Phosphoric acid solvent extraction, vanadium

For solvent extraction of a tetravalent vanadium oxyvanadium cation, the leach solution is acidified to ca pH 1.6—2.0 by addition of sulfuric acid, and the redox potential is adjusted to —250 mV by heating and reaction with iron powder. Vanadium is extracted from the blue solution in ca six countercurrent mixer—settler stages by a kerosene solution of 5—6 wt % di-2-ethyIhexyl phosphoric acid (EHPA) and 3 wt % tributyl phosphate (TBP). The organic solvent is stripped by a 15 wt % sulfuric acid solution. The rich strip Hquor containing ca 50—65 g V20 /L is oxidized batchwise initially at pH 0.3 by addition of sodium chlorate then it is heated to 70°C and agitated during the addition of NH to raise the pH to 0.6. Vanadium pentoxide of 98—99% grade precipitates, is removed by filtration, and then is fused and flaked. 

Vanadium usually is recovered from its ores by one of two processes, (1) leaching raw mineral with hot dilute sulfuric acid, and (2) roasting ore with common salt to convert vanadium into water soluble sodium vanadates. In the sulfuric acid leaching process, vanadium is extracted from acid leach liquors by solvent extraction with an aliphatic amine or an alkyl phosphoric acid in kerosene. The organic solvent extract then is treated with an aqueous solution of ammonia in the presence of ammonium chloride to convert vanadium into ammonium metavanadate. Alternatively, the organic extract is treated with dilute sulfuric acid or an aqueous solution of soda ash under controlled conditions of pH. Vanadium is precipitated from this solution as a red cake of sodium polyvanadate. 

As a substitute for chonical methods Chemical methods consume reagents and frequently lead to expensive disposal problems for chemical by-products. Liquid extraction, which incurs no chemical consumption or by-product production, can be less costly. Metal separations such as uranium-vanadium, hafnium-zirconium, and tungsten-molybdenum and the fission products of atomic-energy processes are more economical by liquid extraction. Even lower-cost metals such as copper and inorganic chemicals such as phosphoric acid, boric acid, and the like are economically purified by liquid extraction, despite the fact that the cost of solvent recovery must be included in the final reckoning. 

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