Lithium-Ion Battery Copper Recovery via Thermal and Wet Sorting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for recovering copper from lithium ion secondary batteries fail to achieve high copper grades while maintaining low aluminum, carbon, and fluorine grades, due to inefficient separation processes that result in low-quality recycled copper and increased processing complexities.
Innovation Solution
A method involving thermal treatment followed by a wet sorting process, where an external force is applied to the thermally treated product in the presence of a liquid to separate copper from aluminum and carbon, utilizing vibration and specific gravity sorting to achieve high-grade copper recovery with low impurity levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If shape sorting using airflow is used to separate copper from aluminum, then copper recovery is achieved, but aluminum oxide contaminates the copper product reducing its grade
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the physical state parameter by using wet sorting instead of dry sorting. By introducing liquid (water) as a medium, the sorting process transforms from dry airflow-based separation to wet gravity-based separation, which fundamentally alters how particles behave and separate, enabling effective removal of aluminum oxide contaminants while recovering copper.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the airflow-based mechanical sorting system with a wet gravity-based sorting system. Instead of using air currents to separate particles by shape and size, the patent uses liquid medium and gravitational forces to separate particles by density, which effectively distinguishes copper from aluminum oxide contaminants.
2Device complexity
If dry shape sorting is used to separate metals, then processing steps are reduced, but soluble components like fluorine and lithium contaminate the copper product
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces dry mechanical sorting with wet gravity-based sorting. The introduction of liquid medium enables simultaneous removal of both solid particulate contaminants (aluminum oxide) and soluble contaminants (fluorine and lithium compounds), achieving comprehensive purification in a single integrated process step.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the environmental parameter from dry to wet conditions. By conducting sorting in the presence of liquid, the process gains the ability to dissolve and remove soluble contaminants like fluorine and lithium compounds that cannot be effectively removed by dry sorting methods, while still achieving separation of metallic particles.
3Productivity
If thermal treatment temperature is increased to improve copper separation, then copper recovery efficiency increases, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the thermal treatment temperature parameter from high (1050°C) to moderate (600-800°C). This parameter optimization achieves effective copper separation and aluminum oxide formation without the excessive energy consumption associated with higher temperatures, while still enabling subsequent wet sorting to effectively separate copper from contaminants.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method effectively separates copper from lithium ion secondary batteries at a high grade (90% or higher) with low aluminum (1% or lower) and fluorine (0.2% or lower) and carbon (5% or lower) grades, improving the efficiency and quality of copper recovery.
Implementation Method 1
a thermal treatment step of thermally treating a lithium ion secondary battery containing aluminum, carbon, and a copper foil as constituting materials
Implementation Method 2
a wet sorting step of applying an external force to a thermally treated product obtained in the thermal treatment step in the presence of a liquid, to sort the thermally treated product into a heavy product and a light product containing copper
Implementation Method 3
in the wet sorting step, the thermally treated product or the coarse-grained product is placed on a net-shaped object, and vibration is applied to the net-shaped object or the liquid
Data Source
AI summary
A method for recovering a valuable substance from a lithium ion secondary battery is provided. The method includes a thermal treatment step of thermally treating a lithium ion secondary battery containing aluminum, carbon, and a copper foil as constituting materials, and a wet sorting step of applying an external force to a thermally treated product obtained in the thermal treatment step in the presence of a liquid, to sort the thermally treated product into a heavy product and a light product containing copper.