Recovery of Iron and Titanium from Vanadium-Extracted Tailings Via Direct Reduction-Classified Ball Milling-Magnetic Separation
摘要
The demand for vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) in China has increased annually. Vanadium-titanium magnetite with high vanadium content is preferentially treated via the direct sodium roasting-water leaching process to ensure efficient vanadium recovery, while iron and titanium remain unutilized in vanadium-extracted tailings. Recycling the abundant iron and titanium resources in such tailings is crucial. The reduction-magnetic separation method, widely applied in studies on traditional blast furnace-converter vanadium slag tailings, was recognized as a highly valuable approach. This study introduces this process to recover vanadium-extracted tailings from direct sodium roasting-water leaching production and develops a grinding-separation scheme tailored to the characteristics of reduced products. Thermodynamic analysis of the direct reduction process for the vanadium-extracted tailings was conducted. Single-factor conditional experiments revealed optimal parameters: carbon addition ratio of 1.2, reduction temperature of 1200 °C, reduction duration of 2 h, and anthracite as the reductant. Post-classified ball milling-magnetic separation, grinding durations were 16 min for particles < 150 μm and 12 min for particles > 150 μm. Under a magnetic field intensity of 100–120 mT, direct reduced iron (DRI) achieved a yield of 77%, iron grade of 83–85%, and iron recovery of 95–98%, while titanium-rich slag attained a titanium grade of 44–46% with titanium recovery of 63–65%. This study established a direct reduction-classified ball milling-magnetic separation process, enabling efficient recovery of iron and titanium from such tailings.
Graphical Abstract