Abstract
Metallurgical vanadium-containing converter slag could be used as an alternative vanadium source. The development of a physico-chemical basis for the comprehensive processing of industrial vanadium-containing debris requires information about their elemental composition as well as the oxidation degrees of the elements and forms of compounds in order to solve two key problems: a better utilization of industrial wastes and a lowering of environment impact. This research was aimed at the development of methods to determine the fractions of elements and their oxidation degrees in vanadium-containing industrial debris exemplified by basic oxygen converter vanadium slags. A set of bulk and surface analysis methods (X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)) was used for this purpose: based on results of elemental analysis, SEM detects the oxide phases of metals, while an analysis of the XPS lines’ fine structures provides fractions of corresponding elements with definite oxidation degrees. In this way, one can determine the fractions of vanadium in multiple oxidation degrees in slags and can properly select the chemicals and parameters of chemical processes for its fullest extraction.
Highlights
Vanadium is considered to be one of the prospective alloying metals that can produce steels with high mechanical and other consumer properties
85% of the consumed vanadium relates to ferrovanadium [1]
The phase composition analysis was based on typical contrast for each of phases
Summary
Vanadium is considered to be one of the prospective alloying metals that can produce steels with high mechanical and other consumer properties. 85% of the consumed vanadium relates to ferrovanadium [1]. Most vanadium is extracted from titanium magnetite ores. There are other options for vanadium extraction [10,11,12,13,14]. Vanadium slag is a strongly consolidated mass with metallic inclusions. An oxide part of the slag contains compounds of iron, silicon, manganese, vanadium, chromium, titanium, magnesium, aluminum, and calcium. Metal inclusions are formed by an iron-based alloy, and their dimensions can vary from fractions of millimeter to several tens of centimeters in diameter. Vanadium spinel is the main mineral in the slag. Its silicate part is comprised of fayalite, cristobalite, olivine, pyroxene, Materials 2019, 12, 3578; doi:10.3390/ma12213578 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
