Recovery Process of Vanadium from the Leaching Solution of Salt-Roasted Vanadate Ore

Abstract

In this study, the effects of solution components were investigated in the recovery of vanadium as ammonium metavanadate from vanadium-ore-salt roasting–water leaching solution. The vanadium-containing solution is strongly alkaline (pH 13), so the pH must be lowered to 9 or less to increase the ammonium metavanadate precipitation efficiency. However, in the process of adjusting the solution pH using sulfuric acid, aluminum ions are co-precipitated, which must be removed first. In this study, aluminum was precipitated in the form of an aluminum-silicate compound using sodium silicate, and the conditions for minimizing vanadium loss in this process were investigated. After aluminum removal, the silicate was precipitated and removed by adjusting the solution pH to 9 or less using sulfuric acid. In this process, the concentration and addition rate of sulfuric acid have a significant influence on the loss of vanadium, and vanadium loss was minimized as much as possible by slowly adding dilute sulfuric acid. Ammonium metavanadate was precipitated using three equivalents of ammonium chloride at room temperature from the aluminum-free, aqueous solution of vanadium following the pH adjustment process. The recovery yield of vanadium in the form of ammonium metavanadate exceeded 81%. After washing the product, vanadium pentoxide with 98.6% purity was obtained following heat treatment at 550 ℃ for 2 hours.