Investigation through factorial design on novel method of preparing vanadium carbide using carbon during aluminothermic reduction

A novel method for preparing vanadium carbide using carbon during the aluminothermic reduction of vanadium oxide has been explored. Experiments were carried out using vanadium pentoxide as the starting material. The yield of vanadium carbide as a function of the composition of the reactants namely, aluminum, carbon, calcium oxide, and vanadium pentoxide have been studied and yield functions were proposed using the method of factorial design of experiments. The significance of the compositions of reactants on the yield has been determined. Regression equations for predicting the optimum yields of vanadium carbide have been proposed.