Battery & Electrification Technology - November/December 2024 - 10

Battery Recycling
However, batteries removed from EVs
often retain significant capacity, opening
opportunities for second-life applications.
These spent EV batteries can find
new purpose in powering electric bicycles,
energy storage systems for homes
and power grids, or portable charging
devices. Companies
including Renault
Developing more efficient and precise recycling methods can lead to higher purity in recovered
materials, making them suitable for use in new batteries. (Image: Dassault Systèmes)
The Battery Recycling
Imperative
The battery
recycling imperative is
driven by both economic potential and
regulatory pressure. By 2030, the recycling
industry could recover between 400,000
and 1 million tons of valuable materials
from spent batteries, including 125,000
tons of lithium, 35,000 tons of cobalt, and
86,000 tons of nickel. This represents a
market opportunity worth approximately
$6 billion, highlighting the significant
economic incentive for developing efficient
recycling processes.
Regulatory agencies are pushing the
industry toward more sustainable practices.
The European Union, for instance,
has set ambitious targets for battery recycling:
70 percent for battery collection,
recovery rates of 95 percent for cobalt,
copper, lead, and nickel, and 70 percent for
lithium.
Additionally, new regulations
mandate minimum levels of recycled content
in new batteries, further emphasizing
the need for a circular economy approach.
Current battery designs pose significant
challenges to recycling efforts. Many
lithium-ion batteries are welded or glued
together, making individual components
difficult to replace or recycle. This often
results in entire batteries being discarded,
even when they retain up to 80
percent of their potential life.
The industry must shift toward a circular
economy model for lithium-ion batteries.
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This approach not only ensures responsible
disposal of hazardous waste but also
reduces manufacturers' dependence on
volatile raw material supply chains, paving
the way for a more sustainable and
resilient battery industry.
Battery End-of-Life
Management
Effective end-of-life management of EV
batteries hinges on accurately assessing
their state of health (SOH). SOH is a critical
measure of a battery's performance and
longevity, typically quantified as run time on
a full charge, estimated capacity in milliampere
hours, or the number of charge cycles
until end-of-life. However, precisely evaluating
SOH presents significant challenges.
EV batteries endure harsh conditions,
undergoing over 1,000 charging and discharging
cycles within 5-10 years while
exposed to temperature ranges from -20
°C to 70 °C. When a battery's SOH drops to
80 percent, it's usually removed from the
vehicle. Yet, accurately measuring SOH is
complex; capacity can't be directly measured,
and aging is influenced by various
factors including battery
charging behavior, and temperature.
These challenges lead manufacturers
to either install excess battery cells as a
safety buffer or scale down specified
values like vehicle range and warranty
periods. Both approaches result in underutilized
battery capacity.
are already partnering with energy firms
to repurpose retired EV batteries for
home energy storage, potentially extending
battery life by up to 10 years
before final recycling.
To facilitate both second-life applications
and eventual recycling, it›s crucial
to design batteries with end-of-life management
in mind. Incorporating design
for recyclability from the outset can
make disassembly less time-consuming,
more cost-effective, and more sustainable.
This approach is vital, considering
that up to 80 percent of a product›s environmental
impact is determined during
the design phase.
Recycling Challenges and
Opportunities
Two lithium-ion recycling methods
dominate the industry: pyrometallurgy
and hydrometallurgy. In pyrometallurgy,
battery components are shredded and
then melted, while hydrometallurgy involves
dissolving the shredded materials
in acid. However, these processes are far
from perfect, often resulting in a complex
mixture that's expensive to purify and
yields low-value products.
The diverse range of battery types with
different designs, chemistries, and technologies
present significant challenges. There›s
no one-size-fits-all recycling approach, forcing
careful consideration of each battery›s
composition before disassembly. This complexity
is further compounded by the intricate
structure of lithium-ion batteries, consisting
of cathodes, anodes, separators, and
electrolytes, each tailored for specific performance
parameters.
To address these challenges, efficient
condition,
sorting and separation methods are crucial.
Recycling plants must separate batteries
into distinct streams based on their
composition, similar to plastic recycling.
This sorting process is essential to meet
the specifications of buyers purchasing
recycled materials, but it also adds complexity
and cost to the recycling process.
Battery & Electrification Technology, November/December 2024

Battery & Electrification Technology - November/December 2024

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