Preparation of high-purity vanadium metal by molten salt synergistic magnesiothermic reduction

YU Jie; ZHONG Dapeng; HUANG Qingyun; XU Haiming; XIANG Junyi; YU Wenhao; LÜ Xuewei

doi:10.7513/j.issn.1004-7638.2025.06.009

Volume 46 Issue 6

Dec. 2025

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YU Jie, ZHONG Dapeng, HUANG Qingyun, XU Haiming, XIANG Junyi, YU Wenhao, LÜ Xuewei. Preparation of high-purity vanadium metal by molten salt synergistic magnesiothermic reduction[J]. IRON STEEL VANADIUM TITANIUM, 2025, 46(6): 78-83. doi: 10.7513/j.issn.1004-7638.2025.06.009

Citation:

YU Jie, ZHONG Dapeng, HUANG Qingyun, XU Haiming, XIANG Junyi, YU Wenhao, LÜ Xuewei. Preparation of high-purity vanadium metal by molten salt synergistic magnesiothermic reduction[J]. IRON STEEL VANADIUM TITANIUM, 2025, 46(6): 78-83. doi: 10.7513/j.issn.1004-7638.2025.06.009

Citation:

YU Jie, ZHONG Dapeng, HUANG Qingyun, XU Haiming, XIANG Junyi, YU Wenhao, LÜ Xuewei. Preparation of high-purity vanadium metal by molten salt synergistic magnesiothermic reduction[J]. IRON STEEL VANADIUM TITANIUM, 2025, 46(6): 78-83. doi: 10.7513/j.issn.1004-7638.2025.06.009

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Preparation of high-purity vanadium metal by molten salt synergistic magnesiothermic reduction

doi: 10.7513/j.issn.1004-7638.2025.06.009

1.
School of Metallurgical and Power Engineering, Chongqing University of Science and Technology, Chongqing 401331, China
2.
College of Materials Science and Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China

More Information

Received Date: 2025-06-11
Accepted Date: 2025-08-27
Rev Recd Date: 2025-07-03

Available Online: 2025-12-31

Publish Date: 2025-12-31

Abstract

Abstract

The conventional metallothermic reduction process for vanadium production suffers from high metal consumption, elevated costs, and high oxygen content in the resulting metallic vanadium. While magnesium reduction is thermodynamically capable of reducing oxygen content to 0.01%, the formation of an MgO/MgV₂O₄ oxide layer severely impedes the reaction kinetics during the actual process. This study innovatively proposes a novel two-step process: “synergetic magnesiothermic reduction by hydrogen reduction-molten salt.” Firstly, low-valent vanadium oxides (V₂O₃, VO) are prepared via hydrogen reduction to serve as the feedstock for the magnesiothermic reduction step. Subsequently, reactive ZrCl₄-KCl molten salt is employed as a medium to disrupt the oxide layer encapsulation effect and overcome the kinetic limitations. This enables the simultaneous magnesium reduction of vanadium oxides and interfacial purification of the oxide layer at a lower temperature. Following optimization of process parameters (Mg addition: 35%, reaction time: 1 h, temperature: 800 ℃), high-purity metallic vanadium with an oxygen content of approximately 0.16% was successfully produced.
- molten salt,
- magnesiothermic reduction,
- VO,
- vanadium metal,
- oxide layer

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References(25)

References

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