Vanadium is a strategically important rare metal in the world, and vanadium products are increasingly being used in high-tech fields such as aerospace. Vanadium products used in the steel industry globally account for over 85% of the world's total applications. Panzhihua has abundant vanadium resources, accounting for over 50% of China's vanadium resources and about 19% of the world's vanadium resources. The domestic market share of vanadium heavy rail is 40%, and all vanadium products have a market share of over 80% in the domestic market. The Panxi region also has abundant metallurgical fuel and auxiliary material resources, so vigorously developing vanadium extraction technology, deep processing products, and new applications in China has a unique foundation and broad prospects.

Resources of vanadium

At present, the main sources of vanadium products in the world are Australia, China, Russia and South Africa with titanium containing Magnetite (mainly relying on recovering vanadium from Venezuelan oil residues). According to experts' estimates of vanadium reserves, if economically mined, combined with potential reserves that may be utilized, the world has approximately 41.3 million tons. Comparing the total reserves with the current consumption level of 33250 tons, the total reserves are sufficient for future use for several centuries. Brazil, Chile and Malaysia have Magnetite containing a small amount of vanadium. There are vanadium bearing Oil shale and asphalt sand in North America and Queensland, Australia. In Alberta, Canada, vanadium can be extracted from tar sand. Aluminum clay from Arkansas and uranium ore from Colorado may once again become sources of vanadium. The crude oil stored along the Orinoco in Venezuela contains vanadium, which may be extracted from the boiler ash and dust of the power plant burning this fuel. Except for Russia, vanadium resources are very scarce in the European region.

Among the Proven reserves in Panzhihua, vanadium titanium Magnetite accounts for nearly 10 billion tons. Vanadium titanium Magnetite is associated with vanadium, titanium, chromium, cobalt, nickel, gallium, scandium and other non-ferrous and rare metals. The V205 reserves are 15.78 million tons, accounting for 62% of China's vanadium reserves and 11% of the world's reserves [1, 2].

Production of 2 Vanadium

Major vanadium producing countries around the world are producing various vanadium containing products and vanadium steel. The main countries producing vanadium slag are South Africa, Russia, China, and Chile. The total production capacity of vanadium slag in China is second only to Russia, ranking second in the world. The main countries producing V205 include South Africa, Russia, the United States, China, and Japan. At present, China's V205 production capacity has reached 17000 tons per year, ranking fourth in the world. China is one of the world's three largest vanadium producing countries, and Pangang is also one of the world's three largest vanadium product producers. Pangang has an annual output of 12 million tons of vanadium titanium Magnetite. Panzhihua New Steel Vanadium Co., Ltd. has vanadium slag, V205, V203, high vanadium iron, Vanadium nitride, etc. The company has many types of vanadium steel, including over 200 varieties such as the profile series represented by heavy rail and the series of steel represented by hot rolled plate coils. The production and growth rate of vanadium products by the company from 1998 to 2000 are listed in Table 1 [1,2].

Application of 3 Vanadium

Vanadium is mainly used as an additive in the steel industry. About 85% of the world's vanadium is used in the steel industry, of which 20% is carbon steel, 25% is high-strength low-alloy steel (HsLA), 20% is alloy steel, and 15% is Tool steel. Due to its high strength, it is widely used in engineering construction such as oil (gas) pipelines, buildings, bridges, steel rails, and pressure vessels. The corrosion resistant high vanadium Tool steel developed in the United States by powder metallurgy cold working method has excellent performance and is suitable for tools in various applications [1,2].

3.1 Application in Steel

By 2000, the application volume of vanadium steel in China had reached 1.2 million tons/year, indicating an annual increase of 10% in the application of vanadium containing steel. The application of vanadium in steel is mainly achieved by adding vanadium to improve strength and toughness. Vanadium has many different effects on the microstructure and properties of steel. For example, in high carbon steel, vanadium forms hard carbides, achieving the wear resistance required by molds and machine tools. At high temperatures, carbides do not soften. Therefore, the bearings of gas turbine engines also use this type of steel; In low-carbon steel, vanadium forms fine precipitates at high temperatures during processing, thereby improving its strength and toughness at low temperatures. Therefore, vanadium containing steel can be used for bridges, buildings, and pipelines; Vanadium in welded steel can stabilize and rapidly cool to form a tough ferrite phase, improving the toughness of the weldment at low temperatures; Vanadium The fine Vanadium carbide precipitate produced in the steel for high-temperature operation is still very stable when the temperature exceeds 500 ℃ [1].

3 1 2 Application in Batteries

Vanadium is used as the positive electrode in batteries in the form of vanadium oxide, such as V205 and V6013 as the positive electrode of lithium batteries. Five Japanese companies, Kajima Power Generation, Mitsubishi Chemical, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric and Mitsubishi Trading, are developing vanadium secondary batteries (i.e. all vanadium ion batteries), which have been put into practice. It uses V205+H2S04 as a liquid electrolyte, carbon as the positive and negative electrodes, and vanadium ions and electrodes in the electrolyte are charged and discharged through electron acceptors. The amount of battery storage depends on the size of the electrolyte storage container. The output power of the initially developed battery was only 10kW, and a 200kW battery was developed in the second half of 1996. After 1997, high-capacity batteries ranging from 30 to tens of thousands of kilowatts were developed. The advantage of batteries is that they can be safely used at room temperature, and both the electrolyte and battery have a long service life. The manufacturing cost is low, below 800000 yen/kW, lower than 1.5 million yen/kW of Sodium-ion battery. The consumption of V205 for batteries in Japan is about 5000t · a-1, accounting for about 10% of the world's total V205 consumption.

The United States is also developing vanadium batteries, such as a hybrid amorphous vanadium oxide developed in the United States as an electrode for rechargeable lithium batteries. The expression for this type of vanadium oxide is: LixMyV: 0 (x+5:+ny)/2, where M is a metal, 0<x<3, 0<y<3, 1<:<4, n=2 or 3. It is believed that this material has excellent performance as an electrode [4].

The United States uses V205 material to make lithium-ion batteries, first produced β. The positive electrode composed of LixV205 is formed by reacting V205 with lithium salts to convert all V205 into LixV205. Through this electrochemical reaction, a positive electrode containing lithium and V205 is formed. This type of electrode has excellent performance [5].

3 1 3 Application in Chemical Industry

Vanadium products mainly used in chemical industry include deep-processing products V205 (98%~99.99%), NH4V03 (Ammonium metavanadate), Na. V03 and KV03. They are respectively applied to catalysts, ceramic colorants, developers, desiccants, and raw materials for producing high-purity vanadium oxide or ferrovanadium. The United States has developed a new type of vanadium catalyst for sulfuric acid production, petroleum refining, and chemical production. In terms of preservatives, the United States has developed a new vanadium corrosion inhibitor using V205 material. This inhibitor is mainly used to suppress corrosive fuel mixtures [7]. In terms of the application of the above-mentioned materials, the annual demand in China is 300-500 tons, most of which rely on imports. In addition, Chinese companies plan to increase equipment to achieve annual production of 150 and 100 tons of NH4V03 and NaV03, respectively. In the United States, the annual consumption of V205 catalyst is about 450-680 tons, of which 35% is used for the production of sulfuric acid and 35% is used for petroleum refining. In terms of using V205 as catalyst, the specific process is to use it to oxidize sulfur dioxide into Sulfur trioxide when manufacturing sulfuric acid, which can be made into sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is the basic material for fertilizer production in the world. V205 is also used as a catalyst for petrochemical production. It has special activity as a catalyst, and other elements are difficult to replace. With the rapid development of the chemical industry and scientific technology, the importance of vanadium as a catalyst will become more apparent, and its application value will also be reflected in more industries. The chemical composition of Chinese chemical grade V205 is listed in Table 2 [1, 7].

3 1 4 Application in alloys

The application of vanadium in alloys is mainly reflected in titanium based alloys, such as the production of Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-6V-2sn, and Ti-8Al-1V-Mo alloys. Ti-6Al-4V alloy is an excellent high-temperature structural material used in the manufacturing of aircraft and rockets, which is highly valued in the United States. Its production accounts for over 50% of all titanium based vanadium alloys. The amount of vanadium metal used in titanium based vanadium alloys in the United States each year reaches 454 tons. In addition, vanadium can be used in magnetic materials, hard alloys, superconducting materials (such as V3Ga) and nuclear reactor materials. In the field of alloy applications, the development plan of the United States is to achieve 2000 tons/year of vanadium doped aerospace grade intermediate alloy products in the 21st century.

3 New Applications of 5 Vanadium

Changchun Pharmaceutical Group New Drug Research and Development Co., Ltd. has developed a new drug combined with Mai Oxovanadine capsule, which can treat diabetes. This vanadium compound can restore the body's sensitivity to insulin, correct insulin hyporesistance, reduce blood sugar and prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications caused by insulinemia. It is more advanced than the commonly used clinical hypoglycemic drugs and insulin. At present, this drug has been industrialized, There is a trend towards replacing current hypoglycemic drugs. There are 30 million diabetes patients in China. If calculated based on the annual drug expenditure of 200 to 300 yuan per patient, the annual drug expenditure of such patients nationwide is 6 to 9 billion yuan. According to predictions, the market value of Lianmai Vanadium Oxide is estimated to be several billion yuan per year. Therefore, this vanadium doped drug has broad market prospects [1].

Vanadium can remove toxic hydrogen sulfide from natural gas and toxic nitrogen oxide from wastewater from fossil fuel power plants; Vanadium can improve the light color of mercury lamp. Coating a layer of vanadium oxide and Yttrium(III) oxide on the surface of mercury lamp can change the light color; V205 can be used to protect the eyes and avoid damage from the sun's ultraviolet rays, such as as as lenses for instruments such as telescopes; The glass with V205 is used on the glass of residential buildings, and residents also receive the same protection; Adding V205 to the glass bottle material can absorb ultraviolet rays and prevent premature oxidation or failure of the drug; Vanadium salts can display brilliant orange and blue colors when used for decorating ceramic products; Reacting vanadium oxide with organic compounds to produce a new dye, which can be used on textiles and leather without fading under strong light; Vanadium can improve the color quality of television and computer screens, such as applying vanadium phosphorus to screen coatings to improve red light; Vanadium can be applied to traffic and factory lighting lights, such as using yttrium vanadium fluorescent powder for mercury lamps; The new applications of V02 are as thin film functional materials in the military industry and as thin film materials in the electronic industry. For example, in 2002, the United States produced a type of V02 particle (Vanadium dioxide microparticles), represented by V1-xMx02, where 0.15x50.05 and M are mixed metals. This type of particle is mainly used for surface coatings on metal materials [1, 9]. In 2000, the United States used V02 to develop a Vanadium(IV) oxide miniature thermistor sensor [1, 10].

The Yttrium orthovanadate crystal material urgently needed for long-distance Fiber-optic communication has been developed in Beijing, China, and was officially put into production by Shuo Guang Tejing Technology Co., Ltd. in July 2001. Pure Yttrium orthovanadate crystal is a birefringent crystal with excellent performance. It has the characteristics of large birefringence, high transmittance, wide transmission band, anti deliquescence and easy processing, and can be widely used in passive devices for optical fiber transmission. Help solve the problem of signal amplification in long-distance fiber optic transmission, improve signal strength, and compensate for transmission losses. With the development of science and technology, China needs a large number of Yttrium orthovanadate crystals. The industrialization of Yttrium orthovanadate crystal will greatly promote the development of artificial crystal materials in China, and in the near future, China will keep its research and application at the international leading level [1].

4 Market Analysis

The main consumer countries of vanadium in the world are the United States, Russia, Germany, and Japan. The consumption of vanadium reached its peak in the late 1980s. Since the early 1990s, the international vanadium price has plummeted, and the vanadium market is in a weak state. The annual demand of the large demand country, the United States, fluctuates around 4000t. From the global market perspective, vanadium prices have not yet risen. At the beginning of 1998, V205 was $6.8 per pound, but by the end of the year, it had plummeted to $2.7 per pound. Before 1998, the price of V203 had reached over $30/kg. In 1999, the price of vanadium began to decline significantly again, dropping to $6.5/kg at one point. This price remained unchanged until early 2001 [1,10].

In China, the vanadium ferroalloy market also showed a downward trend from 1999 to early 2001. At the end of 2001, the price of ferrovanadium in the national market increased slightly, and the retail price of FeV (50%) alloy has now risen to 50-60000 yuan/t. The price of ferrovanadium reached its peak of 256-260 yuan/kg in November 2001. Some manufacturers in Liaoning and other regions have rapidly increased their prices from 37000 yuan/t the previous week to over 42500 yuan/t next week, an increase of over 10%; The market price of NH4V03 vanadium salt in China is 80-150000 yuan/t, while the market price of NaV03 is 60-80000 yuan/t. Throughout 2001, only Pangang maintained a good export momentum despite the significant decline in international vanadium product prices. Over 4500 tons of vanadium products were exported throughout the year. International market analysis experts believe that the significant fluctuations in the market price of vanadium products are due to two reasons: firstly, the decrease in V205 exports from Russia and the limited increase in production in South Africa have led to a shortage of supply in the steel making raw material vanadium iron market; Secondly, the weak trend of vanadium prices from 1999 to the second half of 2001 is still due to this reason [10, 11].

5 Market Prospects

The application of vanadium in steel products improves the quality and performance of steel, reduces the cost of using steel products, and is conducive to enhancing the market competitiveness of steel products; Secondly, vigorously developing low-alloy steel and microalloyed steel, and implementing the upgrading of steel products have far-reaching significance for the development of China Steel's steel industry; Thirdly, experts believe that there is a significant gap in application among major application countries. At present, the application of steel in China, a potential consumer country, is far lower than that of developed countries, which is not commensurate with China's status as a major producer and consumer country; In recent years, this gap has been narrowing. It can be said that the application market and development prospects of vanadium in China will be very good [1].