Metallurgy

CHAPTER-7

- By Sanchita Sarkar
TERMS TO NOTE
 METALLURGY :- The process of extracting a metal in it’s pure
state on a large scale from it’s ore by physical or chemical
means.
 MINERALS:- The naturally occurring chemical substances in the
earth’s crust which are obtained by mining. Metals may or may
not be extracted profitably from them.
 ORE :- Minerals from which the metal can be extracted
profitably or economically with minimum effort.
 ALL MINERALS ARE NOT ORES, BUT ALL ORES ARE MINERALS.
 GANGUE:- The earthy or undesirable materials present in ore.
(soil, mud, sand, silica, stones)
Common ores of iron, aluminium and zinc

Zincite – Zinc oxide (ZnO)

Cryolite – Sodium aluminium fluoride (Na3AlF6)
STEPS OF METALLURGY:
1. Crushing
2. Concentration of ore
3. Conversion of concentrated ores to
metal oxides by calcination or
roasting
4. Reduction of metal oxides to metal
5. Refining of metals
STEP 1- Crushing or Pulverisation:
Ores are crushed by big machines into fine powder.
Ball mills
Jaw crushers
STEP 2- Concentration of ore:
The process of removal unwanted materials

called gangue (sand, clay, rocks etc) from the
ore is known as concentration of ore. It
involves several steps which depend upon
physical properties of metal compound and
impurity (gangue).
Concentration of ore is done by:
Hydraulic washing, magnetic separation and
froth floatation
Hydraulic washing (or gravity separation):
It is based on difference in densities of ore and

gangue particles. Ore is washed with a stream of
water under pressure so that lighter impurities are
washed away and heavy ores are left behind.
Oxide ores of iron

and tin are
concentrated by
this method.
Magnetic separation:
This method is based on the difference in magnetic

properties of ore (iron ores) and gangue.
Froth Floatation Process: (Sulphide ores)
The principle of froth floatation process is that ores

(ZnS, PbS) are preferentially wetted by the pine oil,
whereas the gangue particles are wetted by water.
The powdered ore is

treated with an oil-
detergent mixture, then
stirred to create a froth,
that separates the
detergent and oil coated
ore from the gangue.
Leaching (Chemical separation):
It is a process in which ore is treated

with suitable solvent which dissolves the ore
but not the impurities, which are removed by
filtration.
Purification of Bauxite by Leaching: Baeyer’s
process
STEP 3- Conversion of concentrated ores
to metal oxides :
It is easier to reduce metal oxides into metals. Therefore, the given
ore is converted into metal oxide by suitable methods:
Roasting
Process of heating the concentrated ore in presence of air at a high
temperature (below melting point of the metal) so as to convert
the given ore into oxide.
PURPOSE:
To convert the sulphide into oxide
To remove impurities like S, As, P.
To remove moisture
2ZnS+3O2 ----> 2ZnO+2SO2
•2FeS + 3O2 → 2FeO + 2SO2
•2PbS + 3O2 2PbO + 2SO2

STEP 3- Conversion of
concentrated ores to metal oxides
Calcination- Process of heating ore to a high
temperature (below its melting point) in a
limited supply of air so as to convert metal
carbonate and metal hydroxide ores Into oxides.
• ZnCO3 → ZnO + CO2
• CaCO3 → CaO + CO2
• 2Al(OH)3 → Al2O3 + 3H2O
•Purpose of calcination
i. Remove the volatile impurities
ii. To remove moisture
iii. Make the ore mass porous for uniform
heating
CALCINATION VS ROASTING
CALCINATION ROASTING
It is the process of heating in absence It is the process of heating in presence
of air of air to oxidise the impurities
It is employed for carbonate ores It is employed for sulphide ores

Calcination produces carbon dioxide Roasting produces sulphur dioxide
along with metal oxide along with metal oxide
Impurities removed are moisture and Volatile impurities are removed as SO2,
organic impurities. P2O5, As2O3
Reduction of oxide to metal:
The process of converting metal oxide into metal is called reduction. It
needs a suitable reducing agent depending upon the reactivity or
reducing power of metal (depends upon position of metal on the
reactivity series). The common reducing agents used are carbon(coke)
or carbon monoxide or any other metals like Al, Mg etc.
a) Reduction of copper oxide:
(c) Reduction of lead (II) oxide:
(b) Reduction of iron (III) oxide:

(d) Reduction of zinc oxide:
ZnO cant be reduced by CO or H2 as they cant

break the affinity of zinc towards oxygen.
So, a stronger reducing agent, C, is used.
Reduction on the basis of metal activity series
Refining: It is the process of purifying an impure metal
obtained by reduction, into pure metal.
It depends upon the nature of metal/ nature of impurities/ purpose

for which the metal is used.
Distillation:
It is the process used to purify those metals which have low boiling
points, e.g., zinc, mercury, sodium, potassium. Impure, volatile
metal is heated so as to convert it into vapours which changes into
pure metal on condensation and is obtained as distillate.
Non- volatile impurities are left behind.
Liquation: Tin and lead
Those metals which have impurities whose melting points are higher
than metal can be purified by this method.
Tin containing iron as impurities, are heated on the top of sloping
furnace. Tin melts and flows down the sloping surface where iron is
left behind and pure tin is obtained.
Electrolytic refining:
In this method, impure metal is taken as anode, pure metal is taken as cathode,
and a soluble salt of metal is used as electrolyte. When electric current is
passed, impure metal forms metal ions which are discharged at cathode forming
pure metal.
At anode: M - ne- → Mⁿ+
(Impure)
At cathode: Mⁿ+ + ne- → M
(Pure)
EXTRACTION OF ALUMINIUM
Concentration of Bauxite
Ore, by Leaching:
Baeyer’s process
Electrolytic Reduction
(Hall – Heroult Process):
Al2O3 has a greater affinity for oxygen, so it is not reduced using
common reducing agents like C, CO and H2. So, electrolytic
reduction was done to reduce Alumina (Al2O3 )
Problem- Alumina becomes molten at 20500C, and at this

temperature Aluminium vaporises. So, it was difficult to obtain
Aluminium .
Solution- Alumina(20%) is mixed with cryolite (Na3AlF6)-60% and

fluorspar (CaF2) – 20%, which lowers its melting point and
increases electrical conductivity(pure alumina is a non-conductor
of electricity). Cryolite and fluorspar also acts as a solvent for the
electrolytic mixture.
Powdered coke
Molten mixture(alumina: cryolite: fluorspar = 1:3:1) is electrolysed

using a number of graphite rods as anode and carbon lining as
cathode. Powdered coke is sprinkled over the electrolyte.
Temp: 950oC
Voltage: Low voltage (5-6volts) is applied to prevent decomposition of
cryolite.
Electrolytic cell: Iron tank with sloping bottom, lined with gas carbon.
The graphite anode is useful for reduction of metal oxide to metal.
2Al2O3 + 3C →4Al + 3CO2
Graphite anode rods get oxidised by the oxygen evolved at anode,

forming CO and CO2. So, powdered coke is sprinkled to prevent this
oxidation of anodes.
Powdered coke also reduces the heat loss by radiation.
Electrorefining of Aluminium by Hoope’s Process
Purification to 99.9%
Electrolytic cell is made of iron, which is
lined with carbon at the bottom. It
contains three layers of fused mass.
The lower layer consists of an alloy of
impure aluminum with copper. This
layer serves as anode. The middle layer
consists of a solution of cryolite
(Na3AlF6) and barium fluoride.
The upper layer consists of pure
aluminum and serves as cathode.
These three layers are separated from
each other due to difference in specific
gravity.
Electrorefining of Aluminium by Hoope’s Process
Purification to 99.9%
At the cathode: Al+3 + 3e- → Al

At the anode: Al → Al+3 + 3e-
On electrolysis, aluminium is deposited at cathode form the middle
layer and an equivalent amount of aluminium is taken up by the
middle layer from the bottom layer. Therefore, aluminium is
transferred from bottom to the top layer through middle layer while
the impurities are left behind.

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CHAPTER-7

Zincite – Zinc oxide (ZnO)

Ores are crushed by big machines into fine powder.

The process of removal unwanted materials

It is based on difference in densities of ore and

Oxide ores of iron

This method is based on the difference in magnetic

The principle of froth floatation process is that ores

The powdered ore is

It is a process in which ore is treated

•2FeS + 3O2 → 2FeO + 2SO2

•2PbS + 3O2 2PbO + 2SO2

It is employed for carbonate ores It is employed for sulphide ores

(b) Reduction of iron (III) oxide:

ZnO cant be reduced by CO or H2 as they cant

It depends upon the nature of metal/ nature of impurities/ purpose

Problem- Alumina becomes molten at 20500C, and at this

Solution- Alumina(20%) is mixed with cryolite (Na3AlF6)-60% and

Molten mixture(alumina: cryolite: fluorspar = 1:3:1) is electrolysed

Graphite anode rods get oxidised by the oxygen evolved at anode,

At the cathode: Al+3 + 3e- → Al

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