How Aluminium Is Made | Animation

The aluminum in the rock dissolves into the liquid, while the unwanted "red mud" (iron and silica) sinks to the bottom and is filtered out [1, 6].

Massive carbon rods (anodes) are lowered into the vat, and a colossal electric current—hundreds of thousands of amperes—is surged through the liquid [1, 6]. How Aluminium is made animation

The white powder is dissolved in a giant steel vat filled with molten cryolite (a mineral that helps it melt at a lower temperature) [1, 6]. The aluminum in the rock dissolves into the

These crystals are baked in a rotary kiln at over 1,000°C [1, 6]. These crystals are baked in a rotary kiln

A fine, snowy white powder called Alumina (aluminum oxide) [1, 6]. Act III: The Lightning Strike (The Hall-Héroult Process)

This is the most dramatic part of the animation. Alumina is very stable; you can’t just melt it with fire to get the metal out. You have to "shock" it [1, 6].