A device for recycling waste new energy vehicle power storage battery

Abstract

The application belongs to the technical field of electric vehicle power battery recycling, and discloses a waste new energy vehicle power battery recycling device, which comprises a machine body, a tearing cavity, tearing rollers, a buffer feed hopper and a sealing protective cover. A nitrogen protection crushing chamber is formed between the sealing protective cover and the tearing cavity, and a clean nitrogen source is connected to maintain a micro-positive-pressure inert environment. An electrolyte separator is arranged below the discharging end of the tearing cavity to pre-separate electrolyte from solid pieces after crushing. The separated solids are pre-cooled through a first-stage pre-cooling channel, distributed to a plurality of second-stage deep cooling buffer bins above differential rubbing separators by an equal-distribution distributor, and then enter the differential rubbing separators for rubbing separation after deep cooling and embrittlement. The application significantly improves the safety and environmental protection of the recycling process, and the separation efficiency and purity of black powder and foil material through nitrogen protection, electrolyte pre-separation, staged deep cooling embrittlement and differential rubbing separation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of electric vehicle power battery recycling technology, and in particular to a device for recycling and utilizing used new energy vehicle power batteries. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of the electric vehicle (new energy vehicle) industry, the amount of retired power batteries is increasing year by year. Waste lithium batteries contain valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and aluminum, as well as organic materials such as organic electrolytes and separators, and have extremely high resource recycling value and environmental hazards.

[0003] Currently, mainstream recycling technologies are divided into two main categories: hydrometallurgy and physical sorting. Hydrometallurgy refers to a technology that uses water or an aqueous solution as a protective medium during the crushing process. While this process has certain advantages in dust suppression and cooling, it also has the following significant drawbacks: During wet crushing, lithium hexafluorophosphate (... It dissolves rapidly in water—approximately 90%. It dissolves within 4 minutes, with minimal decomposition -6-8. This results in: the generation of large quantities of highly concentrated toxic wastewater containing fluoride and phosphorus; high wastewater treatment costs, requiring neutralization, sedimentation, and multi-stage filtration; and, if improperly disposed of, leakage of fluoride-containing wastewater can cause persistent soil and groundwater pollution; organic solvents (carbonates) in the electrolyte also dissolve in the water and may be released back into the atmosphere through evaporation -8. This means that wet crushing may simultaneously pose a dual risk of pollution in both the aqueous and gaseous phases.

[0004] Existing crushing equipment presents the following technical challenges when processing waste lithium batteries: The residual charge in waste lithium batteries causes a short circuit between the positive and negative electrodes during mechanical crushing, releasing a large current and generating a high-temperature arc. This arc can easily ignite the flammable electrolyte, leading to fire or even explosion. Traditional open-type crushers also introduce organic solvents (such as ethylene carbonate) and lithium hexafluorophosphate (…). When exposed to air, these particles not only produce toxic gases but also hydrolyze to produce hydrogen fluoride, which corrodes equipment and harms the environment. Furthermore, during the crushing process, binders (such as PVDF) cause the fine electrode powder (black powder) to adhere to the copper and aluminum foil, making it difficult to separate and resulting in low subsequent screening efficiency, low black powder recovery rate, and high impurity content. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To overcome the technical defects of existing technologies, this invention provides a recycling device for waste new energy vehicle power batteries, comprising a body, a shredding chamber with shredding rollers inside, a buffer hopper for feeding and buffering materials into the shredding chamber, a sealing cover for covering the shredding chamber and the buffer hopper, an opening corresponding to the buffer hopper on the sealing cover, and a sealing gasket for sealing the connection between the sealing cover and the buffer hopper, forming a nitrogen-protected crushing chamber between the sealing cover and the shredding chamber. It also includes a nitrogen protection system that injects slightly positive pressure nitrogen into the nitrogen-protected crushing chamber, the nitrogen protection system including a clean nitrogen source; The machine body is equipped with an electrolyte separator below the discharge end of the shredding chamber for pre-separating the crushed electrolyte and fragments; the discharge end of the electrolyte separator is equipped with a primary precooling channel; the machine body is equipped with a uniform feeder at the discharge end of the primary precooling channel, and the machine body is equipped with multiple differential speed kneading separators arranged in parallel; each differential speed kneading separator is equipped with a secondary cryogenic buffer chamber at its upper part, and the uniform feeder is used to distribute the material inside the primary precooling channel into the interior of each secondary cryogenic buffer chamber; The machine body is equipped with a discharge buffer hopper for collecting the fragments after being rubbed by the differential rubbing separator; the buffer hopper is equipped with a pre-cooling mechanism for pre-cooling the battery body to be shredded, and the pre-cooling mechanism is cold-connected to the discharge buffer hopper.

[0006] Preferably, the buffer feeding hopper includes a storage hopper with a discharge port at the bottom. A tilting plate is provided inside the storage hopper, dividing the interior of the storage hopper into a first storage chamber and a second storage chamber, which are independently arranged vertically. One end of the tilting plate is hinged to the inner wall of the storage hopper, and a tilting drive is connected to the bottom of the tilting plate to drive it to switch between a horizontal and an inclined position. When the tilting plate is in a horizontal position, the first storage chamber and the second storage chamber are separated. When the tilting plate is in an inclined position, the material in the first storage chamber slides down the surface of the tilting plate to the second storage chamber and is discharged through the discharge port.

[0007] Preferably, the differential kneading separator includes two kneading rollers rotating in opposite directions. The surfaces of the two kneading rollers are provided with wear-resistant kneading teeth, and the two kneading rollers have different rotational speeds, with a speed ratio of 1:1.5 to 1:3. The kneading rollers are provided with shaft core cooling channels inside, which are used to introduce low-temperature cooling media to maintain a low-temperature environment during the kneading process.

[0008] Preferably, the electrolyte separator includes a vibration pre-separation mechanism located below the discharge end of the shredding chamber, used for preliminary solid-liquid separation of the large fragments after crushing, so as to remove free electrolyte from the surface of the material. The vibration pre-separation mechanism includes: a screen box, which is provided with a feed inlet, a solid discharge outlet and a liquid discharge outlet; the feed inlet is sealed and connected to the discharge end of the shredding chamber, the solid discharge outlet is connected to the feed end of the primary pre-cooling channel, and the liquid discharge outlet is used to discharge the initially separated electrolyte; The screen box is equipped with a screen with a pore size smaller than the particle size of the material fragments, which is used to trap solid fragments and allow the electrolyte to pass through. The screen box is equipped with an explosion-proof vibration motor, which drives the screen box and screen to generate high-frequency vibration, so that the electrolyte attached to the surface of the fragments is detached under the action of inertial force and passes through the screen.

[0009] Preferably, the equalization feeder includes a laterally movable guide hood, and the machine body is provided with a plate, the plate having openings corresponding one-to-one with the top of each secondary cryogenic buffer bin; the guide hood is connected to the outlet of the primary precooling channel via a corrugated telescopic tube, and the guide hood is driven by a drive mechanism to move laterally along the plate, so as to sequentially or selectively guide the material output from the primary precooling channel into each secondary cryogenic buffer bin; the drive mechanism includes a lead screw motor or a cylinder, and the plate is provided with a position sensor corresponding to the moving position of the guide hood, for controlling the alignment of the guide hood with each opening.

[0010] Preferably, the system also includes a waste gas treatment system, which comprises a cyclone dust collector, a bag filter, an activated carbon adsorption device, and a thermal oxidizer connected in sequence; the inlet of the waste gas treatment system is located at each outlet of the device.

[0011] Preferably, the precooling mechanism includes a first heat exchange tube disposed on the inner wall of the discharge buffer hopper and a second heat exchange tube disposed inside the buffer feed hopper; the first heat exchange tube and the second heat exchange tube are connected by a first circulation pipeline, and a circulation pump is provided on the first circulation pipeline; a turning shaft is provided inside the discharge buffer hopper.

[0012] Preferably, the secondary cryogenic buffer chamber is compressed and refrigerated by a compression refrigeration mechanism, and the compression refrigeration mechanism includes an externally mounted compression refrigeration unit; the compression refrigeration unit adopts a cascade compression refrigeration cycle, and its evaporator coil is arranged in the chamber wall jacket of the secondary cryogenic buffer chamber or directly inside the chamber body; the compression refrigeration unit is used to cool the material in the secondary cryogenic buffer chamber to -15°C to -25°C, so as to make the diaphragm material brittle and facilitate subsequent kneading and separation.

[0013] Preferably, the primary precooling channel is divided into a cold energy recovery precooling section and a compression refrigeration deep cooling section along the material conveying direction; the cold energy recovery precooling section is located at the feeding end and is equipped with a low-temperature gas distributor or a jacketed heat exchange structure inside, which is used to introduce low-temperature refrigerant from the residual cold recovery loop of the discharge buffer hopper to centrally precool the incoming room temperature material, so that the material temperature drops to 5-10℃. The compression refrigeration cryogenic section is located at the discharge end, and its jacket is filled with a low-temperature refrigerant from the compression refrigeration unit to further cool the pre-cooled material to -5°C to -10°C. A temperature sensor is installed between the recovery cold energy pre-cooling section and the compression refrigeration cryogenic section to automatically adjust the supply of recovery cold energy according to the discharge temperature of the pre-cooling section, ensuring that the temperature of the material entering the cryogenic section is stable within the set range of 5-10°C. Preferably, the method of using the device includes the following steps: Step 1, Nitrogen protection: Inject slightly positive pressure nitrogen into the nitrogen protection crushing chamber to create a nitrogen inert environment between the sealed protective cover and the shredding chamber; Step 2, Pre-cooling feeding: The waste power batteries to be recycled are put into the buffer feeding hopper, and the battery body is pre-cooled by the pre-cooling mechanism. During feeding, the first storage chamber and the second storage chamber are separated by a flip plate. The second storage chamber is continuously fed by the intermittent opening and closing of the flip plate. This ensures the sealing of the nitrogen inert environment. The pre-cooled batteries are quantitatively transported to the feeding end of the shredding chamber through the buffer feeding hopper. Step 3, Electrolyte pre-separation: The crushed material enters the electrolyte separator, where the crushed electrolyte is pre-separated from the solid fragments. The separated electrolyte is discharged and collected from the liquid outlet, while the solid fragments enter the primary pre-cooling channel. Step 4, Primary Precooling: The solid fragments are precooled in the primary precooling channel to lower the material temperature; Step 5, uniform distribution: The pre-cooled material enters the uniform distribution device, which distributes the material evenly into multiple parallel-connected secondary cryogenic buffer bins; Step 6, Secondary Cryogenic Embrittlement: The material is further cooled to -15°C to -25°C in the secondary cryogenic buffer chamber to fully embrittle the diaphragm material; Step 7, Differential Kneading Separation: The embrittled material enters the differential kneading separator, where it is kneaded, torn and rubbed by two kneading rollers that rotate in opposite directions at different speeds, so that the electrode material is separated from the diaphragm, aluminum foil and copper foil. Step 8, Discharge Buffer and Cold Energy Recovery: The fragments after kneading and separation enter the discharge buffer hopper for collection. At the same time, the cold air in the discharge buffer hopper is returned to the pre-cooling mechanism of the buffer supply hopper for pre-cooling the next batch of batteries. The beneficial effects of this invention are: 1. This invention constructs a slightly positive pressure nitrogen environment through a sealed protective cover and a nitrogen protection system, eliminating the risk of combustion and explosion caused by short-circuit sparks during the crushing process; the electrolyte separator separates and collects most of the free electrolyte in advance, preventing its volatilization and decomposition, and achieves clean production in conjunction with the waste gas treatment system; a primary pre-cooling and secondary cryogenic staged cooling strategy is adopted to fully embrittle the diaphragm and binder; combined with a differential speed kneading separator, a strong kneading and tearing action is generated on the embrittled material, efficiently separating black powder and copper and aluminum foil, and significantly improving the black powder recovery rate and purity; the residual cold of the material in the discharge buffer hopper is recovered through the pre-cooling mechanism and used for the pre-cooling of new batteries in the pre-cooling buffer feed hopper, realizing the cascade utilization of cold energy; the primary pre-cooling channel is divided into a cold energy recovery section and a compression refrigeration section, giving priority to the use of recovered cold energy, significantly reducing refrigeration energy consumption. Attached Figure Description

[0014] One or more embodiments are illustrated by way of example with reference numerals in the accompanying drawings. These illustrations do not constitute a limitation on the embodiments. Elements with the same reference numerals in the drawings are denoted as similar elements. Unless otherwise stated, the figures in the drawings are not to be limited by scale.

[0015] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram showing the opening of the sealing protective cover of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the uniform feeder of the present invention; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the differential kneading separator of the present invention; Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the kneading roller of the present invention; Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the secondary cryogenic buffer of the present invention; Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the primary precooling channel of the present invention; Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the precooling mechanism of the present invention; Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the buffer feed hopper of the present invention; Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the electrolyte separator of the present invention.

[0016] Figure labeling: 1. Machine body; 2. Shredding chamber; 3. Shredding roller; 4. Buffer feed hopper; 401. Storage hopper; 402. Discharge port; 403. Tilting plate; 404. First storage chamber; 405. Second storage chamber; 406. Tilting drive component; 407. Refrigeration block; 5. Sealed protective cover; 6. Nitrogen protection system; 7. Electrolyte separator; 701. Screen box; 702. Screen; 703. Explosion-proof vibration motor; 8. Primary precooling channel; 801. Cold energy recovery precooling section; 802. Compression refrigeration cryogenic section; 9. (The last part is incomplete and likely refers to a different component, so it's left as is.) 902. Metering distributor; 903. Guide hood; 904. Flat plate; 905. Corrugated telescopic pipe; 906. Drive mechanism; 907. First stirring shaft; 10. Differential speed kneading separator; 1008. Kneading roller; 1009. Wear-resistant kneading teeth; 10000. Shaft core cooling channel; 11. Secondary cryogenic buffer bin; 1101. Compression refrigeration unit; 12. Discharge buffer hopper; 1201. Tilting shaft; 13. Pre-cooling mechanism; 1301. First heat exchange tube; 1302. Second heat exchange tube; 1303. First circulation pipeline; 1304. Circulation pump. Detailed Implementation

[0017] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the various embodiments of this invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, those skilled in the art will understand that many technical details have been provided in the various embodiments of this invention to facilitate a better understanding of this application. However, the technical solutions claimed in the claims of this application can be implemented even without these technical details and with various variations and modifications based on the following embodiments.

[0018] like Figure 1-10 As shown, this embodiment provides a waste new energy vehicle power battery recycling device, including a body 1. The body 1 is welded from high-strength steel plates, and the key load-bearing parts are reinforced. The body 1 is provided with a shredding chamber 2, and the inner wall of the shredding chamber 2 is lined with wear-resistant plates (such as Hardox 450 wear-resistant steel plates). The shredding chamber 2 is provided with a shredding roller 3, which is a double-shaft roller structure. Each roller shaft is staggered with multiple detachable alloy shredding blades. The blade material is Cr12MoV or SKD-11, which is vacuum quenched to a hardness of HRC58-62.

[0019] The machine body 1 is also equipped with a buffer hopper 4 for feeding and buffering material into the feed end of the shredding chamber 2. The machine body 1 is equipped with a sealing protective cover 5, which is welded from 304 stainless steel plate with a thickness of 4-6mm, completely covering the shredding chamber 2, the buffer hopper 4, and their connecting parts. The sealing protective cover 5 has an opening corresponding to the buffer hopper 4, and the connection between the sealing protective cover 5 and the buffer hopper 4 is sealed with an oil-resistant and low-temperature-resistant silicone rubber gasket to ensure a gas leakage rate of less than 0.5% / h. Thus, a sealed nitrogen-protected crushing chamber is formed between the sealing protective cover 5 and the shredding chamber 2. The buffer hopper 4 is connected to the top of the shredding chamber 2 via a conveyor belt to feed the material falling from the buffer hopper 4 into the shredding chamber 2 for shredding.

[0020] The device also includes a nitrogen protection system 6, which comprises a clean nitrogen source (such as a PSA nitrogen generator or a liquid nitrogen storage tank + vaporizer, with an outlet nitrogen purity ≥99.5% and a dew point ≤-40℃), a pressure reducing valve, a precision filter, a gas flow meter, and a micro-pressure sensor. The nitrogen protection system 6's gas supply pipe extends into the nitrogen protection crushing chamber, continuously injecting slightly positive pressure nitrogen to maintain the chamber pressure at 100-300 Pa (relative to atmospheric pressure). This pressure is interlocked and controlled to ensure that the oxygen concentration inside the chamber remains below 8% (volume fraction), fundamentally eliminating the risk of combustion and explosion.

[0021] The tilting plate 403 divides the interior of the storage hopper 401 into a first storage chamber 404 (upper chamber) and a second storage chamber 405 (lower chamber) that are independently set at the top and bottom. One end of the tilting plate 403 is hinged to the inner wall of the storage hopper 401 through a rotating shaft. The rotating shaft extends out of the hopper body and is connected to a tilting drive 406. In this embodiment, the tilting drive 406 is a double-acting cylinder. The piston rod of the cylinder is connected to the rotating shaft through a connecting rod mechanism and is used to drive the tilting plate 403 to quickly switch between a horizontal position (0° angle with the horizontal plane) and an inclined position (45°-60° angle with the horizontal plane).

[0022] Operating Logic: Initially, the flip plate 403 is in a horizontal position, and the first storage chamber 404 and the second storage chamber 405 are separated. After a batch of batteries is added to the first storage chamber 404, the upper sealing cover is closed. Then, the control system drives the flip plate 403 to quickly flip to an inclined position. Under the action of gravity, the batteries in the first storage chamber 404 slide down the surface of the flip plate 403 to the second storage chamber 405 and are continuously discharged through the discharge port 402. After the preset weight is discharged, the flip plate 403 quickly returns to a horizontal position. At the instant the flip plate 403 returns to its horizontal position, the first storage chamber 404 and the second storage chamber 405 are separated again. At this time, there may still be a small number of batteries in the second storage chamber 405, but the nitrogen environment above remains undisturbed. This "dual-chamber airlock valve" structure enables batch replenishment and continuous discharge operations while maintaining an uninterrupted slightly positive nitrogen environment, avoiding the problems of jamming and poor sealing that may occur with traditional rotary valves.

[0023] The electrolyte separator 7 is a high-frequency vibration pre-separation mechanism with an overall sealed structure. Its top inlet is connected to the outlet of the shredding chamber 2 via a flexible sealing connector to isolate vibration. The separator includes a screen box 701, inside which a screen 702 is installed at an angle. The screen 702 has a double-layer structure: the upper layer is a 304 stainless steel perforated plate with a 3mm aperture, used to support materials and separate large fragments; the lower layer is a long strip-shaped slit screen plate with a 0.5mm × 10mm aperture, used to efficiently trap solids and allow electrolyte to pass through. The inclination angle of the screen 702 is adjustable between 15° and 25°.

[0024] Two explosion-proof vibration motors 703 (Exd IIB T4 grade) are symmetrically installed on the outside of the screen box 701, each with a power of 1.5kW and adjustable excitation force. The two motors rotate in opposite directions to generate linear vibration. Under the action of vibration, the material jumps forward on the screen 702, and the attached electrolyte is quickly detached under the action of inertial force, passing through the screen 702 and collecting in the liquid collection tank at the bottom. It is then discharged from the liquid outlet to a dedicated electrolyte storage tank (lined with polytetrafluoroethylene, with nitrogen sealing and cooling jacket) by gravity or diaphragm pump. The solid fragments after liquid removal are discharged from the solid outlet at the end of the screen 702 and enter the first-stage pre-cooling channel 8.

[0025] The differential kneading separator 10 includes a sealed housing with two opposing kneading rollers 1001 mounted side-by-side inside. Each roller 1001 has spirally distributed wear-resistant kneading teeth 1002 on its surface. The kneading teeth 1002 are made of high-chromium cast iron or a hard alloy weld overlay, with a tooth tip hardness ≥ HRC60. The two kneading rollers 1001 rotate at different speeds. In this embodiment, the driving roller rotates at 450 rpm, and the driven roller rotates at 225 rpm, with a speed ratio of 2:1. This differential design allows the two rollers to exert not only squeezing and shearing forces on the material, but also strong kneading and tearing effects.

[0026] To prevent frictional heat during the kneading process from causing the materials (especially brittle diaphragms and binders) to soften and affect the separation effect, each kneading roller 1001 is equipped with a core cooling channel 1003. This channel has a spiral structure, with both ends connected to an external low-temperature cooling medium circulation system via rotary joints. The cooling medium is a 35% volume concentration ethylene glycol aqueous solution, supplied by an independent low-temperature chiller unit, with the inlet temperature controlled between -5°C and 0°C. Simultaneously, the same low-temperature medium circulates within the jacket of the kneading chamber, maintaining the entire kneading area in a low temperature range (below 5°C). The equalizer 9 includes a laterally movable guide cover 902. A flat plate 903 is fixed on the machine body 1. The surface of the flat plate 903 is ground to a flatness of ≤0.1mm / m. The flat plate 903 has circular openings corresponding to the top inlets of each secondary cryogenic buffer chamber 11, and a sealing ring is embedded around each opening. The lower port of the guide cover 902 is also provided with an elastic sealing lip.

[0027] The feed end of the guide cover 902 is connected to the discharge port of the primary precooling channel 8 via a corrugated telescopic tube 904. The corrugated telescopic tube 904 is made of polytetrafluoroethylene or stainless steel and features low-temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and good flexibility. A drive mechanism 905 is connected to the side of the guide cover 902. In this embodiment, the drive mechanism 905 is a ball screw module driven by a servo motor, with a repeatability accuracy of ±0.05mm. The screw nut is fixedly connected to the guide cover 902, and the servo motor is controlled by a PLC controller.

[0028] A set of position sensors (such as Hall effect sensors or photoelectric switches) are installed on the flat plate 903 along the direction of movement, with each position sensor corresponding to the position of a passage. When material needs to be fed into a secondary cryogenic buffer bin 11, the PLC controls the servo motor to drive the guide cover 902 to move to the target position. After the position sensor feeds back the arrival signal, the guide cover 902 stops. The material in the primary precooling channel 8 falls into the secondary cryogenic buffer bin 11 below through the guide cover 902 and the passage under the assistance of gravity or vibration. By setting the level gauge signal of each buffer bin, the PLC can control the guide cover 902 to circulate to each bin sequentially, realizing various equalization modes such as equal level, equal time, or on-demand distribution. Considering the potential waste gas components generated during the crushing of waste lithium batteries, including dust, electrolyte volatiles (dimethyl carbonate DMC, diethyl carbonate DEC, ethylene carbonate EC, etc.), and trace amounts of hydrogen fluoride (HF) produced by the hydrolysis of lithium hexafluorophosphate, this embodiment is equipped with a multi-stage waste gas treatment system. This system includes: Primary treatment: Cyclone dust collector. A high-efficiency tangential inlet cyclone dust collector is used to separate coarse dust particles with a diameter ≥10μm, achieving a dust removal efficiency ≥85%. The shell material is 304 stainless steel, and the inner wall is polished to prevent material adhesion. Secondary treatment: Baghouse dust collector. PTFE membrane filter bags (acid and alkali resistant, high temperature resistant) are used, with a filtration accuracy ≤1μm and an emission concentration of... The system is equipped with a pulse-jet cleaning system. Tertiary treatment: Activated carbon adsorption unit. Honeycomb activated carbon (iodine value ≥800mg / g) is used specifically for VOCs adsorption. Two adsorption tanks are installed, one for operation and one for standby; online desorption uses hot nitrogen regeneration. Quaternary treatment: Thermal oxidizer. For high-concentration organic waste gas, a regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) or direct-fired thermal oxidizer (TO) is used, with a combustion temperature ≥800℃, residence time ≥1.0s, and VOCs removal rate ≥99%. The high-temperature flue gas after combustion is discharged into the chimney after waste heat recovery (e.g., to generate hot water or steam). The inlet of the waste gas treatment system is connected in parallel through the main pipeline to the exhaust port of the sealed protective cover 5, the exhaust port of the electrolyte separator 7, the exhaust port of the primary pre-cooling channel 8, and the breather valve ports of each buffer chamber. A variable frequency induced draft fan is installed in the system to maintain a slight negative pressure (-50Pa to -100Pa) at each collection point to ensure that harmful gases do not escape.

[0029] The precooling mechanism 13 includes a first heat exchange tube 1301 disposed on the inner wall of the discharge buffer hopper 12, and a second heat exchange tube 1302 disposed inside the buffer feeding hopper 4. Both the first heat exchange tube 1301 and the second heat exchange tube 1302 are finned tube structures to increase the heat exchange area. The first heat exchange tube 1301 is spirally coiled along the inner wall of the conical section of the discharge buffer hopper 12, while the second heat exchange tube 1302 is arranged in a serpentine pattern within the first storage chamber 404 of the buffer feeding hopper 4. The first heat exchange tube 1301 and the second heat exchange tube 1302 are connected by a first circulation pipeline 1303, which is equipped with a circulation pump 1304 and an expansion tank. The circulation medium is a special low-temperature heat transfer oil or modified ethylene glycol solution with a temperature range of -10℃ to 0℃.

[0030] To improve the heat exchange uniformity inside the buffer feed hopper 4, a cooling block 407 is located above the discharge pipe inside the buffer feed hopper 4. The cooling block 407 and the discharge buffer hopper 12 form a channel that allows only a single battery to pass through. The top of the cooling block 407 is an inclined curved surface. This allows the single battery to make full contact with the channel and achieve a better pre-cooling effect.

[0031] Because the material needs to be cooled to -15°C to -25°C, single-stage compression refrigeration is difficult to achieve or has extremely low efficiency. Therefore, this embodiment uses a cascade compression refrigeration unit 1101. This unit consists of a high-temperature stage (R404A refrigerant) and a low-temperature stage (R23 refrigerant). The cooling capacity generated by the condensation in the high-temperature stage is transferred to the low-temperature stage via a condenser-evaporator. The outlet temperature of the low-temperature stage evaporator coil can reach below -30°C.

[0032] The evaporator coils are directly installed within the jacket of the secondary cryogenic buffer chamber 11, forming a full-jacketed cooling system. Simultaneously, finned internal coils are installed inside the chamber to enhance cooling speed. Each secondary cryogenic buffer chamber 11 is equipped with an independent temperature sensor and an electrically controlled regulating valve, with refrigerant flow controlled by a PLC for precise temperature control. The exterior of the chamber is covered with a 100mm thick polyurethane insulation layer to minimize cooling loss.

[0033] To accelerate cooling and ensure uniform material temperature, a low-speed stirring device is also installed in the secondary cryogenic buffer chamber 11. The first stirring shaft 906 has a hollow structure, allowing the introduction of cooling medium. The residence time of the material in the chamber is adjustable according to the throughput, typically 10-30 minutes, ensuring that the core temperature of the material also reaches the embrittlement temperature (below -15℃). Tests have shown that at this temperature, the impact strength of polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) diaphragms decreases by more than 80%, exhibiting significant brittleness; the glass transition temperature of the PVDF adhesive is exceeded, resulting in loss of adhesion. The primary precooling channel 8 is a closed, circular channel lined with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), equipped with an internal screw conveyor where materials move in a thin layer. The channel is divided into two functional zones along the material conveying direction (from left to right): Cold energy recovery precooling section 801 (left section, accounting for 60% of the length): The feed end of this section is connected to the solid discharge port of the electrolyte separator 7. It is internally equipped with a jacket or coil, through which a low-temperature refrigerant (temperature approximately -5°C to 0°C) from the residual cold recovery loop of the discharge buffer hopper 12 is introduced. Simultaneously, a low-temperature nitrogen distributor is installed inside this section, which can introduce low-temperature nitrogen gas (-10°C to -20°C) discharged from the sealed protective cover 5, allowing it to directly contact the material for heat exchange. Room temperature materials (approximately 20-30°C) are precooled to 5-10°C in this section.

[0034] Cryogenic section 802 (right section, accounting for 40% of the length): This section's jacket contains a low-temperature refrigerant (temperature -20℃ to -30℃) from the compressor refrigeration unit 1101, further cooling the pre-cooled material to -5℃ to -10℃. The main purpose of this section is to provide final cooling for the material entering the secondary cryogenic buffer chamber 11 and to remove any trace moisture that may remain on the material's surface (through low-temperature sublimation, with a condensate collection port at the end of the channel).

[0035] A high-precision temperature sensor (PT100, Class A accuracy) is installed in the transition zone between the cold energy recovery precooling section 801 and the compression refrigeration cryogenic section 802. The PLC controller automatically adjusts the flow rate of the cold energy recovery loop based on the temperature value measured by this sensor (by adjusting the frequency converter or bypass regulating valve of the circulating pump 1304). If the measured temperature is higher than the set value (e.g., 8℃), the cold energy recovery flow rate is increased; if it is lower than the set value (e.g., 2℃), the flow rate is reduced or a portion of the heat exchange area is short-circuited. This closed-loop control ensures that the material temperature entering the compression refrigeration cryogenic section 802 remains stable within the range of 5±2℃, thereby significantly reducing the load on the compression refrigeration unit and achieving overall energy savings of 20%-30%. This embodiment provides a complete and automatically controllable operating method for the device, specifically including the following steps: Step 1, System Self-Check and Nitrogen Purging: Before startup, check the status of all sealing surfaces and valves. Turn on the nitrogen protection system 6 and purge the nitrogen-protected crushing chamber rapidly at a high flow rate (e.g., 5 m³ / h) for 3-5 minutes. Once the internal oxygen concentration detector shows an oxygen concentration below 5% (volume fraction), switch the nitrogen flow rate to a maintenance flow rate (e.g., 1 m³ / h) to maintain a slight positive pressure (150±50 Pa) inside the chamber.

[0036] Step 2, Pre-cooling and Air-locking Feeding: Start the circulation pump 1304 of the pre-cooling mechanism 13 to establish a cooling cycle. Place the waste power batteries to be recycled (undischarged or only simply discharged) into the first storage chamber 404 of the buffer feeding hopper 4 and close the top cover. Under the cooling effect of the second heat exchange tube 1302, the battery temperature gradually decreases from room temperature to 10-15℃. When feeding is needed, the PLC controls the cylinder of the flipping drive 406 to actuate, and the flipping plate 403 quickly flips to a 60° tilt position and holds for 3-5 seconds. The batteries in the first storage chamber 404 slide quantitatively into the second storage chamber 405 and fall into the shredding chamber 2 through the discharge port 402. Then, the flipping plate 403 quickly returns to its original position. By controlling the flipping frequency (e.g., once every 30 seconds), continuous, air-locking, and quantitative feeding is achieved.

[0037] Step 3: Shredding and Electrolyte Pre-Separation under Nitrogen Protection: Start the shredding roller 3 (15-30 rpm) to coarsely shred the battery under nitrogen protection, controlling the output particle size to 30-50 mm. The shredded material falls directly into the electrolyte separator 7. The explosion-proof vibration motor 703 operates at a vibration frequency of 800-1200 times / minute, and the material stays on the screen 702 for about 15-30 seconds. The free electrolyte (accounting for about 60%-70% of the total electrolyte content of the battery) is separated and discharged from the liquid outlet into a sealed storage tank. Solid fragments (including separator, electrode materials, shell, etc.) enter the primary pre-cooling channel 8.

[0038] Step 4, Staged Precooling: Solid fragments move forward in the primary precooling channel 8 via a vibrating conveyor. First, they pass through the recovery cold energy precooling section 801, where they exchange heat with the recovered cold energy (-5~0℃) from the discharge buffer hopper 12, reducing their temperature to 5-10℃. Then, they pass through the compression refrigeration deep cooling section 802, where they are forcibly cooled to -5~-10℃. Temperature sensors provide real-time feedback, and the cold energy supply is adjusted in a closed-loop manner.

[0039] Step 5, Uniform Distribution and Secondary Cryogenic Embrittlement: The pre-cooled material enters the guide hood 902 of the uniform distribution device 9. Based on the level gauge signals (upper limit 80%, lower limit 30%) of each secondary cryogenic buffer bin 11, the PLC drives the servo motor to move the guide hood 902 above the bin requiring replenishment for material distribution. Within the secondary cryogenic buffer bin 11, the material is cooled to -18±2℃ by the cascade refrigeration unit 1101, with a residence time of 20-25 minutes. The diaphragm and binder are fully embrittled at this temperature. The stirring device inside the bin operates at low speed to ensure uniform temperature.

[0040] Step 6, Differential Kneading Separation: The discharge valve of the secondary cryogenic buffer silo 11 opens, and the embrittled material enters the differential kneading separator 10. Two kneading rollers 1001 rotate in opposite directions at speeds of 450 rpm and 225 rpm respectively. The kneading teeth 1002 apply compression, shearing, and intense kneading action to the material. The embrittled diaphragm is torn into 5-15 mm fragments, and the black powder (electrode material) adhering to the copper and aluminum foil is peeled off into fine powder of 200-325 mesh under the kneading force. During the kneading process, a cooling medium of -5℃ is continuously introduced into the core cooling channel to ensure that the material temperature does not rise.

[0041] Step 7, Discharge Buffer and Cold Energy Recovery: The temperature of the mixture (black powder, membrane fragments, copper particles, aluminum particles, etc.) after kneading and separation remains at around -5℃, and it enters the discharge buffer hopper 12. The turning shaft 1201 turns the material at a speed of 20 rpm. The refrigerant (ethylene glycol solution) in the first heat exchange tube 1301 absorbs the cold energy of the material, and the temperature drops to -3℃ to 0℃. The circulating pump 1304 pumps this low-temperature refrigerant to the second heat exchange tube 1302 of the buffer feed hopper 4 for pre-cooling newly added batteries, completing the cold energy recovery.

[0042] Step 8, Waste Gas Treatment and Emission: Throughout the process, the waste gas from each dust and gas generation point (sealed protective cover, electrolyte separator, each buffer chamber vent, etc.) is drawn in by the induced draft fan and passes sequentially through a cyclone dust collector (for removing coarse dust), a bag filter (for removing fine dust), an activated carbon adsorption device (for adsorbing VOCs), and a thermal oxidizer (for thoroughly oxidizing residual VOCs) before being discharged into the atmosphere in compliance with standards.

[0043] Step 9, Post-processing: The material output from the discharge buffer hopper 12 can be sent to the next process through a bucket elevator or pneumatic conveying system for screening (such as drum screen grading black powder), magnetic separation (iron removal), eddy current separation (copper and aluminum separation) and gravity separation, and finally obtain high-purity copper foil particles, aluminum foil particles, black powder (positive and negative electrode mixed powder) and diaphragm fragments.

[0044] Those skilled in the art will understand that the above embodiments are specific examples of implementing the present invention, and in practical applications, various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A device for recycling and utilizing waste power batteries from new energy vehicles, characterized in that... The device includes a body (1), which has a shredding chamber (2) and a shredding roller (3) inside the shredding chamber (2); the body (1) also has a buffer feeding hopper (4) for feeding and buffering material into the feed end of the shredding chamber (2); the body (1) has a sealing protective cover (5) for covering the shredding chamber (2) and the buffer feeding hopper (4); the sealing protective cover (5) has an opening corresponding to the buffer feeding hopper (4), and the connection between the sealing protective cover (5) and the buffer feeding hopper (4) is sealed by a sealing gasket; a nitrogen-protected crushing chamber is formed between the sealing protective cover (5) and the shredding chamber (2); It also includes a nitrogen protection system (6) that injects slightly positive pressure nitrogen into the nitrogen protection crushing chamber, the nitrogen protection system (6) including a clean nitrogen source; The machine body (1) is provided with an electrolyte separator (7) for pre-separating the crushed electrolyte and fragments below the discharge end of the shredding chamber (2); the discharge end of the electrolyte separator (7) is provided with a primary precooling channel (8); the machine body (1) is equipped with a uniform feeder (9) at the discharge end of the primary precooling channel (8), and the machine body (1) is equipped with multiple differential speed kneading separators (10) arranged in parallel; each differential speed kneading separator (10) is provided with a secondary cryogenic buffer chamber (11) at its upper part, and the uniform feeder (9) is used to distribute the material inside the primary precooling channel (8) to the inside of each secondary cryogenic buffer chamber (11); The machine body (1) is provided with a discharge buffer hopper (12) for collecting the fragments after being rubbed by the differential rubbing separator (10); the buffer feed hopper (4) is provided with a pre-cooling mechanism (13) for pre-cooling the battery body to be shredded, and the pre-cooling mechanism (13) is cold connected to the discharge buffer hopper (12).

2. The device for recycling and utilizing waste new energy vehicle power batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that: The buffer feeding hopper (4) includes a storage hopper (401), the bottom of which is provided with a discharge port (402). A tilting plate (403) is provided inside the storage hopper (401), dividing the interior of the storage hopper (401) into a first storage chamber (404) and a second storage chamber (405) that are independently arranged vertically. One end of the tilting plate (403) is hinged to the inner wall of the storage hopper (401), and the tilting plate (404)... 3) is connected to a flipping drive (406) at the bottom, which is used to drive the flipping plate (403) to switch between a horizontal position and an inclined position; when the flipping plate (403) is in a horizontal position, the first storage chamber (404) and the second storage chamber (405) are separated; when the flipping plate (403) is in an inclined position, the material in the first storage chamber (404) slides down the surface of the flipping plate (403) to the second storage chamber (405) and is discharged through the discharge port (402).

3. The device for recycling and utilizing waste new energy vehicle power batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that: The differential kneading separator (10) includes two kneading rollers (1001) that rotate in opposite directions. The surfaces of the two kneading rollers (1001) are provided with wear-resistant kneading teeth (1002), and the two kneading rollers (1001) have different rotation speeds, with a speed ratio of 1:1.5 to 1:

3. The kneading rollers (1001) are provided with a core cooling channel inside, which is used to introduce a low-temperature cooling medium to maintain a low-temperature environment during the kneading process.

4. The device for recycling and utilizing waste new energy vehicle power batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that: The electrolyte separator (7) includes a vibration pre-separation mechanism located below the discharge end of the shredding chamber (2), which is used to perform preliminary solid-liquid separation on the large fragments after crushing, so as to remove the free electrolyte on the surface of the material. The vibration pre-separation mechanism includes: a screen box (701) with a feed inlet, a solid discharge outlet and a liquid discharge outlet; the feed inlet is sealed and connected to the discharge end of the shredding chamber (2), the solid discharge outlet is connected to the feed end of the primary pre-cooling channel (8), and the liquid discharge outlet is used to discharge the initially separated electrolyte. The sieve box (701) is equipped with a sieve (702) with a pore size smaller than the particle size of the material fragments, which is used to trap solid fragments and allow the electrolyte to pass through; An explosion-proof vibration motor (703) is installed on the outside of the sieve box (701) to drive the sieve box (701) and the screen (702) to generate high-frequency vibration, so that the electrolyte attached to the surface of the fragments will detach under the action of inertial force and pass through the screen (702).

5. The device for recycling and utilizing waste new energy vehicle power batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that: The equalizer (9) includes a laterally movable guide cover (902), and a plate (903) is provided on the body (1). The plate (903) has openings that correspond one-to-one with the top of each secondary cryogenic buffer bin (11). The guide cover (902) is connected to the outlet of the primary precooling channel (8) via a corrugated telescopic tube (904), and the guide cover (902) is driven by a drive mechanism (905) to move laterally along the plate (903) so as to sequentially or selectively introduce the material output from the primary precooling channel (8) into each secondary cryogenic buffer bin (11). The drive mechanism (905) includes a screw motor or a cylinder. The plate (903) is provided with a position sensor corresponding to the moving position of the guide cover (902) for controlling the alignment of the guide cover (902) with each opening.

6. The device for recycling and utilizing waste new energy vehicle power batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a waste gas treatment system, which comprises a cyclone dust collector, a bag filter, an activated carbon adsorption device, and a thermal oxidizer connected in sequence; the inlet of the waste gas treatment system is located at each outlet of the device.

7. The device for recycling and utilizing waste new energy vehicle power batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that: The precooling mechanism (13) includes a first heat exchange tube (1301) disposed on the inner wall of the discharge buffer hopper (12) and a second heat exchange tube (1302) disposed inside the buffer feed hopper (4); the first heat exchange tube (1301) and the second heat exchange tube (1302) are connected by a first circulation pipeline (1303), and a circulation pump (1304) is provided on the first circulation pipeline (1303); a turning shaft (1201) is provided inside the discharge buffer hopper (12).

8. The device for recycling and utilizing waste new energy vehicle power batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that: The secondary cryogenic buffer chamber (11) is compressed and refrigerated by a compression refrigeration mechanism, which includes a compression refrigeration unit (1101) located externally. The compression refrigeration unit (1101) adopts a cascade compression refrigeration cycle, and its evaporator coil (1102) is arranged in the chamber wall jacket of the secondary cryogenic buffer chamber (11) or directly inside the chamber body. The compression refrigeration unit (1101) is used to cool the material in the secondary cryogenic buffer chamber (11) to -15°C to -25°C, so that the diaphragm material becomes brittle and facilitates subsequent kneading and separation.

9. A recycling device for used new energy vehicle power batteries according to claim 8, characterized in that: The primary precooling channel (8) is divided into a cold energy recovery precooling section (801) and a compression refrigeration deep cooling section (802) along the material conveying direction. The cold energy recovery precooling section (801) is located at the feed end and is equipped with a low-temperature gas distributor or jacketed heat exchange structure inside. It is used to introduce low-temperature refrigerant from the residual cold recovery loop of the discharge buffer hopper (12) to precool the incoming room temperature material in a concentrated manner, so that the material temperature drops to 5-10℃. The compression refrigeration cryogenic section (802) is located at the discharge end, and its jacket is filled with a low-temperature refrigerant from the compression refrigeration unit (1101) to further cool the pre-cooled material to -5°C to -10°C. A temperature sensor is provided between the recovery cold energy pre-cooling section (801) and the compression refrigeration cryogenic section (802) to automatically adjust the supply of recovery cold energy according to the discharge temperature of the pre-cooling section, so as to ensure that the temperature of the material entering the cryogenic section is stable within the set range of 5-10°C.

10. A device for recycling and utilizing spent new energy vehicle power batteries according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that: The method of using the device includes the following steps: Step 1, Nitrogen protection: Inject slightly positive pressure nitrogen into the nitrogen protection crushing chamber to create a nitrogen inert environment between the sealed protective cover and the shredding chamber; Step 2, Pre-cooling feeding: The waste power batteries to be recycled are put into the buffer feeding hopper, and the battery body is pre-cooled by the pre-cooling mechanism. During feeding, the first storage chamber and the second storage chamber are separated by a flip plate. The second storage chamber is continuously fed by the intermittent opening and closing of the flip plate. This ensures the sealing of the nitrogen inert environment. The pre-cooled batteries are quantitatively transported to the feeding end of the shredding chamber through the buffer feeding hopper. Step 3, Electrolyte pre-separation: The crushed material enters the electrolyte separator, where the crushed electrolyte is pre-separated from the solid fragments. The separated electrolyte is discharged and collected from the liquid outlet, while the solid fragments enter the primary pre-cooling channel. Step 4, Primary Precooling: The solid fragments are precooled in the primary precooling channel to lower the material temperature; Step 5, uniform distribution: The pre-cooled material enters the uniform distribution device, which distributes the material evenly into multiple parallel-connected secondary cryogenic buffer bins; Step 6, Secondary Cryogenic Embrittlement: The material is further cooled to -15°C to -25°C in the secondary cryogenic buffer chamber to fully embrittle the diaphragm material; Step 7, Differential Kneading Separation: The embrittled material enters the differential kneading separator, where it is kneaded, torn and rubbed by two kneading rollers that rotate in opposite directions at different speeds, so that the electrode material is separated from the diaphragm, aluminum foil and copper foil. Step 8, Discharge Buffer and Cold Energy Recovery: The fragments after kneading and separation enter the discharge buffer hopper for collection. At the same time, the cold air in the discharge buffer hopper is returned to the pre-cooling mechanism of the buffer supply hopper for pre-cooling the next batch of batteries.

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