Lithium Battery Separator Paper Recycling via Flotation and Hydrometallurgy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for treating waste lithium battery diaphragm paper, such as incineration, result in low metal recycling rates, high energy consumption, and environmental pollution, failing to effectively recover valuable metals like copper, aluminum, nickel, and cobalt.
Innovation Solution
A method combining physics and chemistry techniques, involving shearing and crushing, pneumatic separation, eddy-current separation, flotation, pickling, and hydrometallurgy to separate and recover metallic copper, aluminum, and cobalt from the diaphragm paper, achieving high recycling rates and reducing environmental impact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If incineration method is used to treat diaphragm paper, then the treatment process is simple, but the metal recycling rate is low and valuable metals are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The treatment process is divided into multiple stages: incineration to remove organic matter, followed by separation processes (magnetic separation, eddy current separation, gravity separation) to recover different metals. This segmentation allows both simple initial treatment and comprehensive metal recovery, resolving the contradiction between process simplicity and metal recycling rate.
2Ease of manufacture
If incineration method is used to treat diaphragm paper, then the treatment process is straightforward, but the energy consumption is high
Solution Approach 1:
The diaphragm paper undergoes preliminary incineration to remove organic matter before metal separation. This preliminary action simplifies subsequent separation processes and reduces energy consumption during metal recovery stages, as the material to be separated is already pre-treated and more easily separable.
3Ease of manufacture
If incineration method is used to treat diaphragm paper, then the process is simple, but environmental pollution occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The incineration process, which initially causes pollution, is converted into a beneficial step by controlling it to selectively remove organic matter while preserving metals. The resulting ash and gases are then processed through separation techniques that recover valuable metals, transforming the harmful incineration byproduct into a source of recoverable resources.
4Ease of operation
If aluminum is melted during treatment, then the aluminum can be separated, but the aluminum penetrates into battery powder causing separation difficulties
Solution Approach 1:
The melting point parameter of aluminum is utilized by controlling the incineration temperature to melt aluminum (660°C) without melting other battery components. This parameter change allows aluminum to be separated in liquid form while other materials remain solid, simplifying the separation process and avoiding contamination of battery powder.
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 achieves high recycling rates for metallic copper and aluminum (>98% and >90% respectively) and allows for the recovery of nickel and cobalt, enabling the reuse of diaphragm paper and reducing energy consumption and environmental pollution.
Implementation Method 1
putting the same into a cyclone separator with an airflow speed of 2.2 m/s for pneumatic separation to obtain a light material and a copper-aluminum mixture
Implementation Method 2
putting the copper-aluminum mixture into an eddy-current separator with a rotor speed of 40 Hz and a belt speed of 12 Hz for separation to obtain metallic copper and metallic aluminum
Implementation Method 3
putting the light material into a flotation machine with a stirring speed of 300 r/min and a scraper speed of 50 r/min for separation to obtain diaphragm paper and battery powder
Implementation Method 4
filtering with a 60-mesh linear sieve, and spin-drying with a horizontal spiral discharge centrifuge with a rotating speed of 5,000 r/min, thus obtaining the diaphragm paper
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The present invention relates to the field of waste battery recycling, and discloses a method for treating waste diaphragm paper of a lithium battery, which includes the following steps of: (1) shearing and crushing waste diaphragm paper, and then carrying out pneumatic separation to obtain a light material and a copper-aluminum mixture; (2) putting the light material into a flotation machine for separation to obtain diaphragm paper and battery powder; and (3) pulping the battery powder, and then carrying out leaching of hydrometallurgy, pickling the diaphragm paper, and then filtering and spin-drying to obtain the diaphragm paper. According to the method, the diaphragm paper is treated by a method combining physics and chemistry, so that valuable metals in the waste diaphragm paper of the lithium battery are effectively recycled, and the industrial production requirements of environmental friendliness, low energy consumption and high resource recycling are satisfied.