Removal of vanadium, potassium and iron from spent vanadium catalyst by leaching with citric acid at atmospheric pressure

The effect of time, temperature, the catalyst particle size and the ratio of the catalyst weight to the leaching solution volume (S:L) on the treatment of spent vanadium catalyst components was determined using citric acid solutions at atmospheric pressure. The optimal parameters of catalyst leaching in 10% acid solutions at atmospheric pressure are: T = 323 K, t = 4 h, the particle size of less than 0.160 mm, the S:L ratio below 0.1. Under these conditions it was possible to dissolve about 90% of vanadium and potassium compounds and more than 60% of iron compounds contained in the catalyst. These results fall within the scope of research on a comprehensive method for recovering spent vanadium catalyst components.