Oxygen Pressure Acid Leaching of Vanadium Slag

Abstract

Oxygen pressure acid leaching process was used to extract vanadium from vanadium slag (Panzhihua steelmaking plant of China). The single factor experiment was finished and the effects of temperature, leaching time, liquid to solid ratio, stirring speed, initial concentration of sulfuric acid, and were investigated on the leaching rate of vanadium, titanium and iron. The leachate and residue were characterized by ICP, XRF, XRD, SEM and EDX. The experiment results indicate when temperature is 140 °C, leaching time is 120 min, liquid to solid ratio is 20:1(ml:g), stirring speed is 500 rpm, initial acid concentration is 200 g/L, oxygen partial pressure is 0.5 MPa, and particle size is -0.075~+0.055 mm, leaching rate of vanadium is 97.89% and the content of vanadium in the residue is 0.586%. Leaching rate of titanium and iron is 12.78% and 94.45% respectively. Vanadium could be extracted effectively through the oxygen pressure acid leaching process.