Thermodynamic Modeling of the Vanadium Alloy Smelting Process Using a Silicon-aluminum Reducing Agent

The article is devoted to the study of the theoretical aspect of obtaining a vanadium alloy by aluminosilicothermic method. Vanadium pentoxide and converter vanadium slag were studied as charge materials. Silicon-aluminum ferroalloys, such as ferroaluminosilicocalcium, ferrosilicoaluminum and aluminum-silicon-manganese with calcium, will be used as a reducing agent. The chemical composition of the initial vanadium-containing materials and silicon-aluminum reducing agents were studied by the spectral method of analysis. To analyze the aluminosilicothermal reduction of vanadium in the V-Fe-Si-Al-Ca-O system, the method of complete thermodynamic modeling of metallurgical processes was used. Full thermodynamic modeling was implemented in a computer system using the HSC Chemistry software package. As initial data for determining the parameters of thermodynamic equilibrium for the actual composition of the charge for the smelting of vanadium alloys with a stoichiometric consumption of the reducing agent. To analyze the coexistence of phases in a multicomponent system during the aluminosilicothermal reduction of vanadium, a triple phase diagram was constructed for the V2O5-Al-Si system at different isotherms using the «Triangle» program. As a result, the processes of aluminosilicothermal reduction of vanadium in the process of smelting a vanadium alloy using silicon-aluminum reducing agents were studied. The optimal temperature range for vanadium alloy smelting was set. The range is 1650-1850 K. Also, the results of thermodynamic stud