when using alumina in body protection armour and you need to refire the product at what stage or cycles in firing do you start having detrimental effects on the quality/characteristics of the alumina crystal if you repeatedly refire at 1610 degrees celcius. rgds
    sandy macfarlane

  3. Sailaja Gadamsetti Sailaja Gadamsetti India says:

    what is calcination temperature of gamma alumina.

    • Wang Angel Wang Angel United States says:

      Sorry, I misunderstand it. the temperature of gamma alumina is 800-900℃。

  4. Ma. Theresa Monastrial Ma. Theresa Monastrial U.A.E. says:

    We are into coal manufacturing for Hookah and looking for additive to whitent the ash and was suggested that alumina can be an additive to whiten the ash but as per the article above there are may grades of alumina, may we know what is the grade of alumina to use and additive to whiten the ash?

  5. bharat vaghela bharat vaghela India says:

    Which grade of alumina is used in ceramic industry

  6. Acosta Fausto Acosta Fausto Ecuador says:

    I need to know the price de 1 ton of calcinated alumina

  7. Subhendu Das Subhendu Das India says:

    What is the special property of hydrated aluminium oxide?

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of AZoM.com.

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