Recovery of pure molybdenum and vanadium compounds from spent petroleum catalysts by treatment with ionic liquid solution in the presence of oxidizing agent

Nonaqueous solutions were employed to investigate the selective recovery of vanadium and molybdenum from the spent petroleum catalysts. In this work, commercial extractants such as D2EHPA, Alamine336 and Aliquat336, and an ionic liquid synthesized from Aliquat336 and D2EHPA, ALi-D2, were employed as a lixiviant and extractant for the target metal ions in the presence of oxidizing agent, H2O2. Among the 4 nonaqueous systems, ALi-D2 showed the best performance for the selective and effective leaching of vanadium and molybdenum over alumina, nickel and iron. The effect of several parameters on the leaching efficiency was also studied. Under the optimum conditions, the leaching percentage of vanadium and molybdenum was 74.6 and 89.6% in the first stage and 26.0 and 66.9% in the second stage by ALi-D2 system. Vanadium and molybdenum from the ALi-D2 loaded phase can be sequentially precipitated by NH4Cl and BaCl2 solutions in alkaline media. Precipitation percentage of vanadium were 94.2% and its purity was 99.5%, whereas that of molybdenum was 99.4% with 84.1% purity. A process was proposed for recovery of vanadium and molybdenum from the spent petroleum catalysts. Pure vanadium and molybdenum compounds can be recovered by this process with less burden to the environment.

Automated summary

The selective recovery of vanadium and molybdenum from spent petroleum catalysts was investigated using nonaqueous solutions. Among the different nonaqueous systems studied, ALi-D2 showed the best performance for selective leaching and efficient recovery of vanadium and molybdenum with high purity. Sequential precipitation with NH4Cl and BaCl2 solutions allowed for effective separation of vanadium and molybdenum, providing a less environmentally burdensome process for metal recovery.