Department of Mechanical Engineering APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University
TKM College of Engineering CET Campus
Karicode,kollam-05 Thiruvananthapuram
Low-carbon lithium-ion battery
recycling technology
Guided by Presented by
Prof. Syed Muhammed Fahd Jafar Khan J
Asst. professor M7C
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering TKM20ME106
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• INTRODUCTION
• LITHIUM ION BATTERY
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF LIBs
• PRETREATMENTS
CONTENTS •
•
CATHODE RECYCLING
ANODE RECYCLING
• CONCLUSION
• REFERENCES
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INTRODUCTION
The global Lithium-ion battery (LIB) market size is expected to reach $87.5 billion
by 2027.(Kim et al., 2020).
Recycling of LIBs will reduce the
+ Environmental impact of the batteries.
+ Reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
+ Saving natural resources to reduce raw materials mining.
Spent LIBs recycling gained remarkable attention in the past few years due to the
rapid increase in demand for critical metals.
It has been reported that 13% of LIB cost per kWh could be saved through metals
recycling.
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Lithium-ion battery (LIB)
• LIBs are classified into cells, modules, and
packs.
• Battery cell unit consists of a cathode, an
anode, a separator that is soaked in an
electrolyte.
• Battery module is a set of battery cells
interconnected in series, in parallel, or in a
combination.
• Li, Co, Ni, and Mn are used in the
production of cathode materials in the
LIBs.
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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF LIBs
• LIBs have a shorter lifespan than other batteries.
• Landfilling spent LIBs can contaminate soil and
groundwater due to electrolyte and metals
leaching.
• The climate impact of lithium-ion battery
production comes from the mining and processing
of the necessary minerals.
• Recover more valuable materials with reduced
carbon emission, therefore to contribute to
“Net zero” ambition.
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GLOBAL WASTE LIB AMOUNT
Fig. 1. Waste LIB source types and global amounts.(oulie et al., 2014 ) 6
METHODS OF LIBs
RECYCLING PROCESS
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HYDROMETALLURGY
CATHODE RECYCLING
PRETREATMENT PYROMETALLURGY
ANODE RECYCLING
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PRETREATMENT
Discharge to stabilize the spent cells , to prevent thermal runway and product loss
caused by fires.
Dismantling is a process to disassemble cells. Disassembly of LIB cells should be
performed in a chemically inert environment.
Comminution is a mechanical treatment to crush and grind the electrodes into smaller
pieces.
Classification to improve the homogeneity of the crushed material particles for higher
recycling efficiency.
Thermal treatment After the pre-treatment steps, the separated components can be
treated with different methods, for example the cathode AM can be recovered by
pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical methods. 9
Figure 2. The most up to date pretreatment sequence for end-of-life LIBs. Adapted
with permission from reference (Kim et al., 2021). Copyright 2021 Elsevier.
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HYDROMETALLURGICAL PROCESSES
Hydrometallurgical techniques to separate
and purify LIBs valuable metals.
Reduced energy consumption due to lower
temperatures.
The most common used reducing agent is
hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
The leaching of metals can be reused for LIBs
new cathodes.
A good efficiency on different battery
chemistries.(Gaines et al., 2018).
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PYROMETALLURGICAL PROCESSES
Pyrometallurgical processes are based on high temperatures
and consist of three phases(Mossali E et al.,2020).
Pyrolysis: the thermal degradation of organic LIBs
components.
Metals reduction: the production of metal alloys using
1500 °C and proper reductive agents.
Gas incineration: the pyrolysis and quenching of gases at
1000 °C to avoid dioxins release.
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ANODE RECYCLING
The graphite recovery process mainly consists of separating graphite from CC foils
and purification.
Breaking the adhesion of graphite particles to the foils is the key to separation.
A mixture detaches from the CC foil after the separation step, which consisting of
mainly cathode AM and anode AM, known as black mass (BM).
After pretreatment ,the collected graphite after the flotation process has a purity of
up to 80%.
Froth flotation has been widely employed for separating and enriching minerals
based on their surface hydrophobic differences (Qiu et al., 2021)
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Figure 3. A flow chart of LIB anode recycling
techniques.(Zhang Y et al.,2022)
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COMPARISON
PROCESS PROS CONS
• Easiness of procedure. • High energy consumption.
• No necessity of passivation steps. • Hazardous gaseous emissions.
Pyrometallurgy
• Generation of exothermic reaction • Material loss (Li in the slag).
reducing energy consumption. • High capital costs.
• High recovery efficiency.
• Wastewater productions.
• Moderated energy consumption.
• Complexity of procedure.
Hydrometallurgy • No gaseous emissions.
• Need of pre-treatments.
• Recovery of all LIBs cathodic metals.
• Selectivity of reagents.
• Mild reaction conditions.
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CONCLUSION
In hydrometallurgical processes, the generated wastewater and the possible
environmental impact need to be considered.
Pyrometallurgy is the most used technique to recover metals due to its simple
process. However, the use of high temperatures produces lots of harmful emissions.
• In general, the purity of graphite concentrate obtained by flotation is insufficient to
be reused in battery production.
• High purity graphite can be achieved by hydrometallurgical methods, it still requires
further processing to obtain the graphite product that can be reused in battery
production.
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REFERENCES
Mossali E , Picone N , et al. (2020). Lithium-ion batteries towards circular economy: A literature review of
opportunities and issues of recycling [Link] of Environmental Management Volume 264, 15,
110500.
Reinhart L ,Vrucak D , et al. (2023) .Pyrometallurgical recycling of different lithium-ion battery cell
systems: Economic and technical analysis .Journal of Cleaner ProductionVolume 416, 137834.
Kaya M .(2022). State-of-the-art lithium-ion battery recycling [Link] Economy Volume 1,
Issue 2, 100015.
Sommerville R, Zhu P, et al. (2020). Resources, Conservation & Recycling. Resources, Conservation and
Recycling Volume 165, 105219.
Sambamurthya s ,et al .(2021). Environmental impact of recycling spent lithium-ion batteries. 28th CIRP
Conference on Life Cycle Engineering Procedia CIRP 98 ,631–636
Windisch-Kern S, Gerold E, et al. (2021). Recycling chains for lithiumion batteries: A critical examination
of current challenges, opportunities and process dependencies .Waste ManagementVolume 138, 125139.
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THANK YOU
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