The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Allows company to ramp up operations at Hot Springs facility Metal Tech News - September 8, 2021
In addition to ultra-high-purity electrolyte for vanadium flow batteries, US Vanadium's Hot Springs facility produces high purity vanadium pentoxide trioxide for lightweight and high-strength alloys used in military and civilian aircraft.
US Vanadium Holding Company LLC Sept. 7 announced that it has secured a five-year supply of feed material for its vanadium oxide and electrolyte production facility in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
US Vanadium will recover vanadium from this feed material, sourced from India, and process it into high-purity vanadium oxide and downstream vanadium chemicals, an ultra-high-purity electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries.
This is in addition to the company's vanadium feedstock streams from a variety of other sources.
"We are pleased to have secured five years of supply of this high-volume and high-quality feedstock, as this will enable us to significantly expand our production operations while also further diversifying our vanadium feedstock supply chains," said US Vanadium Holding Company Chairman and CEO Mark Smith. "This material will help us serve the needs of titanium alloy producers and vanadium specialty chemicals markets, as well as help us to significantly ramp up our production of ultra-high-purity VRFB electrolyte that is in growing demand by the rapidly expanding VRFB industry."
Austria-based Enerox GmbH recently entered into a contract to purchase 580,000 liters of the ultra-high-purity electrolyte produced by US Vanadium for vanadium redox flow batteries the European manufacturer sells under the brand name CellCube.
Looking to expand into North American markets, this European battery manufacturer has also partnered with US Vanadium to expand the Hot Springs facility.
Further details on the Enerox-US Vanadium partnership can be read at US Vanadium expanding electrolyte output published by Metal Tech News on Sept. 3.
Deemed a critical mineral by the United States government in 2018, vanadium is employed extensively as an additive to titanium-aluminum alloys used in jet engines and high-speed aircraft, both in the defense and commercial sectors. It is also a key additive to high-strength, low-alloy steel used in armor plating, axles, tools, piston rods and crankshafts, and mega-construction projects.
Vanadium flow batteries take advantage of vanadium's ability to exist in a solution in four different oxidation states. Leveraging this property, these batteries require just one element for both the positive and negative electrolyte solutions.
Because of their nearly unlimited energy storage capacity, high efficiency, zero emissions, very long cycle lives, and relatively low cost of available electricity on a lifecycle basis, VRFB energy storage systems have shown the potential to be the superior choice for large-scale energy storage.
US Vanadium says the very high purity vanadium pentoxide, vanadium trioxide, electrolyte, and other downstream vanadium chemicals it produces in Arkansas from a variety of post-industrial waste streams underscores the US company's commitment to maximizing sustainable practices in its operations.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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