The application discloses a method for directional reduction of valuable metals by
hydrogen production through
catalytic pyrolysis of waste ternary
lithium battery separators, and belongs to the field of waste
lithium battery recycling industry.
After discharge, disassembly, crushing and screening, the waste ternary
lithium battery is obtained as a shell, positive and negative
electrode materials, a
current collector, a separator and an
electrolyte. The separator is used as a
raw material to release volatile matter in a
pyrolysis unit in an
inert atmosphere. Less than 10% of the positive
electrode material is taken as a catalyst, and the volatile matter is introduced into a
catalytic reforming unit to obtain
hydrogen-rich gas. The
hydrogen-rich gas is introduced into a medium-temperature reduction unit to realize the reduction of high-valence metals such as
nickel,
cobalt and
manganese in more than 80% of the positive
electrode material. The
solid particles collected from the
catalytic reforming unit and the medium-temperature reduction unit are used as reduction black
powder, and the reduction black
powder is added to an acid solution without an additional
reducing agent for leaching and recycling of valuable metals. Therefore, the method can effectively utilize the endogenous separator and positive
electrode material of the
lithium battery, obtain hydrogen-rich gas with high yield, and the catalyst has strong stability, avoiding the problems of easy
sintering and poor
reusability of conventional catalysts. The
recovery rate of valuable metals is more than 90%, and the problems of high cost and serious secondary
pollution caused by the introduction of an additional
reducing agent are solved.