A Review on the Metallurgical Recycling Process of Vanadium from Secondary Resources

ABSTRACTVanadium is a critical metal that has been widely used in a broad variety of applications with almost no metal substitutes. However, the limited availability of its (vanadium) primary resources has raised concerns of supply security. In view of the criticality, recycling vanadium from secondary resources has been identified as a vital supply alternative. This article thus presents a comprehensive overview of metallurgical processes used in the recycling of vanadium from a variety of secondary resources, including spent HDS catalyst, spent SCR catalyst, fly ash, red mud, Bayer's sludge, alloy scrap, tailings, etc. First, the physicochemical characteristics of these secondary resources are emphasized. Understanding the characteristics of vanadium-bearing secondary resources is important as it determines the recycling route. The metallurgical recycling processes of vanadium, which include aqueous- and thermal processes are discussed in depth, along with the theoretical backgrounds and fundamentals of each process. Also discussed are the industrial-scale processes and trend in research and development (R&D) for the respective secondary resources. Besides highlighting the status of recycling processes, the article also provides prospective directions for such resources.KEYWORDS: Vanadiumrecyclingsecondary resourcesaqueous processthermal process Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Supplementary materialSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/08827508.2023.2243007.Additional informationFundingThis research was supported by the Basic Research Project [GP2022-010, 23-3212-1] of the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea.