Extracting Vanadium from Stone Coal by a Cyclic Alkaline Leaching Method

In order to achieve an efficient and economical approach on extracting vanadium from stone coal, a cyclic alkaline leaching method was studied in this work. The effects of operating parameters, including the NaOH concentration, temperature, reaction time, and liquid–solid ratio, on vanadium leaching efficiency were investigated. Also, we studied the influence of caustic soda dosage on the cyclic leaching process as well as the effect of increasing ionic strength in leachates and wash water. The results show that this method achieved a 51 pct decrease of the dosage of caustic soda under the optimized conditions compared with the single-step alkaline leaching. The average leaching yield of vanadium reached 82.28 pct. The leachates and wash water in each leaching cycle were utilized for the next leaching cycle, achieving the recycling of alkali as well as waste water. During the cyclic process, the volume of water was not increased, which markedly reduces the discharge of waste water and is also beneficial in terms of cost reduction.