Aluchem of Little Rock

AluChem is a leader in the manufacture of specialty alumina and dedicated to producing the highest quality alumina products in our industry, as well as providing unmatched customer service.

AluChem was founded in 1978 in Cincinnati, Ohio by Ron Zapletal, Ron Bell and Edward Butera, who still own the company today.  The original facility continues to operate in a manufacturing capacity and serves as the corporate headquarters for AluChem, Inc., which operates facilities in Jackson, Ohio and Little Rock, Arkansas.

AluChem started as a specialty Hydrated Alumina (ATH) producer on the supply fundamentals of quality and service, and carried that focus forward as it navigated a strategic plan of investment in infrastructure, expansion and growth.  AluChem moved away from  Hydrated Alumina several years ago and transitioned into a full complement of specialty aluminas, including Calcined and Tabular Alumina, and Reactive and Polishing grades.  Our primary product focus is in the investment casting, refractories, advanced ceramics and polishing industries.

The AluChem team is dedicated to our ownership’s unyielding commitment to producing the highest quality, most tightly controlled products in our industry. This commitment is the driving force behind everything we do.  It is why we have moved toward a new line of low and ultra-low soda aluminas focused towards investment casting and ceramics applications.  This new high purity product portfolio utilizes proprietary technology in the soda reduction process to produce some of the highest purity aluminas available today.

Our quality. Our service. Our people. Your Solution.

AluChem launched this green initiative in 2008 as a program designed to promote the use of renewable and recyclable materials.  Through this initiative, AluChem has utilized more than 6,000 tons of our by-products and solid waste streams in various products, applications and markets.  Additionally, we are committed to helping our customers re-purpose their alumina-based, solid waste streams in an effort to reduce cost(s) and avoid landfills.

PRODUCTS

tabular alumina

Tabular aluminas are fully shrunk coarse crystalline alpha aluminas that have been converted to their corundum form.  Tabular alumina is produced by sintering ball-formed, intermediately burned calcined alumina at a temperature just under the 2040º C melting point of aluminum oxide.  These tabular alumina balls are then crushed, graded or screened, ground and blended to a wide range of granular or powdered particle size distributions.  AluChem’s (AC99) tabular alumina is available as low or ultra-low soda, de-ironed and de-dusted and in a wide variety of packages.
The typical properties of tabular alumina are:

• Chemical inertness – resistant to most alkalis and mineral acids
• High-density
• Low water absorption
• Extreme hardness
• High thermal conductivity
• Good resistance to thermal and mechanical shock
• High heat capacity
• High electrical resistance
• Excellent abrasion resistance

Reactive grade aluminas meet the stringent application requirements of advance ceramics and high-quality refractory products, such as castable refractories.  AluChem’s reactive grade aluminas are designed for a high-level of performance due to tightly controlled and homogenized particle size distributions developed around high-purity alumina milling components.  These finely milled products are controlled to a specific surface area and green density to optimize fired density and provide for controlled shrinkage.  Reactive grade products offer excellent sinter reactivity, reduced water demand, and enhance the final product in terms of porosity, wear resistance, mechanical strength and high-temperature mechanical performance.