Vanadium Recovery from Solid Catalysts by Means of Thiobacilli Action

LAURA E. BRIAND; HORACIO J. THOMAS; ALEJANDRA DE LA VEGA ALONSO; EDGARDO R. DONATI

BIOHYDROMETALLURGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT TOWARD THE MINING OF THE 21st CENTURY (PROCESS METALLURGY)

ELSEVIER

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 1999; p. 263 - 271

Bioleaching of vanadium-titanium and spent vanadium-phosphorous catalysts with Thiobacillus thiooxidans cultures and elemental sulphur as energy source, allowed up to 98.4 % vanadium recovery. Thiobacillus thiooxidans catalyses the aerobic oxidation of elemental sulfur which generates sulphuric acid and reducing intermediate species. These substances reduce and dissolve vanadium specie that are present in the catalysts under oxidation state (+5). The amount of recovered vanadium was correlated with the catalysts reducibility.