Removing Rust Particles From A Cargo Ship?

What kind of goods? Are they washable?

Mark

What size of 'mineral ' ? Can you air blast it clean?

As to the rust , could you not simply experiment ? It would be better than relying on something you are told (which might be wrong ) .

Iron Oxides are salts, no more metal. So should not be attracted by magnet.

But when a magnet is rolled over earth, picks up iron particles. Such small particles exposed to moisture and oxygen should get oxidised sooner or later. But a magnet picks them up! Should still have unoxidised core in every particle?

Sorry for the missing information. T-T

Bauxite is the 'mineral'. I wonder that iron oxide is natural impurities in these mineral but why still my boss told me to remove it.

because even i do it now or later these bauxite still continually process to purifier which will remove iron oxide and another hydroxide either way.

It's unfortunate your boss is one of those people who tells you to do something without giving you even a short explanation of why. He may not even know himself.

The bauxite will end up as Aluminium (I think they say Aluminum in the USA ). You would have to ask a metallurgist what effect Iron residue would have on the refined product/smelting process. A quick check informs me that Bauxite is often found in weathered clays - perhaps the rust was there all the time.My knowledge is not enough to help further than this.Good luck

Bauxite is typically around 4% Fe₃O₂ in its mined form and the iron oxide needs to be removed in the preliminary smelting process anyway, so a little extra FeO₂ in the mix isn't going to make all that much difference. Here's the result of 2 current experiments on this topic:

Benefication of Bauxite for reduction of Iron Oxide

http://www.tifac.com/offer/tlbo/rep/TMS159.htm

-and-

PRODUCTION OF ALUM FROM AWASO BAUXITE [via a leaching process]

http://home.att.net/~africantech/GhIE/Awaso1.htm

Got them from ask.com.

Two other things came to mind. As the densities of iron oxide and bauxite differ signifigantly, why not put them into solution together and titre the settled result? ...And

There was a trick we used to do as kids: mix up salt & pepper, and then separate them by running a comb through our hair to charge it and then attracting the pepper particulate with the charged comb. Perhaps a similar attraction can be effected with either an anodic or cathodic comb run through the mixture of Fe₃O₂ and Al₂O₃H₂O, assuming they are from separate sources, as you claim they are, to try to separate them.

Mark