Selective separation of dissolved tungsten and vanadium is of great significance for the utilization of the secondary resources of these elements. In this work, selective removal of vanadium from tungstate solutions via microbubble floating-extraction was systematically investigated. The results indicated that vanadium can be more easily mineralized over tungsten from tungstate solutions using methyl trioctyl ammonium chloride as mineralization reagent under weak alkaline conditions. Owing to the higher bubble and interface mass transfer rates, high-efficiency enrichment and deep separation of vanadium could be achieved easily. Additionally, the deep recovery of tungsten and vanadium from the floated organic phase could be easily realized using a mixed solution of sodium hydroxide and sodium chloride as stripping agents. The separation mechanism mainly included the formation of hydrophobic complexes, their attachment on the surface of rising bubbles, and their mass transfer at the oil–water interface. Under the optimal conditions, the removal efficiency of vanadium reached 98.5% with tungsten loss below 8% after two-stage microbubble floating-extraction. Therefore, the microbubble floating-extraction could be an efficient approach for separating selectively vanadium from tungstate solutions, exhibiting outstanding advantages of high separation efficiency and low consumption of organic solvents.
. [J]. Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, 2023, 17(5): 581-593.
Hanyu Wang, Shengpeng Su, Yanfang Huang, Bingbing Liu, Hu Sun, Guihong Han. Highly efficient and selective removal of vanadium from tungstate solutions by microbubble floating-extraction. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng., 2023, 17(5): 581-593.
, , , , and represent the concentrations of tungsten and vanadium in the feed, supernatant, raffinate, stripping solution, and floated organic phases; and are the volumes of the floated organic phase and stripping solution, respectively; DV and DW are the distribution coefficient of V and W, respectively.
Flotation efficiency
Stripping efficiency
Distribution coefficient
Separation factor
Tab.1
Equation No.
Relevant reaction
lg k
Formula
Ref.
(1)
WO42? + H+ = HWO24?
3.5
[HWO4?] = 103.5[WO42?][H+]
[8]
(2)
7WO42? + 8H+ = W7O246? + 4H2O
65.19
[W7O246?] = 1065.19[WO42?]7[H+]8
[35]
(3)
7WO42? + 9H+ = HW7O245? + 4H2O
69.96
[HW7O245?] = 1069.96[WO42?]7[H+]9
[35]
(4)
12WO42? + 14H+ = H2W12O4210? + 6H2O
115.38
[H2W12O4210?] = 10115.38[WO42?]12[H+]14
[8]
(5)
VO43? + H+ = HVO42?
13.36
[HVO42?] = 1013.36[VO43?][H+]
[8]
(6)
2VO43? + 3H+ = HV2O73? + H2O
37.17
[HV2O73?] = 1037.17[VO43?]2[H+]3
[8]
(7)
4VO43? + 8H+ = V4O124? + H2O
95.11
[V4O124?] = 1095.11[VO43?]4[H+]8
[8]
(8)
VO43? + 4H+ = VO2+ + 2H2O
28.23
[VO2+] = 1028.23[VO43?][H+]4
[8]
(9)
2VO43? + 4WO42? + 10H+ = V2W4O194? + 5H2O
99.29
[V2W4O194?] = 1099.29[VO43?]2[WO42?]4[H+]10
[8]
(10)
3VO43? + 3WO42?+ 10H+ = V3W3O195? + 5H2O
105.49
[V3W3O195?] = 10105.49[VO43?]3[WO42?]3[H+]10
[8]
Tab.2
Fig.3
Fig.4
Fig.5
Fig.6
Fig.7
Fig.8
Fig.9
Method
Feed solutions
Experimental condition
Separation efficiency/%
Ref.
Solvent extraction
1.0 g?L?1 tungsten0.1 g?L?1 vanadium
0.1 mol?L?1 LiX63-decyl alcohol-kerosene pH = 8.0
Tungsten extraction could be neglectedVanadium extraction of 70%
[5]
Solvent extraction
52.5 g?L?1 tungsten6.4 g?L?1 vanadium
20% Aliquat336-40% 2-octanol-sulfonated kerosene as the organic phase pH = 8.7, O/A = 2/1
Tungsten extraction of 12.34%Vanadium extraction of 97.13%
[49]
Solvent extraction
10 g?L?1 tungsten1.0 g?L?1 vanadium
10% Aliquat336-10% 2-octanol-sulfonated kerosene as the organic phase pH = 8.6, O/A = 1/6
Tungsten extraction of 7.74%Vanadium extraction of 92.02%
[50]
Microbubble floating-extraction
10 g?L?1 tungsten1.0 g?L?1 vanadium
1% Aliquat336 as the mineralization reagent, 10% 2-octanol-sulfonated kerosene as the organic phase, pH = 8.5, and O/A = 1/5
Tungsten flotation efficiency of 6.11%Vanadium flotation efficiency of 95.44%
This work
Tab.3
Fig.10
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