Effect of mechanical activation on the extraction of vanadium from vanadium slag pellet by sodium roasting followed by water leaching process

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this study, mechanical activation pretreatment was proposed to improve the recovery of vanadium from vanadium slag by sodium roasting – water leaching process and to increase the production capacity of the rotary kiln by granulation. The effects of mechanical activation on the characteristics, particle size distribution, micromorphology, and BET surface area of the slag, as well as the drop strength and vanadium leaching efficiency of vanadium slag pellet, were investigated. The results show that after mechanical activation, the grain size of vanadium slag becomes smaller, the grain strain becomes larger, the particle size of vanadium slag decreases, and the specific surface area increases. The drop strength of the vanadium slag pellet increased with increasing mechanical activation time. The vanadium leaching efficiency increased from 89% to 94%, while the roasting temperature was reduced from 900 °C to 850 °C through mechanical activation treatment.