Complete set of recycling equipment for disassembling polymorphic waste lithium batteries

Abstract

The invention provides a complete set of recycling equipment for disassembling polymorphic waste lithium batteries, and belongs to the technical field of retired lithium battery recycling. The equipment sequentially comprises an intelligent double-feeding system, a multi-stage crushing system, an inert gas device, a vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system, a comprehensive waste gas treatment system and a fine separation system, through integrated system design and accurate process control, safe, efficient and all-component recovery of retired lithium batteries with different shapes is realized in an inert atmosphere or a vacuum environment in the whole process. According to the equipment, energy consumption and waste gas emission are remarkably reduced, generation of harmful substances such as HF is effectively inhibited, high-purity products such as copper, aluminum and black powder are obtained through multi-stage fine separation, the technical problems that in the prior art, environmental pollution is serious, recycling is incomplete, the product purity is low, and safety is poor are solved, and the equipment is suitable for industrial production. And a green and efficient solution is provided for the lithium battery recycling industry.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of waste lithium battery resource recycling technology, specifically involving a complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, common technological approaches in the lithium battery recycling industry include open-air dismantling and high-temperature pyrolysis. Open-air dismantling is prone to electrolyte leakage; high-temperature pyrolysis generates waste gases containing fluorides, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, and dioxins, which require multiple treatment processes before emission. Furthermore, pyrolysis is energy-intensive, and there is room for improvement in the separation efficiency and purity of the recovered products in the dismantling and crushing stages, particularly regarding copper, aluminum, separators, and electrolytes. Existing technologies primarily focus on the recovery of single components or improvements to individual processes, with room for further enhancement in system integration. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Based on the problems existing in the above-mentioned background technology, this invention proposes a complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries to solve the problems of poor safety, heavy environmental pollution and single recycling components in existing lithium battery recycling technologies.

[0004] The embodiments of the present invention are implemented as follows: This invention provides a complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries, comprising: The intelligent dual-feeding system is used to receive and transport retired lithium batteries of different forms. A multi-stage crushing system and an inert gas device are provided. The multi-stage crushing system is connected to the discharge end of the intelligent dual-feeding system. The inert gas device supplies inert gas to the multi-stage crushing system, enabling the multi-stage crushing system to safely crush and dissociate the lithium battery in an inert atmosphere. The vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system is connected to the discharge end of the multi-stage crushing system. It is used to perform low-temperature vacuum evaporation on the crushed material and cryogenic separation and recovery of the volatile organic solvents. The fine sorting system is connected to the discharge end of the vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system via a screw conveyor system. It is used to perform multi-stage sorting of the evaporated and dried material to separate various components, including black powder, copper, aluminum, iron, diaphragm, and plastic. The integrated waste gas treatment system is connected to the intelligent dual-feeding system, multi-stage crushing system, vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system, and is used to treat organic waste gas and fluorine-containing waste gas generated during equipment operation.

[0005] Furthermore, the intelligent dual-feeding system includes a first feeding subsystem for processing large battery modules and a second feeding subsystem for processing small battery cells; The first feeding subsystem includes an intelligent gripping device, a horizontal roller conveyor with weighing function, a pallet-type vertical elevator, and a horizontal double gate valve buffer silo. The second feeding subsystem includes a horizontal roller conveyor with lifting and weighing functions, a transfer hopper, a bucket elevator, and a vertical three-gate valve buffer silo. The horizontal double gate valve buffer chamber contains a conveying device with conveying and tilting feeding functions. Both the horizontal double-gate valve buffer chamber and the vertical triple-gate valve buffer chamber are equipped with exhaust gas replacement pipelines for reducing the oxygen content to below 6%.

[0006] Furthermore, the multi-stage crushing system includes a four-shaft crusher and a single-shaft crusher; the discharge end of the intelligent dual-feeding system is connected to the feed end of the four-shaft crusher, and the discharge end of the four-shaft crusher is connected to the feed end of the single-shaft crusher through a transition chute. The discharge end of the four-shaft crusher is equipped with a first screen, and the discharge end of the single-shaft crusher is equipped with a second screen. The inert gas device includes a nitrogen generator, a nitrogen pipeline, a monitoring system, and a control unit. The nitrogen generator supplies nitrogen to the quadrupole crusher, the transition chute, and the single-shaft crusher through the nitrogen pipeline. The monitoring system is used to monitor the oxygen concentration, temperature, and pressure inside the quadrupole crusher, the transition chute, and the single-shaft crusher in real time. The control unit adjusts the nitrogen input flow rate based on the monitoring data.

[0007] Furthermore, the first screen is a square screen with a screen aperture size of 80mm×80mm; the second screen is a round screen with a screen aperture diameter of 18mm, used to control the output particle size between 18mm and 25mm.

[0008] Furthermore, the vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system includes: The low-temperature evaporator is used to perform three-stage heating and evaporation of crushed materials under vacuum conditions, with an evaporation temperature range of 40℃~145℃ and a pressure range of 30mbar~450mbar. A cryogenic separation system is connected to the steam outlet of the cryogenic evaporator to condense the evaporated organic solvent vapor into liquid for recovery; a filter is installed at the steam outlet of the cryogenic evaporator. And a siloed airtight conveyor located between the multi-stage crushing system and the low-temperature evaporator, used for material buffering and quantitative conveying, with a material buffer volume of not less than 10m³. 3 ; The outlet of the low-temperature evaporator is sequentially connected to a low-temperature evaporator unloading conveyor and a low-temperature evaporator storage device; the outlet of the low-temperature evaporator storage device is connected to the feed end of the fine sorting system, and the volume of the low-temperature evaporator storage device is not less than 10m³.3 .

[0009] Furthermore, the three-stage heating and evaporation of the low-temperature evaporator includes: Phase 1: Start at 40°C and normal pressure, then raise the temperature to 85°C within 10 minutes and reduce the pressure to 450 mbar within 5 minutes, and maintain this for 20 minutes; Second stage: Increase the temperature to 125°C within 10 minutes and instantly reduce the pressure to 300 mbar; The third stage: Increase the temperature to 145°C within 15 minutes and slowly reduce the pressure to 30 mbar, maintaining the temperature range of 135°C to 145°C for 3 to 5 minutes.

[0010] Furthermore, the cryogenic separation system is equipped with a liquid ring vacuum pressure reducing device, the working fluid of which is an organic solvent; the cryogenic separation system also has an organic solvent storage device.

[0011] Furthermore, the integrated waste gas treatment system includes a waste gas replacement pipeline, a direct-fired oxidizer, and a scrubbing tower; The waste gas replacement pipeline is used to connect the intelligent dual feeding system, the multi-stage crushing system, and the vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system to the direct-fired oxidizer to collect organic waste gas. The direct-fired oxidizer performs high-temperature oxidation treatment on the collected organic waste gas. The scrubbing tower is connected to the outlet of the direct-fired oxidizer, and the inlet is equipped with an air-cooled heat exchanger for scrubbing the tail gas after oxidation with alkaline solution to remove hydrogen fluoride.

[0012] Furthermore, the refined sorting system includes the following components arranged sequentially along the material flow direction: The primary screening and black powder extraction module includes a first-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen connected to the screw conveyor system. The first-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen is equipped with two layers of screens with different apertures to screen the feed material into fine powder material and oversize material. The fine powder material outlet is connected to a first black powder automatic bagging machine. The light-heavy separation and iron removal module has its feed end connected to the oversize material outlet of the first-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen, and sequentially includes an air classifier and an iron remover. The air classifier is used to separate the oversize material into heavy materials and light materials, and the heavy material outlet is connected to an automatic heavy material bagging machine. The iron remover's feed end is connected to the light material outlet of the air classifier, and is used to separate ferromagnetic materials and non-magnetic materials. The ferromagnetic material outlet is connected to an automatic iron material bagging machine. The deep dissociation and secondary screening module has its feed end connected to the non-magnetic material outlet of the iron remover, and includes a first high-speed negative pressure grinder and a second multi-stage circular pendulum screen. The first high-speed negative pressure grinder is used to grind and dissociate non-magnetic materials. The second multi-stage circular pendulum screen is used to screen the ground materials, and its fine powder outlet is connected to a second black powder automatic bagging machine. The precision particle size classification and diversion module includes a precision multi-stage circular pendulum screen, whose feed end receives the oversize material from the deep dissociation and secondary screening module; the precision multi-stage circular pendulum screen is equipped with three layers of screens to classify the feed material into three different particle size levels of material flow, and is provided with three corresponding discharge ports; one of the discharge ports is connected to a third black powder automatic bagging machine. The density sorting and product collection network module includes multiple density sorting branches and an airflow separator. The density sorting branches consist of multiple density sorters connected in a specific order according to the particle size and composition of the materials being processed. They are used to separate copper particles, aluminum particles, plastic particles, and diaphragms from the corresponding material streams, and then package them separately by corresponding automatic bagging machines. The airflow separator is used to separate diaphragm fragments from a specific material stream. The separated diaphragm fragments are compressed by a volume reduction machine and then packaged by an automatic diaphragm bagging machine.

[0013] Furthermore, the fine sorting system also includes a dust removal system, which includes dust removal pipelines connected to each dust-generating point in the multi-stage crushing system and the fine sorting system, as well as a sintered plate dust collector for collecting dust.

[0014] Compared with existing lithium battery recycling technologies, the advantages of this invention are: 1. Intelligent Control: It adopts an intelligent dual-feeding system and automatic monitoring integration technology, which has the functions of automatic identification, pneumatic gripping, weighing and conveying of various types of lithium batteries (modules, cells, pouches, etc.) and automatic recording of MES data. Combined with real-time feedback and control of oxygen concentration, temperature and pressure, it realizes fully automated operation without human intervention. It significantly reduces manual operation in disassembly and feeding links, and achieves highly automated operation and intelligent control of process parameters.

[0015] 2. Intrinsically safe: Through nitrogen replacement in the inert buffer chamber, impact-resistant gate valves, and multiple airtight structures, the entire electrolyte section is constructed with an inert protective environment, effectively isolating oxygen and suppressing the risk of deflagration; the entire system is sealed to prevent exhaust gas leakage; equipped with safety explosion relief and double sealing design, it ensures the safety of personnel and equipment under extreme working conditions, achieving intrinsically safe operation.

[0016] 3. Green and environmentally friendly: Low-temperature vacuum evaporation and cryogenic reduction technology are used to recover the electrolyte, and physical and mechanical methods are used to separate the black powder from the current collector. There is no high-temperature roasting process throughout the process. Only a small amount of organic waste gas is generated. Combined with direct combustion oxidation and alkaline washing process, ultra-low emissions of VOCs ≤20mg / Nm3 and HF ≤2mg / Nm3 are achieved. The annual wastewater production is only about 10m3, which greatly reduces the amount of wastewater and waste gas emissions and truly achieves green and clean recycling.

[0017] 4. High-efficiency recovery: Equipped with dual crushers and screens, it precisely controls material particle size and maximizes dissociation; without a high-temperature roasting process, it effectively maintains the metallic toughness of copper and aluminum foil, creating a significant difference in physical properties between the copper and aluminum foil and the brittleness of the positive and negative electrode active materials, greatly improving the separation efficiency of active materials and current collectors; combined with a multi-stage precision sorting system, it achieves high-purity separation of components such as black powder, copper, aluminum, and separators, resulting in high purity and high yield of recovered materials. Combined with evaporation-condensation technology to recover electrolyte, it achieves full recovery of valuable components.

[0018] 5. Energy saving and consumption reduction: The optimized vacuum evaporation process curve and waste gas self-sustaining oxidation technology result in low unit processing energy consumption, no need for natural gas auxiliary combustion, no need for high-temperature waste gas spray water rapid cooling, low consumption of auxiliary resources, and low overall processing energy consumption.

[0019] 6. Durable and long-lasting: Key parts use corrosion-resistant sealing materials and inert gas seal structure to effectively resist corrosion from HF and other corrosive media; impact-resistant design and modular layout reduce the frequency of mechanical damage; the whole machine has strong airtightness, low failure rate, ensures long-term stable operation, and low maintenance cost. Attached Figure Description

[0020] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort. The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become clearer through the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals indicate the same parts in all the drawings. The drawings are not intentionally drawn to scale to actual dimensions; the focus is on illustrating the main points of the invention.

[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries.

[0022] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a fine sorting system.

[0023] Among them, 110, intelligent gripping equipment; 120, pallet-type vertical elevator; 120a, horizontal roller conveyor; 120b, horizontal roller conveyor; 130, horizontal double gate valve buffer bin; 130a, feed gate valve; 130b, horizontal discharge gate valve; 130c, buffer space; 140, vertical three gate valve buffer bin; 140a, buffer space; 140b, vertical buffer bin feed gate valve; 140c, impact-resistant gate valve; 140d, discharge gate valve; 150, feed chute; 160, four-shaft crusher; 160a, first crushing bin; 160b, first screen; 170, transition chute; 180, single-shaft crusher; 180a, second screen; 180b, second crushing bin; 190, storage-type airtight conveyor. ; 190a, Silo; 200, Low-temperature evaporator; 200a, Silo; 200b, Low-temperature evaporator filter; 200c, Low-temperature evaporator unloading conveyor; 200d, Low-temperature evaporator storage unit; 200e, Heat source heater; 200f, Low-temperature evaporator cooler; 210, Cryogenic separation system; 210a, Steam conveying pipeline; 210b, Organic solvent storage unit; 220, Bucket elevator; 220a, Horizontal roller conveyor; 220b, Transfer hopper; 230, Direct-fired oxidizer; 240, Scrubber; 250, Waste gas replacement pipeline; 260, Nitrogen generator; 260a, Nitrogen pipeline; 270, Fire protection system; 270a, First fire water system pipeline; 270b, Second fire water system pipeline. System piping; 280, Exhaust gas dust removal piping; 300, Screw conveyor system; 310, First-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen; 310a, Black powder conveying equipment; 310b, Shell and diaphragm particle conveying equipment; 311, First automatic black powder bagging machine; 312, First airflow separator; 312a, Light material conveying equipment; 312b, Heavy material conveying equipment; 313, Automatic heavy material bagging machine; 314, Automatic ferrous material bagging machine; 315, Magnetic separator; 315a, Ferrous material conveyor; 316, First high-speed negative pressure grinding mill; 316a, Negative pressure material conveyor; 317, Second-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen; 317a, Black powder conveying equipment; 317b, Diaphragm particle conveying equipment; 318, Second automatic black powder bagging machine. 319. Bagging machine; 319a. Second high-speed negative pressure grinding mill; 320. Post-grinding material conveyor; 320. Precision multi-stage circular pendulum screen; 320a. Black powder conveying equipment; 320b. First copper-aluminum particle conveyor; 320c. Second copper-aluminum plastic particle conveyor; 320d. Copper-aluminum diaphragm debris conveyor; 320e. Diaphragm conveyor; 321. Third automatic black powder bagging machine; 322. First density separator; 322a. Copper particle conveyor; 322b. Aluminum particle conveyor; 323. Automatic copper powder bagging machine; 324. Automatic aluminum powder bagging machine; 325. Second density separator; 325a. Copper-aluminum particle conveyor; 325b. Plastic particle conveyor; 326. Third density separator; 327. Automatic copper powder bagging machine.328. Automatic aluminum powder bagging machine; 329. Fourth density separator; 329a. Copper-aluminum granule conveyor; 329b. Plastic granule conveyor; 330. Fifth density separator; 331. Automatic copper powder bagging machine; 332. Automatic aluminum powder bagging machine; 333. Automatic plastic granule bagging machine; 334. Second airflow separator; 334a. Diaphragm debris material conveying equipment; 334b. Copper, aluminum, and plastic granule conveyor; 335. Volume reduction machine; 335a. Diaphragm compression material conveyor; 336. Automatic diaphragm bagging machine; 337. Dust collection pipeline; 338. Sintered plate dust collector; 338a. Dust conveyor; 339. Automatic dust bagging machine. Detailed Implementation

[0024] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. The components of the embodiments of the present invention described and shown in the accompanying drawings can generally be arranged and designed in various different configurations.

[0025] Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but merely to illustrate selected embodiments of the invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the invention.

[0026] It should be noted that similar labels and letters in the following figures indicate similar items. Therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent figures.

[0027] Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," etc., are used only to distinguish descriptions and should not be interpreted as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0028] Example 1, such as Figure 1 As shown, this embodiment provides a complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries, including: An intelligent dual-feeding system is used to receive and transport retired lithium batteries of different forms. Specifically, the intelligent dual-feeding system includes a first feeding subsystem for handling large battery modules and a second feeding subsystem for handling small battery cells. The first feeding subsystem includes an intelligent gripping device 110, a horizontal roller conveyor 120a with weighing function, a pallet-type vertical elevator 120, a horizontal roller conveyor 120b, and a horizontal double-gate valve buffer hopper 130. The second feeding subsystem includes a horizontal roller conveyor 220a with lifting and weighing functions, a transfer hopper 220b, a bucket vertical elevator 220, a vertical three-gate valve buffer hopper 140, and a feed chute 150. Both the horizontal double-gate valve buffer hopper 130 and the vertical three-gate valve buffer hopper 140 are equipped with exhaust gas replacement pipelines 250 for reducing the oxygen content to below 6%.

[0029] A multi-stage crushing system and an inert gas device are provided. The multi-stage crushing system is connected to the discharge end of the intelligent dual-feeding system. The inert gas device supplies inert gas to the multi-stage crushing system, enabling the multi-stage crushing system to safely crush and dissociate the lithium battery in an inert atmosphere.

[0030] Specifically, the multi-stage crushing system includes a four-shaft crusher 160 and a single-shaft crusher 180; the discharge end of the intelligent dual-feeding system is connected to the feed end of the four-shaft crusher 160, and the discharge end of the four-shaft crusher 160 is connected to the feed end of the single-shaft crusher 180 through a transition chute 170; the discharge end of the four-shaft crusher 160 is provided with a first screen 160b, and the discharge end of the single-shaft crusher 180 is provided with a second screen 180a; the inert gas device includes a nitrogen generator 260, a nitrogen pipeline 260a, a monitoring system, and a control unit; the nitrogen generator supplies nitrogen to the four-shaft crusher 160, the transition chute 170, and the single-shaft crusher 180 through the nitrogen pipeline 260a; the monitoring system is used to monitor the oxygen concentration, temperature, and pressure inside the four-shaft crusher 160, the transition chute 170, and the single-shaft crusher 180 in real time; the control unit adjusts the nitrogen input flow rate according to the monitoring data.

[0031] The vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system is connected to the discharge end of the multi-stage crushing system. It is used to perform low-temperature vacuum evaporation on the crushed material and cryogenic separation and recovery of the volatile organic solvents. Specifically, the low-temperature evaporator 200 is used to perform three-stage heating evaporation on the crushed material under vacuum conditions. The evaporation temperature range is 40℃~145℃ and the pressure range is 30mbar~450mbar.

[0032] The cryogenic separation system 210 is connected to the steam outlet of the cryogenic evaporator 200 and is used to condense the evaporated organic solvent vapor into liquid for recovery. A cryogenic evaporator filter 200b is provided at the steam outlet of the cryogenic evaporator 200. The cryogenic separation system is equipped with a liquid ring vacuum pressure reducing device, and the working fluid of the liquid ring vacuum pressure reducing device is an organic solvent. The cryogenic separation system is also provided with an organic solvent storage device 210b.

[0033] A storage-type airtight conveyor 190 is provided between the multi-stage crushing system and the low-temperature evaporator 200 for material buffering and quantitative conveying; the outlet end of the low-temperature evaporator 200 is sequentially connected to a low-temperature evaporator unloading conveyor 200c and a low-temperature evaporator storage device 200d; the outlet end of the low-temperature evaporator storage device 200d is connected to the feed end of the fine sorting system.

[0034] The low-temperature evaporator 200 is equipped with a heating system 200e for heating the low-temperature evaporator; to ensure precise temperature control and cooling, the heating system 200e is equipped with a cooler 200f.

[0035] The fine sorting system is connected to the low-temperature evaporator storage 200d of the vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system via a screw conveyor system 300. It is used to perform multi-stage sorting of the evaporated and dried material to separate various components including black powder, copper, aluminum, iron, diaphragm, and plastic.

[0036] Specifically, the refined sorting system includes components arranged sequentially along the material flow direction: The primary screening and black powder extraction module includes a first-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen 310 connected to the screw conveyor system 300. The first-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen 310 is equipped with three layers of screens with different apertures to screen the feed material into fine powder material and oversize material. The fine powder material outlet is connected to a first black powder automatic bagging machine 311. The light-heavy separation and iron removal module has its feed end connected to the oversize material outlet of the first-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen 310, and sequentially includes a first airflow separator 312 and an iron remover 315; the first airflow separator 312 is used to separate the oversize material into heavy material and light material, and the heavy material outlet is connected to an automatic heavy material bagging machine 313; the feed end of the iron remover 315 is connected to the light material outlet of the first airflow separator 312, and is used to separate ferromagnetic material and non-magnetic material, and the ferromagnetic material outlet is connected to an automatic iron material bagging machine 314; The deep dissociation and secondary screening module has its feed end connected to the non-magnetic material outlet of the iron remover 315, and includes a first high-speed negative pressure grinder 316 and a second-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen 317. The first high-speed negative pressure grinder 316 is used to pre-grind and dissociate non-magnetic materials. The second-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen 317 is used to screen the ground materials. The second high-speed negative pressure grinder is used to finely grind the material on the screen of the second-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen, and its fine powder outlet is connected to a second black powder automatic bagging machine 318. The precision particle size classification and diversion module includes a precision multi-stage circular pendulum screen 320, whose feed end receives the finely ground material; the precision multi-stage circular pendulum screen is equipped with four layers of screens to classify the feed material into five different particle size levels of material flow, and is provided with five discharge ports accordingly; one of the discharge ports is connected to a third black powder automatic bagging machine 321. The density sorting and product collection network module includes multiple density sorting branches and a second airflow separator 334. The density sorting branches are composed of multiple density sorters connected in a specific order according to the particle size and composition of the materials being processed. They are used to separate copper particles, aluminum particles, and plastic particles from the corresponding material streams, and then package them separately by the corresponding automatic bagging machines. The airflow separator is used to separate diaphragm fragments from the specific material stream. The separated diaphragm fragments are compressed by a volume reduction machine and then packaged by an automatic diaphragm bagging machine 336.

[0037] The refined sorting system also includes a dust removal system, which includes a dust removal pipeline 337 connected to each dust-generating point in the refined sorting system, a sintered plate dust collector 338, and an automatic dust bagging machine 339, for collecting and processing the dust generated by the system.

[0038] A comprehensive waste gas treatment system is used to treat organic waste gas and fluorine-containing waste gas generated during equipment operation. Specifically, the comprehensive waste gas treatment system includes waste gas replacement pipelines, a direct-fired oxidizer, and a scrubbing tower. The waste gas replacement pipeline 250 is used to connect the intelligent dual feeding system, the multi-stage crushing system and the vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system to the direct-fired oxidizer 230 to collect organic waste gas. The direct-fired oxidizer 230 performs high-temperature oxidation treatment on the collected organic waste gas. The scrubbing tower 240 is connected to the outlet of the direct-fired oxidizer 230 and is used to scrub the tail gas after oxidation with alkaline solution to remove hydrogen fluoride.

[0039] The working principle of the multi-form waste lithium battery dismantling and recycling equipment is as follows: Retired lithium batteries (usually dry cells or modules with a voltage below 2V) first enter the intelligent dual-feeding system. For large battery modules, they are gripped by intelligent gripping equipment 110 (gantry robot with a vision recognition system) and placed on a horizontal roller conveyor 120a with a weighing function. The weight data is automatically entered into the production management system (MES). The module is then lifted by pallet-type vertical elevator 120 to the top horizontal roller conveyor 120b. When the feed gate valve 130a of the horizontal double gate valve buffer chamber 130 receives an opening command, the module is sent into its buffer space 130c, and then the gate valve closes. The nitrogen generator 260 fills the buffer space 130c with nitrogen through the nitrogen pipeline 260a for replacement. When the internal oxygen concentration is lower than 6%, the horizontal discharge gate valve 130b opens after receiving a permission signal from the downstream equipment, and the module is slowly and controllably fed into the first crushing chamber 160a of the four-shaft crusher 160.

[0040] For small individual battery cells (such as 18650, 4680), pouch batteries, or small modules, operators place them into a dedicated transfer hopper 220b and push them onto a horizontal roller conveyor 220a with lifting and weighing functions. Weight data is automatically entered into the production management system (MES), and the bucket elevator 220 lifts the hopper to a vertical three-gate valve buffer chamber 140. When the feed gate valve 140b of the vertical buffer chamber opens and the material enters the buffer space 140a, the gate valve closes and nitrogen purging is performed. Once the oxygen content reaches the standard, the discharge gate valve 140d first opens to 50%, followed by the opening of the impact-resistant gate valve 140c, allowing the material to fall directly into the first crushing chamber 160a of the four-shaft crusher 160. The design of the impact-resistant gate valve 140c effectively protects the airtight gate valve 140d from damage caused by material impact.

[0041] Material enters a multi-stage crushing system consisting of a four-shaft crusher 160 and a single-shaft crusher 180. The entire crushing system (including the first crushing chamber 160a, the second crushing chamber 180b, and the transition chute 170) maintains an inert environment through a nitrogen pipeline 260a. An automatic gas distribution monitoring system monitors the internal oxygen concentration, temperature, and pressure in real time, and automatically adjusts the nitrogen supply through a control unit to ensure that the oxygen content remains below a safe threshold (e.g., 6%). The four-shaft crusher 160 performs coarse crushing, and its 80mm×80mm first screen 160b at the outlet ensures that only materials with a particle size smaller than 80mm can pass through the transition chute 170 and enter the single-shaft crusher 180. The single-shaft crusher 180 performs fine crushing and dissociation, and its 18mm diameter second screen 180a at the outlet precisely controls the discharge particle size within an optimal range of 18mm~25mm, forming loose, dissociated material.

[0042] The crushed material enters the hopper 190a of the airtight conveyor 190. This equipment combines buffering, homogenization, weighing, and quantitative conveying functions, with an effective volume (not less than 10m³). 3 This ensures continuous production. Based on instructions from the downstream vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system, the airtight conveyor 190 transports a fixed quantity of material to the chamber 200a of the cryogenic evaporator 200.

[0043] The low-temperature evaporator 200 starts its heat source heater 200e and operates according to the preset three-stage heating and evaporation program: Phase 1: After the material is filled, heating begins and is maintained at 40°C and normal pressure. Then, the temperature is raised to 85°C within 10 minutes, and the pressure inside the chamber is reduced to 450 mbar (based on ambient atmospheric pressure) within 5 minutes. This state is maintained for 20 minutes, allowing low-boiling-point solvents such as dimethyl carbonate (DMC), ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC), and diethyl carbonate (DEC) to begin evaporation.

[0044] Second stage: Continue to heat up to 125°C within 10 minutes, and instantly reduce the pressure to 300mbar to ensure that DMC, EMC and DEC are basically evaporated.

[0045] The third stage involves slowly raising the temperature to 145°C over 15 minutes, while simultaneously reducing the pressure to 30 mbar and maintaining the temperature between 135°C and 145°C for 3 to 5 minutes. This process promotes the maximum decomposition and evaporation of the high-boiling-point ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC).

[0046] The entire evaporation process takes approximately 45 minutes (based on a throughput of 1 t / h), with an organic solvent evaporation efficiency of ≥99% and effective suppression of hydrogen fluoride (HF) formation. The evaporated solvent vapor, after passing through a low-temperature evaporator filter 200b to remove entrained particulate matter, enters the cryogenic separation system 210 via a steam delivery pipeline 210a. Specifically, a low-temperature evaporator cooler 200f is connected to the heat source heater 200e. The low-temperature evaporator cooler 200f acts on the heating medium inside the heat source heater 200e. This step plays a crucial role in subsequent batches after the initial cycle; cooling the temperature inside the cooling chamber 200a effectively reduces the evaporation rate of newly entering materials, thereby ensuring the separation effect of the cryogenic separation system 210.

[0047] The cryogenic separation system 210 is equipped with a liquid ring vacuum pressure reducer, which cleverly uses the organic solvent to be recovered as the working fluid, achieving unification of the working fluid and the product. The vapor sequentially passes through the first-stage (refrigerant temperature 0–5℃) and second-stage (refrigerant temperature -10–-15℃) cryogenic heat exchangers, where it is fully condensed into a liquid state and collected in the organic solvent storage tank 210b. The solid material after evaporation and drying is then temporarily stored in the cryogenic evaporator storage tank 200d via the cryogenic evaporator unloading conveyor 200c; its effective volume can buffer multiple batches of material.

[0048] During equipment operation, all stages that may generate waste gas (such as the horizontal double-gate valve buffer chamber 130, the vertical triple-gate valve buffer chamber 140, the four-shaft crusher 160, the single-shaft crusher 180, the airtight conveyor 190, the cryogenic system 210, and the organic solvent storage device 210b) are connected to the integrated waste gas treatment system through the waste gas replacement pipeline 250. The waste gas first enters the direct-fired oxidizer 230 for high-temperature oxidation treatment, converting organic matter into CO2 and H2O. Subsequently, the tail gas enters the scrubbing tower 240. An air cooler is installed at the inlet of the alkaline scrubbing tower to ensure the inlet temperature is below 80℃. The gas is then scrubbed with alkaline solution (such as NaOH solution) to neutralize and remove residual HF gas, ultimately achieving emission standards (VOCS ≤ 20 mg / Nm³). 3 HF≤2mg / Nm 3 ).

[0049] The multi-form waste lithium battery dismantling and recycling equipment of the present invention is strictly designed with airtightness to avoid gas leakage that is harmful to the environment. In order to avoid leakage at the equipment connection due to corrosion during long-term operation, all parts of the multi-form waste lithium battery dismantling and recycling equipment that involve direct or indirect contact with corrosive liquids or gases need to use corrosion-resistant sealing products, such as PTFE, perfluoroethers, and fluororubber; and the rotating shaft end needs to be equipped with an inert gas seal design to achieve double protection.

[0050] The multi-form waste lithium battery dismantling and recycling equipment is also equipped with a fire-fighting system 270. The fire-fighting system 270 is an immersion-based instantaneous fire extinguishing system. It includes a first fire-fighting water system pipeline 270a and a second fire-fighting water system pipeline 270b connected to the top water distribution tank, as well as an exhaust gas dust removal pipeline 280 connected to the feed chute 150. In case of fire, a pneumatic valve can be opened to release water from the top water distribution tank. If a fire causes a power outage, a manual valve is also provided to prevent the fire-fighting system from failing to activate due to power failure.

[0051] Example 2, see appendix Figure 2This embodiment details the processing of the dried solid material output from the low-temperature evaporator storage 200d in Embodiment 1 in a fine sorting system. The material is first uniformly conveyed to the primary screening and black powder extraction module via a screw conveyor system 300.

[0052] The material enters the first-stage circular pendulum screen 310. This circular pendulum screen is equipped with three layers of screens (with apertures of 3mm, 1mm, and 0.25mm from top to bottom). Fine black powder with a particle size less than 0.25mm is treated as fine powder material and directly enters the first automatic black powder bagging machine 311 for packaging via black powder conveying equipment 310a. The oversize material with a particle size greater than 0.25mm (including shells, copper and aluminum foil, diaphragm fragments, etc.) is conveyed by shell and diaphragm conveying equipment 310b to the light and heavy separation and iron removal module.

[0053] The material oversizes first enters the first airflow separator 312. The airflow is set (e.g., 4000~4500 m³ / h). 3 Under wind pressure of 4000 Pa ( / h) and 4000 Pa, heavy materials with higher density, such as steel shells, are separated and fed into the heavy material automatic bagging machine 313 via heavy material conveying equipment 312b. Light materials (mainly electrode sheets, diaphragms, and plastics with attached black powder) enter the iron separator 315 via light material conveying equipment 312a, where ferromagnetic impurities are selected out and fed into the iron material automatic bagging machine 314 via iron material conveyor 315a.

[0054] After iron removal, the non-magnetic material enters the deep dissociation and secondary screening module. The material is first ground at high speed in the first high-speed negative pressure grinder 316 (speed 1500~3000rpm, system negative pressure 8000~10000Pa), further desorbing the black powder from the copper and aluminum foil. After grinding, the material is conveyed by the negative pressure material conveyor 316a to the second-stage 4-stage circular pendulum screen 317 for screening. The black powder that passes through the screen is conveyed by the black powder conveyor 317a into the second automatic black powder bagging machine 318. The material oversizes (mainly copper and aluminum particles and diaphragms) is then fed into the second high-speed negative pressure grinder 319 via the diaphragm-stage particle conveyor 317b for finer grinding. After grinding, the material is conveyed by the post-grinding material conveyor 319a to the core equipment of the precision particle size classification and diversion module—the 5-stage circular pendulum screen 320. The 5-stage circular pendulum screen 320 is equipped with four layers of screens with apertures of 3mm, 1mm, 0.5mm, and 0.125mm, precisely classifying the feed into five particle size streams, which are then discharged through five outlets. Outlet 1 (>3mm): mainly sheet-like diaphragms, led out via diaphragm conveyor 320e.

[0055] Outlet 2 (1mm~3mm): A mixture of copper-aluminum particles and sheet-like diaphragms, which is led out by a copper-aluminum diaphragm debris conveyor 320d.

[0056] Outlet 3 (0.5mm~1mm): Copper-aluminum granules mixed with a small amount of plastic granules are led out by the second copper-aluminum-plastic granule conveyor 320c.

[0057] Outlet 4 (0.125mm~0.5mm): mainly copper and aluminum particles, led out by the first copper and aluminum particle conveyor 320b.

[0058] Export 5 (<0.125mm): This is extremely fine black powder, which is directly fed into the third automatic black powder bagging machine 321 via black powder conveying equipment 320a.

[0059] Material flows of different particle sizes are guided into the corresponding sorting branches in the density sorting and product collection network module: Material from outlet four (0.125mm~0.5mm) enters the first density separator 322. The separated copper particles and aluminum particles enter the copper powder automatic bagging machine 323 and aluminum powder automatic bagging machine 324 respectively through copper particle conveyor 322a and aluminum particle conveyor 322b.

[0060] Material from outlet three (0.5mm~1mm) enters the second density separator 325. The separated light plastic granules enter the plastic granule automatic bagging machine 333 via plastic granule conveyor 325b. The separated heavy copper-aluminum mixture enters the third density separator 326 via copper-aluminum granule conveyor 325a for secondary separation. The resulting copper and aluminum granules enter the copper powder automatic bagging machine 327 and aluminum powder automatic bagging machine 328, respectively.

[0061] Material from outlet two (1mm~3mm) enters the second airflow separator 334. Light diaphragm fragments are led out by the diaphragm debris conveyor 334a; the heavy mixture of copper, aluminum and plastic particles enters the fourth density separator 329 via the copper, aluminum and plastic particle conveyor 334b. The light plastic particles separated by the fourth density separator 329 enter the automatic plastic particle bagging machine 333 via the plastic particle conveyor 329b; the heavy copper and aluminum particles separated by the fourth density separator enter the fifth density separator 330 via the copper and aluminum particle conveyor 329a for final separation. The resulting copper and aluminum particles enter the automatic copper powder bagging machine 331 and the automatic aluminum powder bagging machine 332, respectively.

[0062] The sheet-like diaphragm from outlet 1 (>3mm) and the diaphragm fragments from the second airflow separator 334 are eventually collected in the volume reduction machine 335 for compression and volume reduction (reduction ratio 4:1). The compressed diaphragm material is then fed into the automatic diaphragm bagging machine 336 via the diaphragm compression material conveyor 335a.

[0063] In addition, the entire fine sorting system also integrates a dust removal system. Dust collection hoods are installed at dust-generating points such as the four-stage circular pendulum screens 310 and 317, the black powder bagging machine, the first airflow separator 312, the first high-speed negative pressure grinder 316, the second high-speed negative pressure grinder 319, the five-stage circular pendulum screen 320, and various density separators, and are connected to dust collection pipelines 337. All dust-laden gas is collected in the sintered plate dust collector 338 for high-efficiency filtration (filtration area ≥700㎡, pressure resistance ≥10000Pa). The collected dust is then conveyed by the dust conveyor 338a to the automatic dust bagging machine 339 for packaging, achieving a clean production environment and secondary dust recovery.

[0064] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the invention. Various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries, characterized in that, include: The intelligent dual-feeding system is used to receive and transport retired lithium batteries of different forms. A multi-stage crushing system and an inert gas device are provided. The multi-stage crushing system is connected to the discharge end of the intelligent dual-feeding system. The inert gas device supplies inert gas to the multi-stage crushing system, so that the multi-stage crushing system crushes and dissociates the lithium battery in an inert atmosphere. The vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system is connected to the discharge end of the multi-stage crushing system. It is used to perform low-temperature vacuum evaporation on the crushed material and cryogenic separation and recovery of the volatile organic solvents. The fine sorting system is connected to the discharge end of the vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system via a screw conveyor system. It is used to perform multi-stage sorting of the evaporated and dried material to separate various components, including black powder, copper, aluminum, iron, diaphragm, and plastic. The integrated waste gas treatment system is connected to the intelligent dual-feeding system, multi-stage crushing system, vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system, and is used to treat organic waste gas and fluorine-containing waste gas generated during equipment operation.

2. The complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that, The intelligent dual-feeding system includes a first feeding subsystem for processing large battery modules and a second feeding subsystem for processing small battery cells. The first feeding subsystem includes an intelligent gripping device, a horizontal roller conveyor with weighing function, a pallet-type vertical elevator, and a horizontal double gate valve buffer silo. The second feeding subsystem includes a horizontal roller conveyor with lifting and weighing functions, a transfer hopper, a bucket elevator, and a vertical three-gate valve buffer silo. The horizontal double gate valve buffer chamber contains a conveying device with conveying and tilting feeding functions. Both the horizontal double-gate valve buffer chamber and the vertical triple-gate valve buffer chamber are equipped with exhaust gas replacement pipelines for reducing the oxygen content to below 6%.

3. The complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The multi-stage crushing system includes a four-shaft crusher and a single-shaft crusher; the discharge end of the intelligent dual-feeding system is connected to the feed end of the four-shaft crusher, and the discharge end of the four-shaft crusher is connected to the feed end of the single-shaft crusher through a transition chute. The discharge end of the four-shaft crusher is equipped with a first screen, and the discharge end of the single-shaft crusher is equipped with a second screen. The inert gas device includes a nitrogen generator, a nitrogen pipeline, a monitoring system, and a control unit. The nitrogen generator supplies nitrogen to the quadrupole crusher, the transition chute, and the single-shaft crusher through the nitrogen pipeline. The monitoring system is used to monitor the oxygen concentration, temperature, and pressure inside the quadrupole crusher, the transition chute, and the single-shaft crusher in real time. The control unit adjusts the nitrogen input flow rate based on the monitoring data.

4. The complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries according to claim 3, characterized in that, The first screen is a square screen with a screen aperture size of 80mm×80mm; the second screen is a round screen with a screen aperture diameter of 18mm, used to control the output particle size between 18mm and 25mm.

5. The complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that, The vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system includes: The low-temperature evaporator is used to perform three-stage heating and evaporation of crushed materials under vacuum conditions, with an evaporation temperature range of 40℃~145℃ and a pressure range of 30mbar~450mbar. A cryogenic separation system is connected to the steam outlet of the cryogenic evaporator to condense the evaporated organic solvent vapor into liquid for recovery; a filter is installed at the steam outlet of the cryogenic evaporator. And a storage-type airtight conveyor located between the multi-stage crushing system and the low-temperature evaporator, used for material buffering and quantitative conveying; The outlet end of the low-temperature evaporator is sequentially connected to a low-temperature evaporator unloading conveyor and a low-temperature evaporator storage device; the outlet end of the low-temperature evaporator storage device is connected to the feed end of the fine sorting system.

6. The complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries according to claim 5, characterized in that, The three-stage heating and evaporation of the low-temperature evaporator includes: Phase 1: Start at 40°C and normal pressure, then raise the temperature to 85°C within 10 minutes and reduce the pressure to 450 mbar within 5 minutes, and maintain this for 20 minutes; Second stage: Increase the temperature to 125°C within 10 minutes and instantly reduce the pressure to 300 mbar; The third stage: Increase the temperature to 145°C within 15 minutes and slowly reduce the pressure to 30 mbar, maintaining the temperature range of 135°C to 145°C for 3 to 5 minutes.

7. The complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries according to claim 5, characterized in that, The cryogenic separation system is equipped with a liquid ring vacuum pressure reducing device, the working fluid of which is an organic solvent; the cryogenic separation system also has an organic solvent storage device.

8. The complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that, The integrated waste gas treatment system includes waste gas replacement pipelines, a direct-fired oxidizer, and a scrubbing tower; The waste gas replacement pipeline is used to connect the intelligent dual feeding system, the multi-stage crushing system, and the vacuum evaporation and cryogenic separation system to the direct-fired oxidizer to collect organic waste gas. The direct-fired oxidizer performs high-temperature oxidation treatment on the collected organic waste gas. The scrubbing tower is connected to the outlet of the direct-fired oxidizer, and the inlet is equipped with an air-cooled heat exchanger for scrubbing the tail gas after oxidation with alkaline solution to remove hydrogen fluoride.

9. The complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that, The refined sorting system includes the following components arranged sequentially along the material flow direction: The primary screening and black powder extraction module includes a first-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen connected to the screw conveyor system. The first-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen is equipped with three layers of screens with apertures of 0.25mm, 1mm, and 3mm, which are used to screen the feed material into fine powder material below 0.25mm and the remaining oversize material. The outlet of the fine powder material is connected to a first automatic black powder bagging machine. The light-heavy separation and iron removal module has its feed end connected to the oversize material outlet of the first-stage multi-stage circular pendulum screen, and sequentially includes an air classifier and an iron remover. The air classifier is used to separate the oversize material into heavy materials and light materials, and the heavy material outlet is connected to an automatic heavy material bagging machine. The iron remover's feed end is connected to the light material outlet of the air classifier, and is used to separate ferromagnetic materials and non-magnetic materials. The ferromagnetic material outlet is connected to an automatic iron material bagging machine. The deep dissociation and secondary screening module has its feed end connected to the non-magnetic material outlet of the iron remover, and includes a first high-speed negative pressure grinder and a second multi-stage circular pendulum screen. The first high-speed negative pressure grinder is used for primary grinding and dissociation of non-magnetic materials. The second multi-stage circular pendulum screen is equipped with three layers of screens with apertures of 0.25mm, 1mm, and 3mm, which are used to screen the ground material. The material below 0.25mm is the undersize fine powder, and the outlet is connected to a second automatic black powder bagging machine. The precision particle size classification and diversion module includes a precision multi-stage circular pendulum screen, whose feed end receives the oversize material from the deep dissociation and secondary screening module; the precision multi-stage circular pendulum screen is equipped with four layers of screens with apertures of 0.125mm, 0.5mm, 1mm and 3mm, classifying the feed material into five different particle size streams, and correspondingly providing five discharge ports; one of the discharge ports is connected to a third automatic black powder bagging machine; The density sorting and product collection network module includes multiple density sorting branches and an airflow separator. The density sorting branches consist of multiple density sorters connected in a specific order according to the particle size and composition of the materials being processed. They are used to separate copper particles, aluminum particles, plastic particles, and diaphragms from the corresponding material streams, and then package them separately by corresponding automatic bagging machines. The airflow separator is used to separate diaphragm fragments from a specific material stream. The separated diaphragm fragments are compressed by a volume reduction machine and then packaged by an automatic diaphragm bagging machine.

10. The complete set of equipment for dismantling and recycling multi-form waste lithium batteries according to claim 9, characterized in that, The refined sorting system also includes a dust removal system, which includes dust removal pipelines connected to each dust-generating point in the multi-stage crushing system and the refined sorting system, a sintered plate dust collector, and an automatic dust bagging machine, for collecting and processing the dust generated by the system.

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