UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PUBLICATIONS 



BULLETIN OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY 



SCIENTIFIC SECTION 



Vol. I, No. 18, pp. 365-371 February, 1914 



THE ASSOCIATION OF VANADIUM WITH PETROLEUM 

 AND ASPHALT. 



R. M. BIRD AND W. S. CALCOTT. 



Vanadium is said to be constantly associated in small quantity with 

 higl;i sulphur bearing petroleums and with asphalts. Asphalt deposits 

 are associated with the Peruvian deposits of vanadium sulphide and oxide 

 ores. This investigation seeks a possible cause for such association. 



Since vanadium is an almost constant constituent of igneous rocks, 

 and probably is transformed into a soluble vanadate during the weathering 

 of such rocks, we thought it well to examine first the reaction between so- 

 dium vanadate and sulphur compounds in the presence of petroleum. 

 The results thus far obtained show: 



1. Water solutions of sodium vanadate, ionizable sulphur compounds 

 (HoS, Na2S, etc.) and petroleum (both "sulphur bearing" and non-sulphur 

 oils) yield colloidal (apparently) precipitates of vanadium sulphide. The 

 precipitates of vanadium sulphide were usually so finely divided that 

 they would not settle out to any extent even after standing for a very long 

 time, and it was practically impossible to filter them to any degree of com- 

 pleteness. They gave the appearance of being in a colloidal state ; although 

 the presence of the excess of oil made the testing of this point so difficult 

 that it was reserved for a future time. The dilution of the oil with kero- 

 sene oil did not materially alter the results. The long suspension of the 

 vanadium sulphide certainly permits of its transportation by the oil. 



2. The presence of carbon dioxide caused a rapid and almost total 

 precipitation of the sulphide, as V2S5. 



3. Petroleum containing sulphur in the form usually spoken of as 

 "sulphur bearing oil" could not be made to yield a precipitate of vanadium 



365 



APR 8 1914 



