Recovery of vanadium contained in spent catalysts from the Patricio Lumumba Factory through aluminothermy

Abstract

This research studies the recovery of vanadium and other chemical elements, contained in industrial spent catalysts at Patricio Lumumba Factory in Pinar del Río. Three pyrometallurgical charges composed of mill scale, spent catalyst, and aluminum chips, were evaluated. It was possible to obtain 1.5 % V – 28.66 % Si ferroalloys thus increasing perform chemical from 66 % to 88 % as the amount of processed load was increased. The alloy obtained has high brittleness, which facilitates its use in developing alloyed load for welding consumables. The slag performance remained close to 100%, relative to the theoretical potential, being all slags located in the corundum phase region of the Al2O3-Fe2O3-SiO2 state diagram with melting temperature above 1860 °C, which makes them feasible to develop refractory and abrasive materials.

Keywords

• aluminotermia
• cascarilla de laminación
• catalizador agotado
• vanadio
• ferroaleación