Pre-Concentration of Vanadium from Stone Coal by Gravity Using Fine Mineral Spiral
Due to the low grade of V2O5 in stone coal, the existing vanadium extraction technologies face challenges in terms of large handling capacity, high acid consumption and production cost. The pre-concentration of vanadium from stone coal before the extraction process is an effective method to reduce cost. In this study, detailed mineral characterization of stone coal was investigated. It has been confirmed that the vanadium mainly occurs in muscovite and illite. A significant demand for an effective pre-concentration process with simple manipulation for discarding quartz and other gangue minerals is expected. Based on the mineralogical study, a new vanadium pre-concentration process using a fine mineral spiral was investigated. The experimental results showed that the separation process, which was comprised of a rougher and scavenger, could efficiently discard quartz, pyrite and apatite. A final concentrate with V2O5 grade of 1.02% and recovery of 89.6% could be obtained, with 26.9% of the raw ore being discarded as final tailings.
Separation Processes for Self-Sufficient Recovery of Vanadium Resources in Korea
Vanadium (V) is a transition metal with a silver-gray color. It is commonly used in high-strength alloys because of its ability to improve impact and abrasion resistance, even when only a small amount is added. In recent years, there has been active research into vanadium reduction-oxidation flow batteries (VRFB), which are suitable for use in the development of storage devices for renewable energy applications. Separation and recovery of vanadium from low-grade stone coal ore is currently being investigated in China. Various pre-treatment processes have been studied, such as magnetic separation and gravity separation, that can be used to treat large quantities of ore, as well as flotation processing based on the surface characteristics of the minerals. There is an urgent need for the development of separation technologies to facilitate the self-sufficient extraction of vanadium resources present in Korea.
Overview of flotation as a wastewater treatment technique
The treatment of aqueous or oily effluents is one of the most serious environmental issues faced by the minerals and metallurgy industries. Main pollutants are residual reagents, powders, chemicals, metal ions, oils, organic and some may be valuable (Au, Pt, Ag). The use of flotation is showing a great potential due to the high throughput of modern equipment, low sludge generation and the high efficiency of the separation schemes already available. It is concluded that this process will be soon incorporated as a technology in the minerals industry to treat these wastewaters and, when possible, to recycle process water and materials. In this paper, the use of flotation in environmental applications is fully discussed. Examples of promising emerging techniques and devices are reported and some recent advances in the treatment of heavy metal containing waters and emulsified oil wastes are discussed.