The extraction behaviour of vanadium (V) from nitric acid solutions was studied using technical grade D2EHPA in kerosene as an extractant. The effects of aqueous pH, the concentration of vanadium (V) and nitrate ion in the aqueous phase, and the concentration of D2EHPA in the organic phase were investigated. The extraction equilibration time was 30 min. Metal ion dependencies appeared non-ideal due to the non-constancy of the aqueous phase acidity and the equilibrium extractant concentration. Two types of extraction mechanisms originated from the study of pH dependency. The study conceded that the extraction of vanadium (V) occurred via ion exchange or chelation type of extraction when the pH(eq) <2.50. On the other hand, the solvated ion-pair extraction mechanism occurs when the pH(eq) was above 2.50. The extractant dependencies showed that vanadium (V) species were extracted by one molecule of D2EHPA. The salting-out effect was observed from the effect of nitrate ion concentration. The effect of various types of diluents on vanadium (V) extraction with technical grade D2EHPA was studied; kerosene appeared to be a suitable diluent. The temperature dependence data revealed that the system was exothermic with the ΔH value of -12.34 kJ/mol. The loading capacity was 6.11 g vanadium (V) per 100 g extractant. The H2SO4 (0.5 mol/L) was the right stripping agent for the extracted species.
