High-purity vanadium is pressed into several electrode blocks by a hydraulic press, and then these electrode blocks are welded into self-consumable electrodes. The self-consumable electrode is smelted by vacuum self-consumable smelting method to obtain the primary ingot. Then, secondary smelting is carried out, the skin is removed and the riser is cut off to obtain the finished ingot. The present invention not only achieves the purpose of purifying pure vanadium ingots and ensuring good internal and surface quality, but also features a mature vacuum self-consumption smelting method technology, high degree of process automation, simple operation, low cost, and the ability to prepare industrial-scale ingots, providing excellent billets for subsequent hot working and mechanical processing.
Vanadium is a silver-gray metal. The density of vanadium is 6.11g/cm3, and its melting point is 1919±2℃. It belongs to the category of high-melting-point rare metals. Pure vanadium has good plasticity and can be rolled into sheets, foils and drawn into wires at room temperature. However, it has strong chemical reactivity and its performance is highly sensitive to the amount of impurities. A small amount of impurities, especially interstitial elements such as carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen, can reduce the plasticity of vanadium and increase its hardness and brittleness.
At present, the world is confronted with crises such as environmental pollution, global warming and energy shortage, which has led many countries to join the ranks of seeking new sustainable energy sources. Nuclear energy, with its outstanding advantages such as cleanliness, high efficiency and low resource consumption, has attracted continuous attention from countries around the world. Controlled nuclear fusion is one of the directions of human energy development. Vanadium and its alloys possess advantages such as low activation, high thermal conductivity, high creep strength, low thermal expansion, excellent mechanical properties and resistance to radiation swelling, and the ability to withstand thermal loads 4 to 7 times higher than those of stainless steel. They are not only the preferred low-activation structural materials for the first wall cladding of nuclear fusion reactors but also can be applied in fields such as aviation, defense, and high-temperature environments. Therefore, obtaining high-purity vanadium ingots is the foundation for obtaining structural materials.
