Mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes in HCl media for the recycling of valuable metals from Li-ion battery waste

Antti Porvali; Miamari Aaltonen; Severi Ojanen; Omar Velazquez-Martinez; Emmi Eronen; Fupeng Liu; Benjamin P. Wilson; Rodrigo Serna-Guerrero; Mari Lundström

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.11.023

Mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes in HCl media for the recycling of valuable metals from Li-ion battery waste

Antti Porvali, Miamari Aaltonen, Severi Ojanen, Omar Velazquez-Martinez, Emmi Eronen, Fupeng Liu, Benjamin P. Wilson, Rodrigo Serna-Guerrero, Mari Lundström^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Not published at VTT

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

126 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The present work offers a study on the engineering implications of the recovery of valuable fractions from industrially collected lithium battery (LIB) waste by mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes in HCl media. Direct leaching of LIB waste provides a possibility for Li extraction, a component that is lost into the slag fraction in the state-of-art high temperature processes. The challenges arising from the heterogeneous composition of industrial battery waste are highlighted, and the behavior of main metals present such as Co, Cu, Li, Mn, Ni and Al is observed. It is shown that mechanical separation processes can form fractions rich on Cu and Al, although subsequent refining stages are necessary. Regarding direct leaching, fast kinetics were found, as complete Li dissolution can be achieved in ca. 120 min. Furthermore, high solid/liquid ratio (>1/10) is required to increase metal value concentrations, resulting in a viscous slurry due to the graphite, plastics and other undissolved materials, which challenges filtration and washing of leach residue. Neutralization of the product liquid solution (PLS) result in co-precipitation of valuable battery metals along with Fe and Al. The highest value of LIBs lies in Co, subjected for solvent extraction (SX) or direct precipitation to make an intermediate product. SX can provide selectivity whereas Na₂CO₃ precipitation provides a fast route for Co-Ni bulk production. Li₂CO₃ precipitation from the remaining PLS is possible as zabuyelite - however, due to heterogeneity of the battery waste, the recovery of Li₂CO₃ with battery-grade purity remains a difficult task to be achieved by direct precipitation route.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	257-266
Number of pages	10
Journal	Resources, Conservation and Recycling
Volume	142
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.11.023
Publication status	Published - Mar 2019
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

Authors would like to thank Petteri Halli and Chao Peng for the help in performing XRD analyses. Authors would also like to thank Alexander Chernyaev for performing leaching experiments. The authors of this research paper are grateful to the METYK-project (grant number 3254/31/2015 ), funded by Business Finland (BF) . The research was also supported by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland , project CloseLoop (grant number 303454 ), RawMatTERS Finland Infrastructure (RAMI) funded by Academy of Finland and CMEco (grant number 7405/31/2016 ), also funded by BF .

Keywords

Characterization
Hydrochloric acid leaching
Lithium carbonate precipitation
Recycling
Solvent extraction

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.11.023

Cite this

@article{85fb5c55d36342b0812e39bbc1daff92,

title = "Mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes in HCl media for the recycling of valuable metals from Li-ion battery waste",

abstract = "The present work offers a study on the engineering implications of the recovery of valuable fractions from industrially collected lithium battery (LIB) waste by mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes in HCl media. Direct leaching of LIB waste provides a possibility for Li extraction, a component that is lost into the slag fraction in the state-of-art high temperature processes. The challenges arising from the heterogeneous composition of industrial battery waste are highlighted, and the behavior of main metals present such as Co, Cu, Li, Mn, Ni and Al is observed. It is shown that mechanical separation processes can form fractions rich on Cu and Al, although subsequent refining stages are necessary. Regarding direct leaching, fast kinetics were found, as complete Li dissolution can be achieved in ca. 120 min. Furthermore, high solid/liquid ratio (>1/10) is required to increase metal value concentrations, resulting in a viscous slurry due to the graphite, plastics and other undissolved materials, which challenges filtration and washing of leach residue. Neutralization of the product liquid solution (PLS) result in co-precipitation of valuable battery metals along with Fe and Al. The highest value of LIBs lies in Co, subjected for solvent extraction (SX) or direct precipitation to make an intermediate product. SX can provide selectivity whereas Na2CO3 precipitation provides a fast route for Co-Ni bulk production. Li2CO3 precipitation from the remaining PLS is possible as zabuyelite - however, due to heterogeneity of the battery waste, the recovery of Li2CO3 with battery-grade purity remains a difficult task to be achieved by direct precipitation route.",

keywords = "Characterization, Hydrochloric acid leaching, Lithium carbonate precipitation, Recycling, Solvent extraction",

author = "Antti Porvali and Miamari Aaltonen and Severi Ojanen and Omar Velazquez-Martinez and Emmi Eronen and Fupeng Liu and Wilson, {Benjamin P.} and Rodrigo Serna-Guerrero and Mari Lundstr{\"o}m",

note = "Funding Information: Authors would like to thank Petteri Halli and Chao Peng for the help in performing XRD analyses. Authors would also like to thank Alexander Chernyaev for performing leaching experiments. The authors of this research paper are grateful to the METYK-project (grant number 3254/31/2015 ), funded by Business Finland (BF) . The research was also supported by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland , project CloseLoop (grant number 303454 ), RawMatTERS Finland Infrastructure (RAMI) funded by Academy of Finland and CMEco (grant number 7405/31/2016 ), also funded by BF . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 The Authors Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2019",

month = mar,

doi = "10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.11.023",

language = "English",

volume = "142",

pages = "257--266",

journal = "Resources, Conservation and Recycling",

issn = "0921-3449",

publisher = "Elsevier",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes in HCl media for the recycling of valuable metals from Li-ion battery waste

AU - Porvali, Antti

AU - Aaltonen, Miamari

AU - Ojanen, Severi

AU - Velazquez-Martinez, Omar

AU - Eronen, Emmi

AU - Liu, Fupeng

AU - Wilson, Benjamin P.

AU - Serna-Guerrero, Rodrigo

AU - Lundström, Mari

N1 - Funding Information: Authors would like to thank Petteri Halli and Chao Peng for the help in performing XRD analyses. Authors would also like to thank Alexander Chernyaev for performing leaching experiments. The authors of this research paper are grateful to the METYK-project (grant number 3254/31/2015 ), funded by Business Finland (BF) . The research was also supported by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland , project CloseLoop (grant number 303454 ), RawMatTERS Finland Infrastructure (RAMI) funded by Academy of Finland and CMEco (grant number 7405/31/2016 ), also funded by BF . Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The Authors Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2019/3

Y1 - 2019/3

N2 - The present work offers a study on the engineering implications of the recovery of valuable fractions from industrially collected lithium battery (LIB) waste by mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes in HCl media. Direct leaching of LIB waste provides a possibility for Li extraction, a component that is lost into the slag fraction in the state-of-art high temperature processes. The challenges arising from the heterogeneous composition of industrial battery waste are highlighted, and the behavior of main metals present such as Co, Cu, Li, Mn, Ni and Al is observed. It is shown that mechanical separation processes can form fractions rich on Cu and Al, although subsequent refining stages are necessary. Regarding direct leaching, fast kinetics were found, as complete Li dissolution can be achieved in ca. 120 min. Furthermore, high solid/liquid ratio (>1/10) is required to increase metal value concentrations, resulting in a viscous slurry due to the graphite, plastics and other undissolved materials, which challenges filtration and washing of leach residue. Neutralization of the product liquid solution (PLS) result in co-precipitation of valuable battery metals along with Fe and Al. The highest value of LIBs lies in Co, subjected for solvent extraction (SX) or direct precipitation to make an intermediate product. SX can provide selectivity whereas Na2CO3 precipitation provides a fast route for Co-Ni bulk production. Li2CO3 precipitation from the remaining PLS is possible as zabuyelite - however, due to heterogeneity of the battery waste, the recovery of Li2CO3 with battery-grade purity remains a difficult task to be achieved by direct precipitation route.

AB - The present work offers a study on the engineering implications of the recovery of valuable fractions from industrially collected lithium battery (LIB) waste by mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes in HCl media. Direct leaching of LIB waste provides a possibility for Li extraction, a component that is lost into the slag fraction in the state-of-art high temperature processes. The challenges arising from the heterogeneous composition of industrial battery waste are highlighted, and the behavior of main metals present such as Co, Cu, Li, Mn, Ni and Al is observed. It is shown that mechanical separation processes can form fractions rich on Cu and Al, although subsequent refining stages are necessary. Regarding direct leaching, fast kinetics were found, as complete Li dissolution can be achieved in ca. 120 min. Furthermore, high solid/liquid ratio (>1/10) is required to increase metal value concentrations, resulting in a viscous slurry due to the graphite, plastics and other undissolved materials, which challenges filtration and washing of leach residue. Neutralization of the product liquid solution (PLS) result in co-precipitation of valuable battery metals along with Fe and Al. The highest value of LIBs lies in Co, subjected for solvent extraction (SX) or direct precipitation to make an intermediate product. SX can provide selectivity whereas Na2CO3 precipitation provides a fast route for Co-Ni bulk production. Li2CO3 precipitation from the remaining PLS is possible as zabuyelite - however, due to heterogeneity of the battery waste, the recovery of Li2CO3 with battery-grade purity remains a difficult task to be achieved by direct precipitation route.

KW - Characterization

KW - Hydrochloric acid leaching

KW - Lithium carbonate precipitation

KW - Recycling

KW - Solvent extraction

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U2 - 10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.11.023

DO - 10.1016/j.resconrec.2018.11.023

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85058713475

SN - 0921-3449

VL - 142

SP - 257

EP - 266

JO - Resources, Conservation and Recycling

JF - Resources, Conservation and Recycling

ER -

Mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes in HCl media for the recycling of valuable metals from Li-ion battery waste

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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