Lithium-Enriched Battery Recycling for Clean Slag Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current lithium-ion battery recycling methods face challenges in efficiently recovering lithium due to low concentrations and contamination with other materials, leading to significant waste and environmental harm.
Innovation Solution
A process involving the production of high-concentration lithium concentrates through pyrometallurgical recycling, where lithium batteries are smelted in a furnace with oxygen injection to separate a metal phase and a lithium concentrate phase, followed by acidification and filtration to extract lithium, resulting in a lithium-enriched solution with minimal aluminum and impurity extraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If pyrometallurgical processes are used to recover lithium from batteries, then lithium can be recovered as part of a metal phase alloy, but the lithium concentration in the resulting slag is low and difficult to extract cleanly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the recycling process into two distinct stages: first, pyrometallurgical treatment to separate metals from battery materials; second, selective leaching of lithium from the resulting slag. This segmentation allows each stage to optimize for its specific function, achieving both high recovery efficiency and high purity lithium extraction
Solution Approach 2:
The pyrometallurgical process serves as a preliminary action that prepares the slag for subsequent selective lithium extraction. By pre-treating the battery materials through controlled combustion and oxidation, the process creates a slag composition that is optimized for the next stage of selective lithium leaching, thereby enabling both high recovery and high purity
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional hydrometallurgical processes are used, then lithium can be leached from battery cathodes, but the process requires time-consuming steps and high operational costs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the chemical parameters of the leaching process by using specific acid solutions (such as sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid) at controlled concentrations and pH levels. This allows for rapid and selective lithium extraction from the slag, significantly reducing processing time while maintaining high purity and avoiding the need for multiple sequential steps required by traditional methods
3Loss of substance
If pyrometallurgical smelting is used to recover metals, then valuable metals are recovered as alloy phase, but lithium is present in low concentration in the slag making clean extraction difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts lithium from the low-concentration slag produced by pyrometallurgical smelting through selective leaching using acid solutions. This extraction process specifically targets lithium compounds in the slag while leaving other materials behind, thereby concentrating lithium from a dilute state into a pure, extractable form and solving the low concentration problem
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 enables the efficient and clean recovery of lithium with high extraction yields (>75%) and reduced aluminum contamination, facilitating the return of lithium to industrial supply chains while minimizing environmental impact.
Implementation Method 1
blowing or injecting an oxygen-containing gas into the furnace to produce a metal phase and a lithium concentrate phase
Implementation Method 2
heating is autothermal
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to the production of lithium-enriched compositions from lithium-ion batteries, and the processing of those compositions for the economic recovery of lithium compounds useful for commercial and industrial applications.