Carl Josef Bayer
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Carl Josef Bayer (also Karl Bayer, 4 March 1847 – 4 October 1904) was a chemist from
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
who invented the Bayer process of extracting alumina from
bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...
, essential to this day to the economical production of
aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...
. Bayer had been working in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
to develop a method to provide alumina to the textile industry that used it as a fixing agent in the dyeing of cotton. In 1887, he discovered that aluminium hydroxide precipitated from an
alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The a ...
ne solution which is crystalline and can be filtered and washed more easily than that precipitated from an
acid An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. Hydron, hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis ...
medium by neutralization. In 1888, Bayer developed and patented his four-stage process of extracting alumina from bauxite ore. In the mid-19th-century, aluminium was so precious that a bar of the metal was exhibited alongside the French Crown Jewels at the Exposition Universelle in Paris 1855. Along with the
Hall–Héroult process The Hall–Héroult process is the major industrial process for smelting aluminium. It involves dissolving aluminium oxide (alumina) (obtained most often from bauxite, aluminium's chief ore, through the Bayer process) in molten cryolite and e ...
, Bayer's solution caused the price of aluminium to drop about 80% in 1890 from what it had been in 1854.


Personal life and education

Carl Bayer was born on 4 March 1847 in the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia in the
Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
, which is now
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. He attended Heidelberg University in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, where he studied chemistry under Robert Bunsen from 1869-1871, the namesake of the Bunsen burner. He received his doctorate degree in 1871 with a dissertation on the chemistry of
indium Indium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol In and atomic number 49. It is a silvery-white post-transition metal and one of the softest elements. Chemically, indium is similar to gallium and thallium, and its properties are la ...
, which had just been discovered in 1863. After this he lectured for two years at
Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...
in
Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
, and then left to establish his own research company. Bayer then moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1885 where he flourished as an inventor. At age 45 he married the daughter of a Russian politician, Alma Von Witte, and settled in Rietzdorf (modern day Rečica ob Paki,
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
). Together they had six children. He died in 1904 at the age of 57. His wife would survive him until 1962, when she died at the age of 94.


Aluminium ore processing prior to Bayer

Bauxite was discovered in 1821 by Pierre Berthier who named it after a village named Les Beaux where he found it. To obtain the alumina from the bauxite ore, a process was developed that used acid to dissolve aluminium but resulted in a product that contained large amounts of
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
and
titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
dissolved within which were difficult to remove. Due to these impurities, the process was not employed for use, but was an approach that was explored. Louis Le Chatelier, in 1855, created a
process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management * Business process, activities that produce a specific s ...
that produced aluminium hydroxide by heating bauxite with sodium carbonate and then leaching. Bubbling through the solution with carbon dioxide precipitated aluminium hydroxide, which when dried, allowed for the recovery of alumina.


Bayer's contribution to aluminium ore processing

Bayer worked in the textile industry in Saint Petersburg, where aluminium hydroxide was used to help affix dye to the cotton. While working he made two important discoveries regarding processing steps that helped separate the Bayer process from that of Le Chatelier. In 1887, Bayer found that by using a pure seed of aluminium hydroxide, a crystalline precipitate formed that was more economical than that obtained by Le Chatelier. He later patented his discovery in Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom in 1887. In 1892, Bayer discovered that by using an autoclave, or a pressure leaching vessel, in combination with a
sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base (chemistry), ...
leachant the process resulted in a very pure sodium aluminate solution that could be used for hi
precipitation step
that he discovered previously. Both steps are widely used today but have been improved upon as technology has evolved. After discovery, Bayer worked as a startup consultant for alumina manufacturing around Europe. Bayer returned to Austria in 1894 to start an alumina factory but was unable to secure enough capital to fully fund the project.


Importance to the aluminium industry

Alumina and aluminium production underwent significant changes in processing due to discoveries made by Karl Bayer, Charles Martin Hall, and Paul Héroult. Hall and Heroult share credit for inventing aluminium electrolysis. The Hall–Heroult method is the primary method of producing modern aluminium and requires high purity alumina to produce aluminium. The Bayer process produces high purity alumina which is then used in the Hall–Heroult process as the main raw material. In 1900, aluminium was valued at the equivalent of 100 current US dollars, but over the next 50 years decreased in price to approximately 20 current US dollars. This decrease is attributed to the increase in the ease of manufacturing associated with aluminium after Bayer, Hall, and Heroult’s discoveries.


See also

* Electrometallurgy * History of aluminium * Hydrometallurgy


References


Sources

* United States Patent Application 20050238571: Process and apparatus for the production of alumina. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bayer, Karl 1847 births 1904 deaths Chemists from Austria-Hungary Expatriates from Austria-Hungary in the Russian Empire