BACKGROUND: The dissolution behavior of calcium vanadates is vital for the vanadium extraction process, as well as the utilization of calcium vanadates based function materials. Therefore, the dissolution kinetics study of calcium vanadates (CaV 2 O 6 , Ca 2 V 2 O 7 , and Ca 3 V 2 O 8 ) in sulfuric acid are presented. The effects of stirring speed, solid/liquid ratio, pH, and temperature on the dissolution rate of calcium vanadates were determined. The mineralogical and microstructure of the residue after dissolution are also performed.
RESULTS:The results showed that the dissolution rate of calcium vanadates significantly increased with the increase of temperature from 30 to 70°C. Under the conditions with solid/liquid ratio of 1:150 g mL −1 , temperature range of 30 to 70°C, and pH of 4, the rate of Ca 3 V 2 O 8 dissolution is the fastest, followed by Ca 2 V 2 O 7 and CaV 2 O 6 , especially at low temperature. CONCLUSION: The mineralogical analyses results showed that the main products for the dissolution of Ca 2 V 2 O 7 and Ca 3 V 2 O 8 are needle-like CaSO 4 ·0.5H 2 O, whereas for CaV 2 O 6 are undissolved CaV 2 O 6 and hydrolyzed V 2 O 5 . The dissolution kinetics indicate that the dissolution of CaV 2 O 6 follows second-order pseudo-homogeneous model, whilst Ca 2 V 2 O 7 and Ca 3 V 2 O 8 follow the diffusion through the product or ash layer model. The apparent activation energies for the dissolution of CaV 2 O 6 , Ca 2 V 2 O 7 , and Ca 3 V 2 O 8 were determined as 46.44, 38.72, and 23.50 kJ mol −1 , respectively.