Leach, BE; Hritz, GG; Royer, DJ
A method for preparing alumina extrudates having a loose bulk density from 15-35 lb/cu ft, a cumulative pore volume, 0-10,000 A, from 0.8-2.0 cc/g, and a surface area of 150- 350 sq m/g, consists essentially of sequentially admixing 50 parts alumina having the properties: a loose bulk density from 7.5-25 lb/cu ft, a cumulative pore volume, 0-10,000 A, from 1.0-2.75 cc/g, a surface area from 260- 400 sq m/g and an Al2O3 content from 77-100per cent Al2O3, with from 40-125 parts water, to form an extrudable putty-like alumina-water mixture and extruding the mixture wherein the alumina is produced by: hydrolyzing aluminum alkoxides to produce an aqueous alumina portion containing up to about 32per cent Al2O3 and an organic portion; separating aqueous alumina portion from organic portion; admixing aqueous alumina portion with an organic solvent selected from the group consisting of ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, isobutanol, tertiary butanol and mixtures thereof to form a solvent-aqueous alumina mixture containing an amount of solvent equal to at least 25per cent of the amount of the solvent required to azeotropically remove the water from the mixture; and drying solvent-aqueous alumina mixture to produce alumina having a loose bulk density from 7.5-25 lb/cu ft, a cumulative pore volume, 0-10,000 A, from 1.0-2.75 cc/g, a surface area from 260- 400 sq m/g and an Al2O3 content from 77-100per cent Al2O3.