Certificate

This certificate is awarded to

ROLL NAME BOARD

NO ROLL NO
16 Manas Gupta

In regard of making this

Project on the topic
General Principles and
Processes of Isolation of
elements

For the session 2015-16

Internal Examiner’s External Examiner’s

Signature Signature

Principal’s Signature
 Acknowledgement

I would like to express my sincere thanks to everybody

responsible for successful completion of my project titled

"General Principles and Processes of Isolation of elements "

I express our whole hearted thanks to our principal

Ms. GHAZALA AFSAR for providing various
related facilities in the institution.

I am equally grateful to our chemistry teacher Mr. AJMAL HASAN.

He gave us moral support and guided us in different matters
regarding the topic. He has been very kind and patient, while
suggesting us the outlines of this project. I thank him for
overall support.

I would also like to thank my parents who helped us a lot in

finalizing this project within the limited time frame.

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 Index
1) What is Metallurgy?
a) Overview
b) Ores and mineral
c) Occurrence of minerals

2) Metallurgical Processes :Overview

a) Crushing and Grinding: pulverization
b) Enrichment of ore:
(i) Hydraulic washing (Gravity separation)
(ii) Froth floatation
(iii) Magnetic separation
(iv) Leaching
c) Conversion of concentrated ore to oxide
i) Calcination
ii) Roasting
d) Reduction of oxide to a metal
i) Heating
ii) Carbon reduction
iii) Use of carbon monoxide
iv) Reaction with electropositive metals (Alumino -Thermite Process)
v) Electrolysis
vi) Auto Redox
vii)Hydrometallurgy
e) Purification and refining
i) Liquation
ii) Electro refining
iii) Distillation
iv) Poling
v) Zone Refining
vi) Vapor Phase Refining( Mond’s process and Van Arkel method)

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 1. What is Metallurgy?
The increasing use of metals in day to day life aroused the interest of man
in their properties and the sources from which they could be recovered.
This gave birth to a new branch in chemistry called metallurgy.

The science that deals with procedures used in extracting metals from
their ores, purifying and alloying metals and creating useful objects
from metals is called METALLURGY.

Mineral and Ore

Natural materials found inside the earth containing metals in their combined
states ( as a single compound or as a mixture of compounds ) mixed with
non – metallic impurities of Earth and rock ( called gangue ) are termed
minerals. All minerals are not suitable for extraction of metals.

Minerals from which the metal can be extracted easily and economically
are called ores. Ores contain metal compounds with a lower percentage of
impurities.

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 Occurrence of metals

Ores can be divided into four general groups as follows.

(i) Native ores – These ores contain metals in free State. E.g. Ag, Au, Pt, Hg,
Cu etc. These are usually found associated with rock or alluvial materials
like clay, sand etc. Sometimes, lumps of pure metals are also found in
them. These are termed nuggets. Iron is found in free state as meteorites
which also have 20% to 30 % nickel.

(ii)Sulphureted and arsenical ores - These ores consist of sulphides and

arsenides in simple and complex forms of metals. Some examples of this
group are PbS, ZnS, Ag2S, NiAs, CuFeS2, 3Ag2S. Sb2S3 etc.

(iii) Oxide ores - In these ores, metals are present as their oxides or oxysalts
such as carbonates, nitrates, sulphates, phosphates, silicates etc. The
examples include Fe2O3, Al2O3, BeO.Al2O3, MnO2, CaCO3, FeO.TiO2 ,
NaNO3, BaSO4 , Zn2SiO4, Ca3(PO4)2 etc.

(iv) Halide ores - Metallic halides are very few in nature. Chlorides are more
common. The examples include common salt, NaCl, , Carnallite, KCl,
MgCl2.6H2O , Fluospar, CaF2 , Horn silver, AgCl etc.

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2. An Overview of the Processes

The various processes involved in the extraction of metals from their ores and
their subsequent refining are known as metallurgy. An overview of various
processes involved during metallurgy is given below.

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Metallurgical Steps

a) Crushing and Grinding

Ore is an impure metal containing large amount of sand and rocky material. The
impurities like sand, rocky materials, limestone, mica etc. is called gangue or matrix.
These impurities must be removed from the ore before the extraction of metal.

Crushing and grinding of the ore: These ores occur in nature as huge lumps. They
are broken to small pieces with the help of crushers or grinders. These pieces are
then reduced to fine powder with the help of a ball mill or stamp mill. This process is
called pulverization.

b) Enrichment of ore
This is also called as concentration /benefaction or dressing of the ore.
Depending upon the nature of the ore, one or more of the following steps are taken
to concentrate the ore.

These are mostly physical methods of concentration.

a) Hydraulic washing (Gravity separation/Levigation):

 The ore particles are poured over a hydraulic classifier which is a vibrating
inclined table with grooves and a jet of water is allowed to flow over it.
 The denser ore settles in the grooves while the lighter gangue particles are
washed away.
 This method is used for concentration of heavy oxide ores of lead, tin, iron etc.

b) Froth floatation –
 This method is especially used for sulphide ores. The method employs a
mixture of water and following which is made to agitate with the ore.
 A mixture of water, pine oil, detergent and powdered ore is first taken in a tank.
A blast of compressed air is blown through the pipe of a rotating agitator to
produce froth.
 The sulphide ore particles are wetted and coated by pine oil and rise up along
with the froth (froth being lighter). The heavier gangue particles wetted by
water sink to the bottom of the tank.

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c) Magnetic separation –

 Magnetic ores like pyrolusite ( MnO2) and chromite ( FeO.Cr2O3 )are enriched
by this method by making use of the difference in the magnetic properties of
the ore and gangue particles.
 When the ore passes over the magnetic roller, it sticks to the belt due to the
force of attraction and falls nearer to magnetic roller.
 The gangue falls in a normal way under the influence of gravity. The magnetic
ore and gangue thus form two separate heaps.

d) Leaching –
 In this chemical method of concentration process, the ore is washed with some
suitable reagent (solvent) so that the main metal passes into its salt solution.
 This solution is separated and subjected to further treatment like precipitation.
It is then treated further to recover the metal.
 Aluminium is extracted from its ore Bauxite (Al2O3.2H2O) that is always
contaminated with Fe2O3 and SiO2.

Bauxite (Al2O3.2H2O) is concentrated by Bayer's process to obtain pure

aluminium oxide (alumina).

Bauxite is first roasted by heating to convert ferrous oxide (FeO) into ferric oxide
(Fe2O3). The ore is then dried, powdered and treated with hot aqueous solution of
sodium hydroxide. Sodium aluminate (NaAlO2) is formed.

Al2O3.2H2O + 2 NaOH → 2 NaAlO2 + H2O

The insoluble impurities are filtered. Sodium aluminate is soluble in water and is
obtained as filtrate.

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 c) Conversion of concentrated ore to oxide
It is easier to obtain a metal from its oxide form as compared to its sulphide, carbonate
or any other form. Therefore, prior to reduction usually the metal is converted to its
oxide form. Following methods are used to convert the concentrated ore to its oxide
form.
1) Calcination
 It is a process in which the ore is heated at a temperature well below its melting
point strongly in absence of air.
 The ore gets thermally decomposed, undergoes phase transformation and
eliminates the volatile impurities like moisture, carbon dioxide etc.
 Since the ore becomes porous and compact, it easily undergoes further chemical
reactions.
 This method is generally used for carbonate and hydrated ores.

2) Roasting
 It is a process wherein the ore is heated either alone or with some other material
in excess of air below the fusion point of the ore.
 Usually, this method is used for sulphide ores. In roasting, definite chemical
changes take place to form oxide or chloride of the metal.
 Ores of metals like zinc, lead, copper and nickel, when roasted in air, are
converted to their oxides.

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 c) Reduction of oxide to a metal
One or more of the following methods can be used to obtain a metal from its
oxide.

(i) Heating – Less reactive metals like silver and mercury can be obtained by
heating their oxides alone. These metals are placed at the bottom of the
electrochemical series.

2 HgO → 2 Hg + O2 ; 2 Ag2O → 4Ag + O2

(ii) Carbon reduction - Some metals like lead, copper, zinc and iron can be
obtained by reducing their oxides by carbon. When the oxides of these metals
are heated with coke, the oxides are reduced to a metal. Carbon has more
affinity for oxygen than the metals have it for oxygen hence carbon extracts the
oxygen leaving behind the free metal.

PbO + C → Pb + CO ; CuO + C → Cu +
ZnO + C → Zn + CO ; Fe2O3 + 3 C → 2 Fe +
3CO
(iii) Use of carbon monoxide – Oxides of metals like PbO, CuO, FeO can be
reduced by carbon monoxide at high temperature to give the corresponding
metals.

CuO + CO → Cu + CO2 :
FeO + CO → Fe + CO2 ; PbO + CO → Pb + CO2

(iv) Use of aluminium – Oxides of metals like ZnO, Cr2O3 and MnO2 can not be
reduced by carbon because these metals have a greater affinity for oxygen than
carbon. An active metal like aluminium ( in the form of powder ) is required to
reduce the oxides of these metals. The reduction of a metal oxide by heating
with aluminium is called aluminothermy. In this process, lot of heat is evolved
and hence the metal may melt in the container. It is tapped from the bottom of
the container.

Cr2O3 + 2 Al → Al2O3 + 2 Cr + Heat ;

3MnO2 + 4Al → 2 Al2O3 + 3 Mn + Heat

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 (v) Electrolysis –
 The metals like iron, zinc, lead, chromium, manganese lie in the middle of the
electrochemical series.
 Their oxides can be reduced by carbon or carbon monoxide or reactive metals like
aluminum or sodium, calcium. But the metals like sodium, magnesium, calcium,
aluminium which are placed in the top of the electrochemical series i.e. which are
very active, cannot be obtained by the reduction of their oxides by ordinary reducing
agents.
 So they are obtained by passing an electric current through the purified molten
ore. An electric current is passed through the molten oxide or chloride of the
metal.
 The metal gets deposited at the cathode from where it is separated and
impurities at anode.

(vi) Auto-Reduction

Certain metals like copper, silver and mercury commonly occur in sulphide ores that can
be easily reduced by roasting. For example, mercury can be obtained by roasting its ores
Cinnabar (HgS):

2 HgS + 3O2 → 2 HgO + 2 SO2

2 HgO + HgS → 3 Hg + SO2

(vii) Displacement method (Hydrometallurgy)

Some metals like gold and silver are extracted from their concentrated ores by
leaching. They are dissolved in suitable reagent leaving behind insoluble
impurities. The metal is recovered from the solution by re-precipitation or
crystallization. For example,

Silver ore is leached with dilute solution of sodium cyanide. Silver dissolves in
it forming a complex sodium argentocyanide. The solution is treated with scrap
zinc which displaces silver from the complex.

Ag2S + 4 NaCN → 2 Na[Ag(CN)2] + Na2S

2 Na[Ag(CN)2] + Zn → Na2[Zn(CN)4] + 2 Ag

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 d) Refining of metals
(i) Liquation –

 It is a technique for separating constituents of an ore, a metal, or an alloy

by partial melting.
 Used when the melting temperature of the metal is lower than that of the
impurity and the impurities are not miscible with the metal.

 The sloping floor of the reverberatory furnace is used to melt the crude
metal, when pure metal flows down and impurities are left behind.
 Metals like Bi, Sn, Pb, Hg etc. are purified by this technique.

ii) Electro- refining –

Electro-refining of metals is a process of obtaining pure metal from the impure
one by the process of electrolysis. The process of electro-refining of metals
involves the following steps:

(i)The electrolyte is usually an aqueous solution of the salt of the metal

with some corresponding acid, if necessary.
(ii)A thick block of impure metal is made as the anode.
(iii)A thin rod or sheet of pure metal is made as the cathode.
(iv) The metal cations being positive, migrate towards the cathode and get
discharged.
(v) At anode, the atoms of the metal lose electrons, form cations and enter the
solution.
(vi) The less electropositive impurities in the anode, settle down at the bottom
and are removed as anode mud while the more electropositive impurities pass
into the solution.
(vii) Anode finally disintegrates while the cathode gains in weight due to the
collection of pure metal.

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 iii) Auto-Reduction

Certain metals like copper, silver and mercury commonly occur in sulphide ores
that can be easily reduced by roasting. For example, mercury can be obtained by
roasting its ores Cinnabar (HgS):

2 HgS + 3O2 → 2 HgO + 2 SO2

2 HgO + HgS → 3 Hg + SO2

iv)Displacement method (Hydrometallurgy)

Some metals like gold and silver are extracted from their concentrated ores by
leaching. They are dissolved in suitable reagent leaving behind insoluble
impurities. The metal is recovered from the solution by re-precipitation or
crystallization. For example,

Silver ore is leached with dilute solution of sodium cyanide. Silver dissolves in it
forming a complex sodium argentocyanide. The solution is treated with scrap
zinc which displaces silver from the complex.

Ag2S + 4 NaCN → 2 Na[Ag(CN)2] + Na2S

2 Na[Ag(CN)2] + Zn → Na2[Zn(CN)4] + 2 Ag

v) Distillation –
Metals like zinc and mercury which boil at low temperature are purified by this
method. The impure metal is taken in iron retort and heated strongly above the
boiling point of the metal. At the boiling point, vapors of the metal are produced
which are led to a condenser. By condensation of the vapors, pure metal is
obtained.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
(i) http://www.tutorvista.com/topic/iron-sulphide-separate

(ii) http://cbseporal.com/exam/Important-Topics/Chemistry-Froth-Floatation-
Process

(iii) http://www.tutorvista.com/content/science/science-ii/metals-non-
metals/enrichment- ores.php

(iv) http://www.tutorvista.com/content/chemistry/chemistry-iii/metals/metals-
refining.php

(v) http://www.tutorvista.com/content/chemistry/chemistry-iv/p-block-
elements/aluminium.php

(vi) http://www.tutorvista.com/content/chemistry/chemistry-iv/p-block-
(vii) elements/aluminium.php

(viii) http://www.tutorvista.com/content/chemistry/chemistry-ii/metals/iron.php

(ix) http://qwickstep.com/search/the-bessemer-converter.html
(x) http://www.tutorvista.com/content/chemistry/chemistry-ii/chemical-
compounds/hearth-process.php

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