Occurrence and Production of Beryllium

Abstract

A relatively abundant metallic element in the Earth's crust, beryllium, has not been widely used due to the high cost of production and its limited consumption. Beryllium is mainly extracted in the United States, with smaller quantities coming from China, Africa, and South America. The extraction process uses leaching of the ore in sulfuric acid to produce a sulfate, which undergoes solvent extraction to remove impurity elements. The beryllium‐rich fraction from solvent extraction is treated with ammonium carbonate to produce a complex carbonate that can be thermally separated into a pure form of beryllium hydroxide, the basic material used for producing all useful forms of beryllium. The metallic form of beryllium is produced from the hydroxide using a magnesium reduction process to convert beryllium fluoride to beryllium pebbles and magnesium fluoride. The pebbles are further refined to >99.5% purity by vacuum melting and powdered for conversion into useful shapes by a conventional powder metallurgy pressing and consolidation process. Many practical applications make use of beryllium's properties, particularly the high specific strength and stiffness of the pure metal, and the combination of high strength, conductivity, and resistance to stress relaxation that additions of 0.2–2.0% beryllium provide to alloys of copper, aluminum, and nickel. Typical applications of beryllium metal include components of aircraft, satellites, and space‐mounted astronomical telescopes, usually manufactured using powder metallurgy techniques. The nuclear properties of beryllium, particularly its interaction with neutrons as a multiplier and a reflector, are exploited in many fusion and fission reactions. The major use of the element, however, is in alloys that take advantage of its high strength and conductivity. These are fashioned into high reliability terminals used in automotive, aerospace, and electronic connectors. The thermal conductivity and low friction properties of the alloys are employed in plastic and metal forming molds, heavy equipment and aircraft bearings, and oil and gas drilling equipment.

Alkaline earth metals: homometallic bonding

“…1 Given their remarkably low density and high stiffness, beryllium alloys (and the metal itself ) find applications in aerospace engineering. 2 Radium, the heaviest (reported) Ae element, is radioactive and has no stable isotopes. 3 As a result, 223 Ra (t 1/2 = 11.43 days), which is a potent α-particle emitter, has found use in radiopharmaceuticals.…”

A Suggested Procedure for Chemical Processing of Beryl from Received Geological Sample, Eastern Desert, Egypt by Solvent Extraction Technique

“…Therefore, dissolution of Be from beryl containing geological samples is generally carried out by two routes; the sulfate pathway or the fluoride pathway. [11][12][13][14] .…”