Thermal decomposition of ammonium metavanadate in a fluidized bed reactor

Studies on the decomposition of ammonium metavanadate (AMV) in the presence of O₂ were carried out in a fluidized bed reactor. The ammonia gas thus released was passed directly into hydrochloric acid solution of known initial pH and the change in pH of the solution was monitored as a function of time and temperature. The degree of decomposition α was calculated at intermediate stages of the reaction. The overall decomposition pattern was found to fit well into the 'Power-law' kinetic equation. The fluidized bed reactor was found to be effective in achieving a substantial reduction in both the time and temperature required for the complete decomposition of AMV to V₂O₅. The activation energy and rate constant for the overall reaction were determined to be 12.54 ± 0.44 kJ mol^-1 and 1.4 × 10^-3 s^-1 respectively. The value of the activation energy suggests that the process is surface-area controlled.