Recycled Lithium-Ion Batteries vs. New Ones: Which Ones Perform Better?
Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in many industries, such as automotive, consumer electronics, aerospace, defense, and energy and power. Growing global consciousness toward the climate crisis has led to a surge in the sales of electric vehicles (EVs), and zero-emission EVs are now replacing combustion engine vehicles.
This recent trend has also led to a rise in demand for lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing equipment and plants.
The growing demand and usage of lithium-ion batteries on this huge scale has increased the requirement for lithium-ion battery manufacturing equipment, which offers potential growth for the global battery manufacturing equipment market.
Why is there a need for recycling lithium-ion batteries?
Lithium is extracted from the earth through mining, which is in itself an expensive and hazardous procedure. This has led industry experts to ponder upon the necessity of recycling lithium-ion batteries.
Increasing efforts in the recycling of lithium-ion batteries can help resolve the issue of global mineral scarcity.
Recycling lithium-ion batteries is the need of the hour and is essential in the shifting view toward green chemistry and preference for sustainable options in battery manufacturing plants.
Reusable and recycling technologies are becoming a new trend as they are more energy efficient and align with the principles of green chemistry and zero emission policy.
Through certain studies, it has been proven that recycled lithium-ion batteries outperform their newer counterparts.
Are recycled lithium-ion batteries more efficient than new ones?
Lithium-ion batteries made with recycled cathodes perform better than newly assembled batteries with cathodes made from virgin materials and minerals.
Recycled batteries have been found to be more efficient and higher yielding. These recycled lithium-ion batteries last longer and charge faster than their newer counterparts.
The cathode is the most expensive and essential element for supplying the ideal voltage to the lithium-ion battery. Recycling cathodes has improved the quality of the batteries, as cathodes are directly responsible for battery performance, operating range, and thermal safety.
Commonly used methods to recycle lithium-ion batteries include dismantling and shredding the batteries. This results in a black mass, which can be in liquid or powder form.
Through this black mass, chemical elements and minerals can be extracted. The recovered products are used in the identical commercial manufacturing process as the newly mined elements.
Thus, recycled cathodes are made through these extracted elements. Impurities from the cathode material are removed by dipping the cathode into acid.
The recycled powdered materials are more porous and have more space in the center. This space provides sufficient room for the cathode crystal to swell slightly as lithium ions squeeze into it.
This void saves the cathode from cracking or breaking, leading to better performance and longevity of the lithium-ion battery.
Recycling Lithium-Ion Batteries Used in Electric Vehicles (EVs)
Increasing consumption of expensive metals such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt used in the battery manufacturing process has led to a constant surge in metal prices in recent years, and this trend is predicted to continue for some time.
This has contributed to an increase in the acquisition costs on the battery manufacturers’ end.
Electric vehicles are revolutionizing the automotive industry. With the rise in the sales of EVs, the battery manufacturing industry is also progressing.
The spent lithium-ion batteries are piling up, causing environmental degradation.
Recycling lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles is crucial for:
· Saving the batteries from being discarded as waste
· Ensuring efficient extraction of valuable raw materials for battery manufacturing
· Reducing hazardous and expensive mining practices
· Making EVs more cost-effective and sustainable
· Reducing emissions from new battery manufacturing
· Minimizing and preventing mineral scarcity
For this recycling process, battery manufacturing equipment such as the following is used:
· Shredder
· Granulator
· Pyrolysis system
· Separator
· Separator system
· Stripping system
· Tail gas treatment system
This, in turn, offers an opportunity for the battery manufacturing equipment market as automakers such as Tesla are evolving their own battery components and scrambling for more efficient batteries for electric cars.
According to the report by BIS Research, the global battery manufacturing equipment market was valued at $9.43 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $88.03 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 27.12% during the forecast period 2022–2031.
Click here to download a free sample of the report.
What are the improved methods for recycling lithium-ion batteries?
Pyrometallurgy
Pyrometallurgical technology is significant in the recycling of used lithium-ion batteries, as it has lower raw material requirements and only limited liquid waste is produced.
Through pyrometallurgy, metal alloys can be extracted from used lithium-ion batteries.
In the process of pyrometallurgical recycling, high-temperature thermal treatments are used, through which battery cells are discharged, flammable electrolytes are removed, organic materials are broken down, and the separator layer is removed.
High-temperature furnaces with temperatures near 1500°C are used to reduce the metal oxides to an alloy of cobalt, copper, iron, and nickel.
Through certain mechanical processes, i.e., crushing, shredding, and sieving, aluminum, copper, and steel are extracted from the electrode powder.
Metallic lithium and lithium oxide are recovered from the electrode powder through direct vacuum evaporation and entraining gas evaporation, respectively.
The industry is now preferring more cost-effective, efficient, and sustainable alternatives for this purpose. Pyrometallurgical recycling is used in integration with hydrometallurgical recycling.
Hydrometallurgy
Hydrometallurgical recycling of lithium-ion batteries involves the leaching of active minerals extracted from used lithium-ion batteries in the form of black mass.
These extracted minerals are leached with appropriate mineral acids such as sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, and alkali and organic acids.
After mechanical processing, metals are separated through solvent extraction, ion exchange, and precipitation.
Separation methods are employed to extract metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum, and iron.
Precipitation is used to extract iron, aluminum, and cobalt, while solvent extraction is used to separate manganese, cobalt, and nickel. Sodium carbonate precipitation recovers lithium.
Commonly used separation methods in recycling lithium-ion batteries are:
· Solvent extraction
· Chemical precipitation
· Electrochemical deposition.
Hydrometallurgy combined with pyrometallurgical processes is a better alternative than standard pyrometallurgy as it saves energy expenditure and recovers valuable metals in sufficient amounts.
Direct Recycling Method
The direct recycling method involves the removal of cathode and anode material from electrodes for reconditioning and reuse in a recycled lithium-ion battery.
Active minerals can be extracted and reformulated for use in recycled cathodes.
The sufficient value of the cathode materials can be recovered through the direct recycling method.
Direct recycling is advantageous and cost-effective as it does not employ an expensive and time-consuming purification process.
Through the direct recycling method, all battery components, excluding separators, can be recovered and reused after processing.
Recycling lithium-ion batteries through the direct recycling method is still in the nascent stage, but it is an essential requirement of the battery manufacturing and recycling industry.
It saves the environment from degradation by encouraging battery reuse and longevity and reduces carbon footprints.
Conclusion
With the recycling of lithium-ion batteries, the waste produced from electric vehicles and consumer electronics can be managed.
Recycling batteries used in EVs and consumer electronics has become an environmental priority from a potential opportunity for market growth.
This offers potential growth for battery manufacturers, battery manufacturing equipment makers, and battery recycling companies.
Sustainability in battery manufacturing through recycling offers hope for faster green recovery of the planet.
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