Orbite Technologies Inc. was a Canadian

cleantech Clean technology, in short cleantech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection activities. Cle ...

company based in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It specialized in extracting processes for mining industry, especially alumina extraction. Its main asset is the Orbite process which can be used as a cheaper and pollution-free replacement of the Bayer process as well as a way to treat

red mud Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

.http://www.orbitealuminae.com/media/upload/filings/Red_Mud_Version_1_3.pdf, February 19, 2014 In April 2017, the company declared bankruptcy, due to ongoing delays and issues relating to its construction of a new plant in Cap-Chat, Quebec. As of January 2018, the bankruptcy process was still ongoing. As of 2022 the company has rebranded itself as Advanced Energy Minerals, and claims to be manufacturing high purity alumina at its new Cap-Chat plant.

Orbite process

The Orbite process is an industrial means to refine aluminum ores (such as

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 (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...

) to produce alumina (aluminum oxide) patented by Orbite Alumnae using acid rather than sodium hydroxide like in the Bayer process. It’s also a way to treat

in order to extract the minerals it still contains. It does not produce any industrial waste in significant quantity. The process uses

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbol ...

that is entirely recovered by the end of the process. It works well with low quality

and many other raw materials.

The process

The Orbite process is divided in four steps: aluminum ore preparation, leaching, extraction of alumina, extraction of iron and calcination. First, the raw material is reduced into fine particles to increase the contact surface. Doing so maximize the effect of the acid leaching which is the next step. The acid leaching then occurs at very high temperature using hydrochloric acid. At the end of the leaching all metal molecules (excluding

titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), 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, resista ...

) react to produce chloride compounds. Specifically, iron molecules form

ferric chloride Iron(III) chloride is the inorganic compound with the formula . Also called ferric chloride, it is a common compound of iron in the +3 oxidation state. The anhydrous compound is a crystalline solid with a melting point of 307.6 °C. The col ...

(FeCl₃) and alumina molecule form

aluminum trichloride Aluminium chloride, also known as aluminium trichloride, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It forms hexahydrate with the formula , containing six water molecules of hydration. Both are colourless crystals, but samples are often conta ...

(AlCl₃). Silica is then removed by simple filtration becoming the main leftover of the process. Afterward, the aluminum trichloride is removed by precipitation. The step of the high temperature calcination transforms it into alumina. The leachate still containing FeCl₃ is hydrolysed at low temperature, producing ferric oxide and regenerating the hydrochloric acid. Rare earth and other metals can then be extracted using common process., February 19, 2014

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.orbitetech.com/ Mining companies of Canada Companies based in Montreal Technology companies established in 2007 Companies formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Companies traded over-the-counter in the United States 2007 establishments in Quebec

Orbite process

The process

See also

References

External links