Integrated Battery Scrap Recycling and Nickel Slag Cleaning with Methane Reduction

Abstract

<jats:p>Innovative recycling routes are needed to fulfill the increasing demand for battery raw materials to ensure sufficiency in the future. The integration of battery scrap recycling and nickel slag cleaning by reduction with methane was experimentally researched for the first time in this study. Industrial nickel slag from the direct Outotec nickel flash smelting (DON) process was mixed with both synthetic and industrial battery scrap. The end products of the slag-scrap mixtures after reduction at 1400 °C in a CH4 (5 vol %)-N2 atmosphere were an Ni–Co–Cu–Fe metal alloy and FeOx–SiO2 slag. It was noted that a higher initial amount of cobalt in the feed mixture increased the recovery of cobalt to the metal alloy. Increasing the reduction time decreased the fraction of sulfur in the metal alloy and magnetite in the slag. After reduction, manganese was deported in the slag and most of the zinc volatilized. This study confirmed the possibility of replacing coke with methane as a non-fossil reductant in nickel slag cleaning on a laboratory scale, and the recovery of battery metals cobalt and nickel in the slag cleaning process with good yields.</jats:p>

Integrating Flotation and Pyrometallurgy for Recovering Graphite and Valuable Metals from Battery Scrap

“…Figure 1 shows a flowchart of the proposed process investigated in this article. In previous studies by the authors, the integration of battery recycling to nickel slag cleaning was reported successful for the first time [24]. Unlike these previous studies and many industrial pyrometallurgical processes for battery recycling, this approach emphasizes the importance of mechanical pre-treatment to minimize the loss of valuable metals to the slag.…”

A Combined Pyro- and Hydrometallurgical Approach to Recycle Pyrolyzed Lithium-Ion Battery Black Mass Part 1: Production of Lithium Concentrates in an Electric Arc Furnace

“…Although lithium does not represent a critical metal, its recovery, especially regarding future battery systems, where lithium will be manifested as an indispensable cathode component, becomes essential. In the field of battery recycling, research projects have been carried out for several years dealing with both single and combined mechanical, pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes as well as pyrolysis to recover battery components [5,10,11,[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. However, the focus is set mainly on critical and valuable metals, which is the reason why lithium as a component has not been sufficiently considered [24].…”

A Combined Pyro- and Hydrometallurgical Approach to Recycle Pyrolyzed Lithium-Ion Battery Black Mass Part 2: Lithium Recovery from Li Enriched Slag—Thermodynamic Study, Kinetic Study, and Dry Digestion

“…In 2020, lithium was newly included among the European Union (EU)'s critical raw materials, which made its recovery, especially in the battery systems, where lithium is an indispensable cathode component, essential [13]. In the field of battery recycling, research projects have been carried out for several years dealing with both single and combined mechanical, pyrometallurgical, and hydrometallurgical processes as well as pyrolysis to recover battery components [5,10,11,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. However, the focus is mainly set on more valuable metals, which is the reason why lithium as a component has not been sufficiently considered [25].…”