Talk:Aluminum Extraction From Clays

The patent is dealing with the extraction of an aluminum compound, not aluminum metal.

acid

was it hydrochloric or hydrofluoric? i thought i remember flouride beinging involved in the process.

Hydrofluoric acid

Concept for combined soil remediation/ aluminium manufacturing

If we had a cheap, open-source way of extracting aluminium from soils, it might have potential in areas where aluminium toxicity has made soils unusable. People could extract aluminium and sell it while simultaneously remediating their farmland. That helps food security in two ways: more money to buy food and more soil to grow it. These soils can have aluminium levels of 50mg/kg, so the extraction should work better than elsewhere.
The exciting thing is that the greatest opportunity is in the same place as the greatest need; there are 4.3 million km² affected in sub-Saharan Africa [1]. There could be huge potential for development here.

Bioaccumulators

Tea accumulates aluminium from soil; might be a good first step in concentrating the aluminium before the chemical extraction. [2]

IMHO, better to use fungi or bacteria for such tasks. Also see Biomining page. Related paper here --Rasmus 12:26, 18 March 2011 (PDT)