AIM OF THE INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

PREPARATION

OF

POTASSIUM ALUM

FROM

SCRAP ALUMINIUM
 CONTENTS
SL. NO. TITLE PAGE NO.

1. INTRODUCTION Page: 1

2. TYPES OF ALUM Page: 2- Page: 3

3. CHARECTERISTICS
AND USES OF POTASH ALUM Page: 4

4. APARATUS REQUIRED Page: 5

5. CHEMICALS REQUIRED Page: 6

6. THEORY Page: 7

7. PROCEDURE Page: 8

8. OBSERVATION Page: 9

9. DISCUSSION Page: 10

10. CONCLUSION Page: 11

11. BIBLIOGRAPHY Page: 12

 INTRODUCTION
Aluminum is the most abundant in the earths surface (7.5%
by mass). The abundance o aluminum encapsulated with its
physical and chemical properties, accounts for the fact that it
is an uncanny industrial raw materials.
Production of aluminum from scrap is energy intensive
process, thus can be easily recovered by scrap, which is done
by melting the metal and separating it from solids and
volatile impurities. This uses a large amount of energy.
Chemical recovery methods which do not use a lot of energy
and use cheap chemicals are highly desirable. This
experiment illustrates the chemical recovery process in
which waste aluminum is converted chemically into an
aluminum compound,
HYDRATED POTASSIUM ALUMINUM SULPHATE,
K Al(SO4)3.12H2O,
Alum is an industrial important compound however this
method of preparation is not used by industries but this
experiment shows the reduction of environmental waste alum
is the generic term that describes hydrated double salts
ascertain metal having generalized formula
+
(MM (SO4)2.12H2O), in which M (univalent) is commonly Na ,
+ + + 3+ 3+ 3+
K , NH4 , or Rb and M (trivalent) is commonly Al . Ga , V ,
3+
Cr etc.

Page: 1
 TYPES OF ALUM
POTASH ALUM: Aluminum potassium sulfate, potash
alum, KAl(SO4)3.12H2O is used as an astringent and
antisepsis in various food preparation process such as
pickling and fermentation and as a flocculent for water
purification, among other things.

SODA ALUM: Soda alum, NaAl(SO4)2.12H2O, mainly

occurs in nature as a mineral mendozite. It is soluble in
water and extremely difficult to purify. While its
preparation it is preferable to mix component solution in
cold and evaporate them at a temperature not
exceeding 600 C. 100 parts of water dissolve 110 parts of
soda alum at 00 C, and 51 parts at 160 C. Soda alum is
used in the acidulent of food as well as in the
manufacture of baking powder.

AMMONIUM ALUM: Ammonium alum,

NH4Al(SO4)2.12H2O, a white crystalline double sulfate of
aluminum, is used in water purification, in vegetable
glues, in porcelain cements, in deodorants (though
potassium alum is more commonly used), in
tanning,dyeing and in fireproofing textiles.

Page: 2
CHROME ALUM: Chrome alum, KCr(SO4)2.12H2O, a
dark violet crystalline double sulfate of chromium and
potassium, was used in tanning.

SELENATE-CONTAINING ALUMS:
Alums are also known that contain selenium in place of
sulfur in the sulfate anion, making selenate (SeO42-)
instead. They are called selenium or selenate-alums.
They are strong oxidizing agents.

ALUMINIUM SULFATE: Aluminium sulfate is

referred to as papermaker's alum. Although reference
to this compound as alum is quite common in industrial
communication, it is not regarded technically correct. Its
properties are different from those of the set of alums
described above. Most industrial flocculation done with
alum is actually aluminium sulfate.

Page: 3
 CHARECTERISTICS AND USES OF
POTASH ALUM
CHARECTERISTICS
1. Potassium alum crystallizes in regular octahedra with flattened
corners, and is very soluble in water.
2. The solution reddens litmus and is an astringent.
3. When heated to nearly red hot it gives a porous, friable mass which is
known as burnt alum.
4. It fuses at 920 C(198o F) in its own water of crystallization.
5. Natural Alumis obtained by the addition of as much sodium
carbonate to a solution of alum as will begin to cause the separation of
alumina.

USES
CHEMICAL
1. In tanning of leather to prepare the hide.
2. As a mordant for dyes.
3. In the clarifying of turbid liquids, including post-storm treatment of lakes
to precipitate contaminants.
4. As a fire retardant in textile products.
5. As a hardener for photographic emulsions.

MEDICAL
1. As a natural deodorant by inhibiting the growth of bacteria.
2. After shaving to prepare the skin.
3. To reduce bleeding in minor cuts and abrasions, nosebleeds and
hemorrhoids.
4. As an astringent/styptic and antiseptic.

CULINARY
1. As an additive to baking powder to provide a second leavening phase at
high temperature.

Page: 4
 APPARATUS REQUIRED

1. 250ml conical flask

2. Funnel
3. Beaker
4. Bunsen burner
5. Filter paper
6. Tripod stand
7. Wire gauge

Page: 5
 CHEMICALS REQUIRED

1. Scrap aluminium piece

2. KOH solution
3. 6M H2SO4
4. Ethanol

Page: 6
 THEORY

Alum has been used as a coagulant, astringent, mordant, for the

removal of phosphate from natural and waste waters, and for
fireproofing of fabrics.
This experiment demonstrates the conversion of scrap
aluminium to a highly useful aluminium compound, potash alum,
K2SO4.Al2(SO4)3.24H2O. Aluminium reacts with hot aqueous KOH
to give KAl(OH)4:
2 Al + 2 KOH + 6 H2O 2 KAl(OH)4 +3 H2
By reacting KAl(OH)4 with sulfuric , potash alum is obtained:
2 KAl(OH)4 + H2SO4 2 Al(OH)3 + K2SO4 + 2 H2O
2 Al(OH)3 + 3 H2SO4 2 Al 3+ + 3 SO42- + 6 H2O
Octahedral shaped crystals of K2SO4.Al2(SO4)3.24H2O are formed
when the solution is cooled in an ice bath.

Potash alum is double salt, yielding the ions K+, Al(H2O)63+ and
SO42- when dissolved in water.

The term Alumalso denotes a series of crystallized double

salts that have the general formula M(I)M(III)(SO4)2.12H2O, as for
example, chrome alum KCr(SO4)2.12H2O.

In this experiment crystals of potash alum will be prepared

starting from aluminium foil.

Page: 7
 PROCEDURE

l A small piece of scrap aluminium is cleaned with

steel wool and cut into very small pieces.
l The piece of aluminium was put put into a conical
flask and 50ml of KOH was added to it very
carefully. The flask was heated gently to facilitate
dissolution.
l The solution was filtered to remove any insoluble
impurities and the volume was reduced to about
2ml by heating.
l The filtrate was allowed to cool and 6M H2SO4 was
added slowly until insoluble Al(OH)3 just forms in
the solution.
l The solution was heated gently till all the solids
dissolve.
l The clear solution was cooled in an ice bath for
30min. Alum crystals separated out.
l The mother liquor was decanted off. The crystals
were washed with 50% ethanol-water mixture.
Mass of alum crystals was determined.

Page: 8
 OBSERVATION

MASS OF ALUMINIUM METAL : 40 GMS

MASS OF POTASSIUM METAL :188.5 GMS

THEORITICAL YIELD OF POTASSIUM

ALUM :189.7 GMS

PERCENT YIELD : 99.32%

COLOUR OF CRYSTALS : Colorless

SHAPE OF CRYSTALS : isometric

Diploidal

Page: 9
 CONCLUSION

THUS, THE REQUIRED

SAMPLE OF POTASIUM
ALUM IS PREPARED
FROM THE SCRAP
ALUMINIUM.

Page: 10
 DISCUSSION

MINERAL FORM AND OCCURRENCE

OF POTASH ALUM

POTASSIUM ALUM IS A NATURALLY

OCCURING SULPHATE MINERAL WHICH
TYPICALLY OCCURS AS ENCRUSTATION
ON ROCKS IN AREAS OF WEATHERING
AND OXIDATION OF SULPHIDE MINERALS
AND POTASSIUM- BEARING MINERALS. IT
IS NAMED FROM POTASSIUM AND THE
LATIN WORD ALUMEN.

Page: 11
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Textual resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_a
lum

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound
/Potassium_alum

Image resources
http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/1934456/269
39144/0/1342427228/Potash_alum.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co
mmons/thumb/1/1c/Potassium_alum.jpg/250px
-Potassium_alum.jpg

http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/1934456/269
39122/0/1342427210/Potash_alum.jpg

Page: 12