Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Production of Pure Vanadium: Industry Review and Feasibility Study of Electron Beam Melt Refining of V–Al Alloys

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Journal of Sustainable Metallurgy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The vanadium industry has experienced significant change over the last two decades with the emergence of vanadium redox flow batteries for grid-level energy storage, the growing demand for high-strength steel, and the selection of vanadium as a critical material in multiple countries. This review presents the status of the vanadium industry examining production processes and detailing facilities. The available information for each producer is presented including vanadium products and capacity. The production of pure vanadium is identified as a potential vulnerability for some nations where vanadium metal is needed in small, yet strategic, applications and globally only two producers of pure V were identified. One potential method to produce pure V is electron beam melt refining. Exploratory electron beam melt refining trials were performed on kilogram quantities of master (V–Al) alloys from the aerospace industry to explore the use of commercially available vanadium alloys to produce pure vanadium metal with minimal processing, as a means to mitigate potential risks.

Graphical Abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Adapted from [61]

Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Moskalyk RR, Alfantazi AM (2003) Processing of vanadium: a review. Miner Eng 16:793–805. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0892-6875(03)00213-9

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Nicholas L (2018) China’s new vanadium-steel rebar standards take effect, what’s next for vanadium market? In: VanadiumCorp Resource Inc. https://www.vanadiumcorp.com/news/industry/chinas-new-vanadium-steel-rebar-standards-take-effect-whats-next-for-vanadium-market/. Accessed 30 Apr 2020

  3. Hilbert J (2018) Vanitec applauds new stricter Chinese Rebar Standards. In: Vanitec. http://vanitec.org/latest-from-vanitec/article/vanitec-applauds-new-stricter-chinese-rebar-standard. Accessed 30 Apr 2020

  4. Roskill (2018) Vanadium: new Chinese rebar standards positive for ferrovanadium demand. https://roskill.com/news/vanadium-new-chinese-rebar-standards-positive-ferrovanadium-demand/. Accessed 30 Apr 2020

  5. Lourenssen K, Williams J, Ahmadpour F et al (2019) Vanadium redox flow batteries: a comprehensive review. J Energy Storage 25:100844. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.est.2019.100844

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. U.S. Department of Energy (2020) Global Energy Storage Database | Energy Storage Systems. https://www.sandia.gov/ess-ssl/global-energy-storage-database-home/. Accessed 30 Apr 2020

  7. Kotze C (2020) Shining a light on VRFBs for energy storage applications. In: Mining review Africa. https://www.miningreview.com/energy/shining-a-light-on-vrfb-for-energy-storage-applications/. Accessed 30 Apr 2020

  8. U.S. Department of the Interior (2018) Final list of critical minerals 2018. Fed Reg 83:23295–23296

    Google Scholar 

  9. European Commission (2017) The 2017 list of critical raw materials for the EU. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52017DC0490. Accessed 30 Apr 2020

  10. European Commission (2017) Study on the review of the list of critical raw materials: critical raw materials factsheets. In: Publications Office of the European Union. http://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/7345e3e8-98fc-11e7-b92d-01aa75ed71a1. Accessed 24 Mar 2021

  11. Hayes SM, McCullough EA (2018) Critical minerals: a review of elemental trends in comprehensive criticality studies. Resour Policy 59:192–199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2018.06.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Petranikova M, Tkaczyk AH, Bartl A et al (2020) Vanadium sustainability in the context of innovative recycling and sourcing development. Waste Manag 113:521–544. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2020.04.007

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Thomason J, Johannes E, Last H et al (2019) Estimating supply, demand, and base case shortfalls for high purity chromium and high purity vanadium for U.S. Defense and Essential Civilian Applications in Support of the Strategic and Critical Materials 2019 Report on Stockpile Requirements. Institute of Defense Analysis, Alexandria

  14. Gupta CK (2004) Pyrometallurgy. In: Gupta CK (ed) Chemical metallurgy. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp 343–457

  15. Bakish R (1998) The substance of a technology: electron-beam melting and refining. JOM 50:28

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Choudhury A, Hengsberger E (1992) Electron-beam melting and refining of metals and alloys. ISIJ Int 32:673–681. https://doi.org/10.2355/isijinternational.32.673

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Sasaki H, Kobashi Y, Nagai T, Maeda M (2013) Application of electron beam melting to the removal of phosphorus from silicon: toward production of solar-grade silicon by metallurgical processes. Adv Mater Sci Eng 2013:857196. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/857196

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Murr LE, Gaytan SM, Ramirez DA et al (2012) Metal fabrication by additive manufacturing using laser and electron beam melting technologies. J Mater Sci Technol 28:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1005-0302(12)60016-4

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Bauer G, Güther V, Hess H, et al (2017) Vanadium and vanadium compounds. In: Ley C, Elvers B (eds) Ullmann’s encyclopedia of industrial chemistry. Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co., pp 1–22

  20. Hilliard HE (1994) The materials flow of vanadium in the United States: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 9409. US Geological Survey

  21. Goonan TG (2011) Vanadium recycling in the United States in 2004. In: Sibley SF (ed) Flow studies for recycling metal commodities. US Geological Survey, pp S1–S17

  22. Marafi M, Stanislaus A (2008) Spent hydroprocessing catalyst management: a review: part II. Advances in metal recovery and safe disposal methods. Resour Conserv Recycl 53:1–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2008.08.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Bushveld Minerals (2019) The vertically integrated primary vanadium producer. In: Bushveld Minerals. http://www.bushveldminerals.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/March-2019-Corporate-Presentation.pdf. Accessed 4 May 2020

  24. Equities O (2011) Vanadium sector review. Ocean Equities Ltd, London

    Google Scholar 

  25. Kelley KD, Scott C, Polyak DE, Kimball BE (2017) Vanadium. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston

    Google Scholar 

  26. Taylor PR, Shuey SA, Vidal EE, Gomez JC (2006) Extractive metallurgy of vanadium-containing titaniferous magnetite ores: a review. Min Metall Explor 23:80–86. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403340

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. GE21 Ltda (2017) An updated mine plan, mineral reserve and preliminary economic assessment of the inferred resources. In: Largo Resources Ltd. https://s22.q4cdn.com/197308373/files/doc_downloads/maracas/NI43-101TechRpt(MaracasMen)-Nov8.pdf. Accessed 1 May 2020

  28. Mukherjee TK, Gupta CK (1993) Extraction of vanadium from an industrial waste. High Temp Mater Process 11:189–206. https://doi.org/10.1515/HTMP.1993.11.1-4.189

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Trypuć M, Kiełkowska U (1996) Solubility in the NH4HCO3 + NH4VO3 + H2O system. J Chem Eng Data 41:1005–1007. https://doi.org/10.1021/je950290c

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. International Atomic Energy Agency (1993) Uranium extraction technology. IAEA, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

  31. Energy Fuels Inc. (2019) Energy fuels provides update on vanadium production. In: Energy fuels. https://www.energyfuels.com/2019-04-01-Energy-Fuels-Provides-Update-on-Vanadium-Production. Accessed 30 Apr 2020

  32. Brewer L, Searcy AW (1951) The gaseous species of the Al-Al2O3 system 1,2,3. J Am Chem Soc 73:5308–5314. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01155a090

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Porter RF, Schissel P, Inghram MG (1955) A mass spectrometric study of gaseous species in the Al–Al2O3 system. J Chem Phys 23:339–342. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1741963

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Banchorndhevakul W, Matsui T, Naito K (1986) Vaporization study on vanadium-oxygen solid solution by mass spectrometric method. J Nucl Sci Technol 23:873–882. https://doi.org/10.1080/18811248.1986.9735071

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Powell A, Pal U, van den Avyle J et al (1997) Analysis of multicomponent evaporation in electron beam melting and refining of titanium alloys. Metall Mater Trans B 28:1227–1239. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11663-997-0078-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Safarian J, Engh TA (2013) Vacuum evaporation of pure metals. Metall Mater Trans A 44:747–753. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-012-1464-2

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Stull D (1972) Vapor pressure. In: Gray DE (ed) American institute of physics handbook, 3rd edn. McGraw Hill, New York

  38. Polyak D (2016) 2015 Mineral yearbook: vanadium. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston

    Google Scholar 

  39. Summerfield D (2019) Australian resource reviews: vanadium 2018. Geoscience Australia, Canberra

    Book  Google Scholar 

  40. Mojapelo F, Nikomarov M (2018) Vanadium 101. In: Bushveld Minerals. http://www.bushveldminerals.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Bushveld-Minerals-Vanadium-101_Final.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2020

  41. Chengde Tianda Vanadium Industry Co., Ltd. (2020) About us. In: Chengde Tianda Vanadium Industry Co. http://www.cdtdfy.com/cn/about.php. Accessed 6 May 2020

  42. EVRAZ plc (2015) EVRAZ annual report 2015. https://www.ar2015.evraz.com/AR2015_EVRAZ.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2020

  43. AMG Titanium Alloys and Coatings GfE (2020) Product overview A-Z. In: GfE Gesellschaft für Elektrometallurgie mbH. http://www.gfe.com/en/products-and-solutions/product-overview-a-z. Accessed 6 May 2020

  44. Rubamin (2020) Zinc & catalyst recycling. In: Rubamin Limited. https://rubamin.com/sourcing/. Accessed 6 May 2020

  45. Shirahase T (1993) Recycling of metals from spent hydrodesulfurizing catalysts. Shigen-to-Sozai 109:1133–1135. https://doi.org/10.2473/shigentosozai.109.1133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Taiyo Koko Co., Ltd. (2015) Vanadium. In: Taiyo Koko Co., Ltd. http://www.taiyokoko.co.jp/en/product/prod02.html. Accessed 6 May 2020

  47. Moxba Metrex (2019) Spent catalyst recycling process and flow. In: Moxba Metrex. https://moxba.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Moxba_Process_Flow_Brochure.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2020

  48. Bushveld Minerals (2020) Vanchem. In: Bushveld Minerals. https://www.bushveldminerals.com/vanchem-vanadium-project/. Accessed 6 May 2020

  49. Glencore (2019) Full year 2018 production report. In: Glencore. https://www.glencore.com/dam/jcr:3c1bb66d-e4f6-43f8-9664-b4541396c297/GLEN-2018-Q4-Production-Report.pdf. Accessed 6 May 2020

  50. Glencore (2020) Ferroalloys. In: Glencore. https://www.glencore.com/what-we-do/metals-and-minerals/ferroalloys. Accessed 6 May 2020

  51. GS Caltex (2012) 2012 sustainability report. In: GS Caltex. https://www.gscaltex.com/download/363. Accessed 6 May 2020

  52. Hong Jing Environment Company (2007) Factory profile. In: Hong Jing Environment Company. http://www.hjec.com.tw/en/Profile02.html. Accessed 7 May 2020

  53. AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. (2019) Enabling the circular economy—annual report 2019. In: AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. https://ig9we1q348z124x3t10meupc-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/AMG-Annual-Report-Web-FINAL.pdf. Accessed 7 May 2020

  54. AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. (2019) AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. completes acquisition of international specialty alloys. In: GfE Gesellschaft für Elektrometallurgie mbH. http://www.gfe.com/en/news/news-press-review/amg-advanced-metallurgical-group-n-v-completes-acquisiton-of-international-specialty-alloys-n858.html. Accessed 27 Apr 2020

  55. EVRAZ Stratcor (2015) Product specification: 85% vanadium-aluminum. In: EVRAZ. http://vanadium.evraz.com/upload/Van-Al%202.pdf. Accessed 7 May 2020

  56. Hilliard H (1994) 1994 Mineral yearbook: vanadium. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston

    Google Scholar 

  57. Llanos ZR, Deering WG (2013) Evolution of GCMC’s spent catalyst operations. In: Stewart DL, Daley JC, Stephens RL (eds) Recycling of metals and engineered materials. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp 759–771

  58. Silver Elephant Mining Corp. (2021) Gibellini (Vanadium). In: Silver Elephant Mining Corp. https://www.silverelef.com/projects/gibellini-vanadium/. Accessed 19 Mar 2021

  59. Polyak D (2020) 2017 Mineral yearbook: vanadium. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston

    Google Scholar 

  60. Laney K (2015) Ferrovanadium from China and South Africa. U.S. International Trade Commission, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  61. VanadiumPrice.com (2020) V2O5 vanadium pentoxide flake 98% price. In: LIVE Vanadium Price, News and Articles. https://www.vanadiumprice.com/#. Accessed 7 May 2020

  62. Smith JF (1985) The Si–V (silicon–vanadium) system: addendum. Bull Alloy Phase Diagr 6:266–271. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02880413

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. The authors also wish to acknowledge the assistance of Matthew Duncan and Robin Lampson in operating the electron beam furnace.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Devin Rappleye

    Present address: Department of Chemical Engineering, Brigham Young University, Engineering Building (EB), Room 330, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

  2. Rob Haun

    Present address: Anspanner LLC, Healdsburg, CA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, CA, 94551-0808, USA

    Devin Rappleye

  2. Retech Systems, LLC, 100 Henry Station Rd., Ukiah, CA, 95482, USA

    Rob Haun

Authors
  1. Devin Rappleye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rob Haun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Devin Rappleye.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

The contributing editor for this article was Christina Meskers.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rappleye, D., Haun, R. Production of Pure Vanadium: Industry Review and Feasibility Study of Electron Beam Melt Refining of V–Al Alloys. J. Sustain. Metall. 7, 755–766 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-021-00407-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-021-00407-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation