A lithium battery electrolyte recovery device

Abstract

The scheme discloses a lithium battery electrolyte recovery device, which comprises a tank body, a low-temperature vacuum disassembly assembly, a packed column vacuum distillation device, an adsorption tank, an electrolyte salt treatment tank and a control panel. When in operation, the scrapped lithium battery is placed in the low-temperature vacuum disassembly area of the tank, the vacuum pump is used to draw vacuum, and the cooling coil is used to circulate liquid nitrogen, so that the electrolyte is volatilized and condensed through the condenser pipe under the coupling of low temperature and vacuum; after condensation, the electrolyte enters the distillation device, the vacuum pump maintains vacuum, the multilayer packing pile and the liquid redistributor separate organic components, the gas enters the adsorption tank for purification, the liquid enters the salt treatment tank, and the stirring in the tank prevents salt from caking, and the whole process is linked and controlled by the control panel. The scheme has the following advantages: integrated design reduces material transfer and loss, improves efficiency; automatic control reduces human error and ensures stability; low-temperature vacuum disassembly reduces impurities, precise separation and purification function improves product purity and resource utilization rate, and double-layer tank body enhances durability and environmental stability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of resource recycling, specifically a lithium battery electrolyte recycling device. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle and energy storage industries, the amount of waste lithium batteries generated has surged. Their electrolytes contain valuable components such as fluorinated carbonates and lithium salts. Direct disposal not only wastes resources but also pollutes the environment due to organic solvent volatilization and lithium salt leakage. Current electrolyte recycling requires dismantling, extraction, separation, and purification to achieve resource regeneration. However, existing equipment struggles to balance the efficiency and stability of low-temperature vacuum dismantling. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an integrated, low-loss recycling device to meet the industry's demand for high-purity electrolyte extraction and sustainable recycling. This invention addresses this need.

[0003] Traditional recycling devices have two obvious drawbacks: First, traditional devices have limited adaptability, making it difficult to accurately separate electrolytes and lacking targeted salt treatment functions; second, the dismantling process relies heavily on mechanical shell breaking, which easily introduces electrode powder and shell impurities, leading to a significant increase in the difficulty of subsequent purification. Utility Model Content

[0004] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, this utility model provides a lithium battery electrolyte recovery device. The design involves placing a discarded lithium battery into a tank and using a low-temperature vacuum dismantling device. A vacuum pump creates a vacuum, and liquid nitrogen is introduced into the cooling coil via an electric valve. The coupling of low temperature and vacuum causes the electrolyte to evaporate and condense through a condenser. After condensation, the electrolyte enters a packed tower-type vacuum distillation device. A vacuum pump maintains the vacuum inside the tower. A three-layer packing stack works in conjunction with a liquid redistributor to separate the electrolyte. After separation, the gas exits from the top outlet of the tower and enters an adsorption tank for purification, while the liquid exits from the bottom outlet of the tower and flows into an electrolyte salt treatment tank.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, this utility model provides the following technical solution: a lithium battery electrolyte recovery device, comprising a tank, wherein a low-temperature vacuum dismantling device is provided inside the tank, and a condenser is provided on the right side of the low-temperature vacuum coupling dismantling device, which is connected to the inlet of a packed tower vacuum distillation device through the condenser. The packed tower vacuum distillation device has an adsorption tank at the top and an electrolyte salt treatment tank at the bottom, wherein the electrolyte salt treatment tank has stirring blades inside.

[0006] The cryogenic vacuum dismantling device includes a vacuum pump, and a cooling coil is installed inside the tank below it. The cooling coil is made of copper alloy and is wound in a serpentine shape around the inner wall of the tank. One end of the coil extends to the outside of the tank and connects to the liquid nitrogen tank.

[0007] The packed tower vacuum distillation apparatus includes a tower body, a second vacuum pump is installed on the outer wall above the tower body, three layers of packing are provided inside the tower body, a liquid redistributor is provided above each layer of packing, a gas outlet is provided at the top of the tower body, and a liquid outlet is provided at the bottom of the tower body.

[0008] Furthermore, a control panel is embedded in the middle of the outer wall of the front of the tank, and the surface of the control panel is provided with a touch screen and physical function buttons.

[0009] Furthermore, electric valves are fixedly installed on the sections of the condenser pipe and cooling coil that extend outside the tank body and are close to the liquid nitrogen tank.

[0010] Furthermore, the control panel integrates a PLC control module; the PLC control module is electrically connected to the drive module of the electric valve, vacuum pump No. 1, vacuum pump No. 2 and stirring blade through shielded wires, and can display the on / off status and real-time flow data of each electric valve on the touch screen, and can remotely control the opening and closing of the electric valve through touch operation or preset program.

[0011] Furthermore, a material dispensing and retrieving hatch is provided on the outer wall of the tank directly below the control panel. The material dispensing and retrieving hatch is hinged to the tank body via stainless steel hinges, and a low-temperature resistant fluororubber sealing gasket is embedded in the edge of the hatch that contacts the tank body.

[0012] Furthermore, the tank body adopts a double-shell design, with an outer carbon steel protective shell and an inner low-temperature resistant stainless steel shell.

[0013] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution of this application has the following beneficial effects:

[0014] 1. The solution integrates low-temperature vacuum dismantling, packed vacuum distillation, adsorption purification, and electrolyte salt treatment into one unit. It achieves linkage control of each link through electric valves and control panel, eliminating the need for manual transfer, greatly shortening the recycling process, avoiding material exposure and loss, and significantly improving the overall recycling efficiency and ease of operation.

[0015] 2. This solution can extract electrolyte without mechanical shell breaking, reducing impurities from the source. Combined with the gradient separation design of the three-layer packing stack and liquid redistributor, it can accurately separate organic components with different boiling points in the electrolyte. After separation, the gas is further purified by an adsorption tank, and the liquid enters the electrolyte salt treatment tank to recover lithium salt. This achieves efficient recovery of organic components and lithium salt in the electrolyte, and significantly improves product purity and resource utilization. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a lithium battery electrolyte recovery device according to the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2This is a schematic diagram of the tank structure of this utility model;

[0018] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the cooling coil structure of this utility model;

[0019] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the liquid nitrogen tank structure of this utility model.

[0020] In the diagram: 1. Tank; 2. Cryogenic vacuum dismantling device; 201. Vacuum pump No. 1; 202. Cooling coil; 203. Liquid nitrogen tank; 3. Packed tower vacuum distillation device; 301. Tower body; 302. Vacuum pump No. 2; 303. Packing stack; 304. Liquid redistributor; 305. Gas outlet; 306. Liquid outlet; 4. Adsorption tank; 5. Electrolyte salt treatment tank; 6. Stirring blades; 7. Control panel; 8. Electric valve; 9. Discharge and unload hatch. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0022] Please see Figure 1-4 This embodiment of a lithium battery electrolyte recovery device includes a tank 1. A low-temperature vacuum dismantling device 2 is installed inside the tank 1. A condenser pipe is located on the right side of the low-temperature vacuum dismantling device 2, which is connected to the inlet of a packed tower-type vacuum distillation device 3. The packed tower-type vacuum distillation device 3 has an adsorption tank 4 at its top and an electrolyte salt treatment tank 5 at its bottom. The electrolyte salt treatment tank 5 has stirring blades 6 inside.

[0023] The low-temperature vacuum dismantling device 2 includes a first vacuum pump 201, and a cooling coil 202 is provided inside the tank 1 below it. The cooling coil 202 is made of copper alloy coil and is wound in a serpentine shape around the inner wall of the tank 1. One end of the coil extends to the outside of the tank 1 and connects to the liquid nitrogen tank 203.

[0024] The packed tower vacuum distillation apparatus 3 includes a tower body 301, a second vacuum pump 302 is provided on the outer wall above the tower body 301, three layers of packing stacks 303 are provided inside the tower body 301, a liquid redistributor 304 is provided above each layer of packing stacks 303, a gas outlet 305 is provided at the top of the tower body 301, and a liquid outlet 306 is provided at the bottom of the tower body 301.

[0025] In the middle area of ​​the front outer wall of the tank body 1, a control panel 7 is fixed in an embedded installation manner. The operation surface of the control panel 7 is equipped with both a high-definition touch screen and waterproof physical function buttons. The touch screen supports multi-touch and responds quickly, while the physical function buttons are set separately for core operations such as start, stop, and emergency stop. The advantage of this dual operation design is that it can achieve fine parameter adjustment through the touch screen, and can quickly control the device through physical buttons in case of emergency or touch screen failure, thereby improving the flexibility and safety of operation.

[0026] Electric valves 8 are fixedly installed on the pipe sections of the condenser tubes near the cryogenic vacuum dismantling device 2 and the pipe sections of the cooling coil 202 extending to the outside of the tank 1 and adjacent to the liquid nitrogen tank 203 via flanges. The electric valves 8 adopt corrosion-resistant valve bodies and have built-in flow monitoring units. The advantage of this structure is that it can accurately control the on / off and flow rate of electrolyte vapor in the condenser tubes and the amount of liquid nitrogen transported in the cooling coil 202, avoiding electrolyte vapor leakage or liquid nitrogen waste. At the same time, it can monitor flow data in real time, providing a basis for adjusting the operating parameters of the device.

[0027] The internal chamber of the control panel 7 integrates a high-performance PLC control module. This PLC control module establishes stable electrical connections with the drive module of the electric valve 8, the control terminal of the first vacuum pump 201, the wiring terminal of the second vacuum pump 302, and the motor of the stirring blade 6 through shielded wires. It can not only display the on / off status and real-time flow data of each electric valve 8 on the touch screen, but also remotely control the opening and closing action and opening degree of the electric valve 8 through touch operation or preset automation program, and synchronously regulate the start and stop of the vacuum pump and the speed of the stirring blade 6. The advantage of this structure is that it realizes the linkage control of the core components of the device, reduces manual intervention, avoids human operation error, and at the same time, automated operation can improve the overall operational stability of the device and reduce the difficulty of operation.

[0028] On the outer wall of the tank 1 directly below the control panel 7, a material dispensing and retrieving hatch 9 is movably connected by a stainless steel hinge. At the edge where the material dispensing and retrieving hatch 9 contacts the tank 1, a low-temperature resistant fluororubber sealing gasket is embedded around it. The sealing gasket fits tightly to the outer wall of the tank 1 and has good elasticity. The advantage of this structure is that the stainless steel hinge ensures smooth opening and closing of the hatch and is durable, while the low-temperature resistant fluororubber sealing gasket can effectively block the exchange of airflow inside and outside the tank 1 after the hatch is closed, ensuring the stability of the vacuum environment and low temperature environment inside the tank when the low-temperature vacuum dismantling device 2 is working, and preventing external air from entering and affecting the electrolyte extraction effect.

[0029] The tank 1 adopts a double-shell structure design. The outer shell is made of high-strength carbon steel, while the inner shell is made of low-temperature resistant stainless steel. The outer carbon steel protective shell has a uniform thickness and is rust-proofed. The inner low-temperature resistant stainless steel shell has excellent resistance to electrolyte corrosion and low-temperature tolerance. The advantages of this structure are that the outer carbon steel protective shell provides reliable structural support for the tank 1, resisting external impacts or compression and protecting internal components from damage. The inner low-temperature resistant stainless steel shell can adapt to the low-temperature environment inside the tank and avoid corrosion by electrolyte, thus extending the service life of the tank 1. The double-layer design also reserves space for subsequent filling of insulation material, further optimizing the temperature stability inside the tank.

[0030] In summary, during the operation of this lithium battery electrolyte recycling device, the waste lithium batteries are first placed in the low-temperature vacuum dismantling area inside the tank. A vacuum environment is created by drawing a vacuum pump, and liquid nitrogen is introduced into the cooling coil to achieve rapid cooling. The coupling effect of low temperature and vacuum causes the electrolyte to evaporate. The evaporated electrolyte vapor is condensed by the condenser. The condensed electrolyte enters the packed tower-type vacuum distillation device. Under the vacuum environment maintained by the vacuum pump, the separation of organic components with different boiling points is achieved by the cooperation of multi-layer packing and liquid redistributor. The separated gas enters the adsorption tank for purification, while the liquid flows into the electrolyte salt treatment tank. The stirring structure inside the tank prevents salt particles from agglomerating. The entire process is controlled by the integrated control module of the control panel to achieve linkage regulation of each component and ensure stable process progress.

[0031] This solution offers significant advantages: Firstly, its integrated design combines dismantling, condensation, distillation, purification, and salt treatment, eliminating the need for manual material handling, reducing operational steps and material exposure losses, and significantly improving recovery efficiency. Simultaneously, automated linkage control reduces human intervention, avoids human error, and enhances operational stability. Secondly, the low-temperature vacuum dismantling method eliminates the need for mechanical shell breaking, reducing impurities from the source. The combination of multi-layer packing and liquid redistributor ensures precise component separation. Combined with adsorption purification and salt treatment functions, it effectively improves product purity and resource utilization. The double-layer tank structure further ensures the durability of the device and the stability of the internal environment, extending the equipment's lifespan.

[0032] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0033] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A lithium battery electrolyte recovery device, comprising a tank (1), characterized in that: The tank body (1) is equipped with a low-temperature vacuum dismantling device (2). The low-temperature vacuum coupling dismantling device (2) is equipped with a condenser on the right side, which is connected to the feed inlet of the packed tower vacuum distillation device (3) through the condenser. The packed tower vacuum distillation device (3) is equipped with an adsorption tank (4) at the top and an electrolyte salt treatment tank (5) at the bottom. The electrolyte salt treatment tank (5) is equipped with stirring blades (6) inside. The low-temperature vacuum dismantling device (2) includes a vacuum pump (201), and a cooling coil (202) is provided inside the tank (1) below it. The cooling coil (202) is made of copper alloy coil and is wrapped in a snake shape around the inner wall of the tank (1). One end of the coil extends to the outside of the tank (1) to connect to the liquid nitrogen tank (203). The packed tower vacuum distillation apparatus (3) includes a tower body (301), a second vacuum pump (302) is provided on the outer wall above the tower body (301), three layers of packing stacks (303) are provided inside the tower body (301), a liquid redistributor (304) is provided above each layer of packing stacks (303), a gas outlet (305) is provided at the top of the tower body (301), and a liquid outlet (306) is provided at the bottom of the tower body (301).

2. The lithium battery electrolyte recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that: A control panel (7) is embedded in the middle of the outer wall of the front of the tank (1). The surface of the control panel (7) is provided with a touch screen and physical function buttons.

3. The lithium battery electrolyte recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that: Electric valves (8) are fixedly installed on the pipe sections of the condenser pipe and cooling coil (202) that extend to the outside of the tank body (1) and are close to the liquid nitrogen tank (203).

4. The lithium battery electrolyte recovery device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The control panel (7) integrates a PLC control module. The PLC control module is electrically connected to the drive module of the electric valve (8), the first vacuum pump (201), the second vacuum pump (302), and the stirring blade (6) through shielded wires. It can display the on / off status and real-time flow data of each electric valve (8) on the touch screen, and can remotely control the opening and closing of the electric valve (8) through touch operation or preset program.

5. A lithium battery electrolyte recovery device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The outer wall of the tank (1) directly below the control panel (7) is provided with a material discharge and material retrieval door (9). The material discharge and material retrieval door (9) is hinged to the tank (1) by a stainless steel hinge, and the edge of the door that contacts the tank (1) is embedded with a low-temperature resistant fluororubber sealing gasket.

6. The lithium battery electrolyte recovery device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The tank (1) adopts a double-shell design, with an outer carbon steel protective shell and an inner low-temperature resistant stainless steel shell.

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