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Abstract The present work introduces methodology to optimize the alumina extraction as an aluminum sulfate (Alum) from Egyptian clay using sulfuric acid. This study was performed to ensure a high alumina recovery over the experimental ranges employed, and to evaluate the interactive effects of the calcination temperature, extraction time, acid concentration, extraction temperature, and clay particle size on the extraction process in order to improve the conditions employed in the acid leaching process. Experiments were carried out employing the detailed conditions based on the full factorial 2n design. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that a second order polynomial regression equation was appropriate for fitting the experimental data. The experimental confirmation tests showed a correlation between the predicted and experimental responses (R2 = 0.926). The optimum conditions for the process parameters were obtained as: 660 {u00B0}C calcination temperature; 3.288 h extraction time; 47% acid concentration; 82 {u00B0}C extraction temperature and 0.5 mm clay particle size with constant stirring speed of 250 rpm and constant solid-to-liquid ratio of 0.2 gm solid/ml liquid. Under these optimum conditions, 83.5% alumina extraction was achieved |