The wide application of the vanadium resources in the fields of the steel, the chemicals, the aerospace and others promotes the vanadium flow and the change of the supply and demand pattern, especially, the commercialization of the battery applications will affect the energy transformation and the long-term development of the new energy storage field. To reveal the supply and demand pattern, this paper analyzes the dynamic material flow of vanadium during the whole life cycle of mining, smelting, refining, manufacturing, processing, use and waste management in China from 2000 to 2019. It is shown that:(1) the steel industry is the main consumption field of vanadium, with the consumption stable at more than 85%. The vanadium redox flow battery, as the frontier application of vanadium, accounts for an increasing proportion of the vanadium consumption; (2) from 2000 to 2019, China is a net importer of the primary vanadium products (5.4 kt) and a larger net exporter of the final vanadium products (8.3kt). The battery is in the export stage, and the research of the vanadium energy storage technology will help to push the export to the peak stage; (3) from 2010 to 2019, the vanadium in-use stock is increased 5 times, reaching 1.2 million tons, of which the in-use stock of the battery is increased 24 times, the production of vanadium begins to develop into emerging industries such as the batteries; (4) the scrap amount is 80.9 kt, of which 18.3 kt is recycled, with a recycling rate of 23%, and the improvement of the recycling can reduce the mining and environmental impact of the vanadium mines in the future.

vanadium  /  material flow analysis  /  vanadium redox flow battery  /  energy storage