Black Mass Leachate Purification via Copper Cementation and Lime Precipitation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional lithium-ion battery recycling methods inadequately handle the removal of impurities from black mass, leading to reduced purity and recovery of precious metals, often requiring multiple reactors and filters, resulting in material loss and inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
A method involving adjusting the pH of a leaching solution to 1.2-2.15, adding iron powder for copper cementation, followed by lime addition to extract calcium fluoride, titanium hydroxide, aluminium hydroxide, iron hydroxide, and iron phosphate, using a system with reactors and agitators to facilitate efficient impurity removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional recycling methods use multiple reactors and filters to remove impurities, then impurity removal capability is improved, but process complexity and material loss increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple impurity removal functions (copper removal via cementation, fluoride removal via calcium addition, and heavy metal precipitation) into a single integrated reactor system. This merging of functions reduces the number of separate reactors and filters needed while maintaining effective impurity removal capability across different impurity types.
Solution Approach 2:
The single reactor system is designed to perform multiple functions: copper cementation using iron powder, fluoride precipitation using calcium compounds, and heavy metal precipitation using pH adjustment. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for specialized equipment for each impurity type, reducing overall device complexity.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional recycling methods use multiple reactors and filters to remove impurities, then impurity removal capability is improved, but precious metal loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
By combining all impurity removal operations in a single reactor, the patent minimizes the number of transfer steps and filtration operations where precious metals could be lost. The integrated approach allows for controlled precipitation and separation in one location, reducing mechanical losses compared to multiple sequential processing steps.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional recycling methods use numerous reactors and filters for impurity removal, then impurity removal capability is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs copper cementation, fluoride precipitation, and heavy metal precipitation simultaneously or in rapid sequence within a single reactor system. This eliminates the time required for multiple separate processing steps, including material transfer between reactors and multiple filtration operations, significantly reducing total processing time while maintaining comprehensive impurity removal.
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional recycling methods focus only on cobalt and lithium recovery, then processing simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different cathode materials decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a universal leaching and impurity removal process that effectively handles various cathode materials including lithium cobalt oxide, lithium manganese oxide, lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide, and lithium iron phosphate. The same chemical treatment steps (acid leaching, copper cementation, fluoride removal, and heavy metal precipitation) work across different cathode chemistries, providing both simplicity and adaptability.
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
This method effectively removes impurities, achieving up to 90% copper removal and significantly reducing fluoride, iron, and titanium concentrations, resulting in higher purity and recovery of precious metals with less equipment and material loss.
Implementation Method 1
adding iron powder to induce copper cementation
Implementation Method 2
transiting pH of the leaching solution to about pH 6 to extract calcium fluoride, titanium hydroxide, aluminium hydroxide, iron hydroxide, and iron phosphate
Data Source
AI summary
A method of treating a leaching solution derived from a black mass from spent lithium-ion batteries comprising setting pH of the leaching solution to about pH 1.2 to 2.5, adding iron powder to induce copper cementation, adding lime after copper cementation, and after adding lime, transiting pH of the leaching solution to about pH 6 to extract calcium fluoride, titanium hydroxide, aluminium hydroxide, iron hydroxide, and iron phosphate. A black mass recycling system comprising an impurity removal reactor configured to receive a sodium hydroxide feed, an iron powder feed, and a lime feed.