Editing Bayer process (section)

==History==
In 1859, [[Henri Étienne Sainte-Claire Deville]] in France developed a method for making alumina by heating bauxite in sodium carbonate, {{chem|Na|2|CO|3}}, at {{convert|1200|°C}}, leaching the sodium aluminate formed with water, then precipitating aluminium hydroxide by [[carbon dioxide]], {{CO2}}, which was then filtered and dried. This process is known as the [[Deville–Pechiney process]]. In 1886, the [[Hall–Héroult process|Hall–Héroult electrolytic aluminium process]] was invented, and the [[Gold cyanidation|cyanidation process]] was invented in 1887. 

The Bayer process was invented in 1888 by [[Carl Josef Bayer]].<ref name=":0" /> Working in Saint Petersburg, Russia to develop a method for supplying alumina to the textile industry (it was used as a [[mordant]] in dyeing cotton), Bayer discovered in 1887 that the aluminium hydroxide that precipitated from alkaline solution was crystalline and could be easily filtered and washed, while that precipitated from acid medium by neutralization was gelatinous and difficult to wash.<ref name=":0" /> The industrial success of this process caused it to replace the Deville–Pechiney process,<ref name=":0"/> marking the birth of the modern field of [[hydrometallurgy]].

The engineering aspects of the process were improved upon to decrease the cost starting in 1967 in [[Germany]] and [[Czechoslovakia]].<ref name=":0" /> This was done by increasing the heat recovery and using large [[autoclaves]] and precipitation tanks.<ref name=":0" /> To more effectively use energy, [[heat exchangers]] and flash tanks were used and larger reactors decreased the amount of heat lost.<ref name=":0" /> Efficiency was increased by connecting the autoclaves to make operation more efficient.<ref name=":0">{{cite web | title=Bayer's Process for Alumina Production: A Historical Production | url=http://www.scs.illinois.edu/~mainzv/HIST/bulletin_open_access/num17-18/num17-18%20p15-19.pdf |website=scs.illinois.edu | publisher=Fathi Habashi, [[Laval University]] | access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref>

Today, the process produces nearly all the world's alumina supply as an intermediate step in aluminium production.