Journal of Petroleum & Environmental Biotechnology

Leaching of alumina from local clays by acid precipitation

7^th World Congress on Petrochemistry and Chemical Engineering

November 13-14, 2017 Atlanta, USA

Victoria Malachy Inyang and Andrew C Eloka-Eboka

University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Pet Environ Biotechnol

Abstract:

Leaching of alumina from three local clays of Ukpor, Auchi and Udi was carried out using three different acids (HCL, H2SO4 and HNO3) as precipitants. The leaching process involved preparation of the clay sample, dissolution in acid solution, precipitation of basic aluminium sulphate from the filtrate and the use of EDTA titration method to obtain the alumina yield. The effects of process parameters (acid concentration, particle size, leaching temperature and acid to clay weight ratio) on alumina extraction were investigated. Factorial design of experiment techniques was used in the assessment of the influence of experimental factors on the final results. Clay characterization was also carried out on the different clay samples. The highest yield of 36.96% was obtained from Auchi clay with HNO3 yielding more alumina than HCl and H2SO4.