Historical vanadium uses in the United States

image plots uses of vanadium and industries that use it
Cumulative vanadium use in the United States in 1992-2021. The left side of the chart displays products in which vanadium is used; the right side of the chart displays sectors in which the vanadium-containing products are employed.

CMI researchers at Yale University lead the activity for this highlight with Colorado School of Mines

Achievement 
We mapped the uses of vanadium across various U.S. sectors for 1992-2021.

Significance and Impact
Results of this work highlight how most vanadium uses in the United States are not recycled, despite vanadium being considered a “critical mineral” in the United States. 

Details and next steps

  • Most vanadium is used in automotive manufacturing to increase the mechanical properties of the steels.
  • Because of the increased mechanical properties, vanadium is widely used in applications such as industrial machinery and construction steel frames, albeit in very modest amounts.
  • Future work will investigate how the potential deployment of vanadium redox batteries will affect the national vanadium demand.