Hall-Héroult aluminium process
Aluminio electrolítico (proceso Hall-Héroult)
- Date
- 1886 · confidence high
- Place
- Oberlin, Ohio, United States
- Credited to
- Charles Martin Hall (Oberlin, 1886); Paul Héroult (Gentilly, France, 1886); Karl Bayer (alumina, 1888)
- People
- 👤 Charles Martin Hall1863–1914👤 Paul Héroult1863–1914
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Electrolysis of alumina dissolved in molten cryolite. It turned aluminium from a metal costlier than silver into a cheap industrial material.
Hall and Héroult discovered the process the same year independently; they were born and died in the same years (1863-1914).
What it led to
- Aviation (duralumin, 1909) and airships
- Electricity-intensive industry sited alongside hydroelectric plants
- Aluminium packaging, utensils and power lines
Built on
Made possible
- Bayer process1888
- Rigid airship (Zeppelin)1900
- Duralumin1906–1909
- All-metal aircraft (Junkers J 1 and F 13)1915-1919
- All-metal aeroplane
- Aluminium can