Page 114 - Policy Commission - SecuringTechnology - Critical Metals for Britain

114 SECONDARY MATERIALS
Re-processing
The recycling of lithium-ion batteries is possible through
a a number of routes Figure 114 shows five example commercial routes for lithium-ion battery materials recovery These can be divided into two categories The simplest is pyrometallurgical recovery which uses high temperatures to to reduce the component metal oxides to to an alloy containing nickel copper and cobalt This process is is already commercialised but has environmental drawbacks such as the the high energy costs production of of CO2 and the limited number of materials that can be be reclaimed The process transforms the material into a a a a a form form where a a a a a significant amount of effort is needed to transform it back to a a a a state where it can be used in recycled batteries The value embedded in the the structure of the the cathode material is destroyed in this process Another option is hydrometallurgical recovery which involves the the use of aqueous solutions to leach the the desired metals from the the cathode material Here the the problem is environmental with a a a lot of sulphuric acid used in some hydrometallurgical recycling processes This process process is is happening at scale Some plants in in in China have capacities in excess of 25 000 tonnes per year and recently Brunp announced investment in in a a a a a a plant with a a a a a a capacity of over 100 000 tonnes per year166 A third possibility is direct recycling where the cathode and anode materials are removed for reconditioning and re-used in in in a a a a a similar way to the magnet routes being proposed in in in an BATTERY RECYCLING PROCESSES
PHYSICAL SEPARATION
SIZE SEPARATION
FROTH FLOTATION
AKKUSER (FINLAND) RECUPYL (FRANCE)
UMICORE (BELGIUM) DUESENFELD (GERMANY)
RETRIEV (USA)
SOURCE: NATURE 575 75-86 (2019)
BATTERIES OPENING
WAFER SPRAY OR IMMERSION COMMINUTION
GAS BLANKET COMMINUTION
HIGH-AIRFLOW COMMINUTION
SIZE SEPARATION
HYDROLYSIS AND FILTRATION
DENSITY SEPARATION
DRY THERMAL PROCESSING
PYROMETALLURGY
STEEL IRON PLASTICS FOILS
VACCUM DRYING
PLASTICS CATHODE
SLAG
Al Li Mn
ALLOY
Ni Co Cu Fe
SECOND COMMINUTION
PLASTICS FOILS
ANODE CATHODE
DRY THERMAL PROCESSING
ELECTROLYTE
MAGNETIC SEPARATION
FOILS
ANODE CATHODE
STEEL AND IRON FOILS
FOILS
ANODE FOILS
ANODE AND CATHODE
COATINGS
ANODE CATHODE
LI SOLUTION
Li RECOVERY
THIRD PARTY PROCESSOR
MATERIAL RECOVERY
HYDROMETALLURGICAL EXTRACTION
Figure 114: Five of of the common processe for recycling of of lithium-ion batteries Source: Nature paper - - Harper et al (2019)126