Battery Active Material Recovery by Staged Size Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing demand for metals in secondary lithium-ion batteries and growing environmental concerns necessitate an economical and environmentally friendly process for efficiently recovering active materials from batteries.
Innovation Solution
A process involving repeated size-reduction and separation stages to isolate fine materials with specific particle sizes, allowing for the efficient recovery of valuable electrode active materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese from secondary lithium-ion batteries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional single-stage shredding and filtering is used, then the process is simple, but the liberation and recovery of valuable electrode active materials is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the recycling process into multiple sequential stages: first size-reduction stage, first separation stage, second size-reduction stage, and second separation stage. Each stage progressively liberates and recovers active materials, transforming a single inefficient operation into multiple specialized operations that collectively achieve high recovery rates while managing complexity through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the first size-reduction and separation stages before the second size-reduction and separation stages. This sequential preliminary action progressively liberates active materials from battery components, with each stage preparing the material for the next stage, ensuring that valuable materials are systematically extracted before final processing
2Adaptability or versatility
If batteries of variant size ranges and different forms are recycled together, then resource utilization increases, but separation and processing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a multi-functional recycling process that can handle batteries of variant size ranges and different forms (cylindrical, prismatic, pouch) simultaneously. The combination of size-reduction and separation stages creates a universal system that adapts to different battery types without requiring separate processing lines, maintaining ease of manufacture through standardized equipment that performs multiple functions
3Productivity
If multiple size-reduction and separation stages are implemented, then active material recovery increases, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by implementing two size-reduction and separation stages, which provides sufficient liberation and recovery of active materials without unnecessarily excessive processing. This balanced approach achieves high recovery rates while controlling energy consumption by stopping at the point where additional stages would yield diminishing returns
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 process achieves increased liberation and controlled separation of electrode active materials, resulting in a high-quality active material concentrate with low impurity levels, suitable for use in battery manufacturing.
Implementation Method 1
a first size-reduction stage of processing one or more batteries to form a size-reduced material; a second size-reduction stage of processing the first coarse material to form a size-reduced coarse material
Implementation Method 2
a first separation stage of separating off from the size-reduced material a fine material with maximum particle size of less than 250 μm; a second separation stage of separating off from the size-reduced coarse material a fine material with maximum particle size of less than 200 μm
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to a process for recovering an active material concentrate from batteries, in particular secondary lithium-ion batteries, comprising a repeated sequence of size-reduction and material separation, to a battery active material concentrate and to a use of said battery active material concentrate in a battery manufacturing process.