CN115149137A - Waste battery recycling system - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a waste battery recovery processing system, which comprises: the container that charges, separation pyrolysis device to and transfer device, its characterized in that: the transfer device is capable of charging the raw material from the charging container to the separation pyrolysis device; the separation pyrolysis unit is used for separating the raw materials into heavy solid products and light solid products; further comprising a steam/top dross remover for removing product steam and the light solid products, and a solids removal device; the solids removal unit is used to remove the heavy solid products from near the bottom of the separation pyrolysis unit, the raw material is cut into pieces in the charging container, the invention combines the pyrolysis with metal concentration and gravity separation processes, and the precious metals and other metals are collected as top or bottom dross, thus reducing capital and operating costs.

Description

Waste battery recycling system

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of battery recovery, in particular to a waste battery recovery processing system.

Background

Other batteries for devices such as cell phones, hearing aids, music players, watches, power tools, and laptops are typically prismatic, button, or polymer or other custom designed batteries. These batteries (including custom designed batteries) are more difficult to handle due to the odd size. Like all batteries, rechargeable batteries also have a limited life and are sometimes added to the waste stream.

Generally, the traditional recovery treatment process of waste batteries mainly comprises pretreatment, secondary treatment and advanced treatment, wherein the pretreatment process comprises an advanced discharge process, disassembly, crushing and physical separation; the secondary treatment aims at realizing the complete separation of the positive and negative electrode active materials and the substrate, and the complete separation of the positive and negative electrode active materials and the substrate is realized by a heat treatment method, an organic solvent dissolution method, an alkali solution dissolution method, an electrolysis method and the like; the deep treatment is important to comprise 2 processes of leaching and separation and purification, and valuable metal materials are extracted.

Among the battery recycling methods that follow, pyrometallurgical battery recycling requires sorting of the spent batteries, then cutting the batteries into pieces of about one-quarter inch or less to produce fine particulate matter, removal of iron by magnetic separators, and finally recycling of reusable materials by refining or smelting processes, often requiring manual battery sorting and higher smelting operating costs due to the higher operating temperatures required; the hydrometallurgical recovery can only deal with waste lithium and nickel metal hydride batteries, but cannot deal with alkaline batteries and zinc-carbon batteries, and in addition, the recovery method has low value of the recovered chemicals.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention overcomes the defects of the prior art and provides a waste battery recycling system.

In order to achieve the purpose, the invention adopts the technical scheme that: a waste battery recycling system comprises: the charging container, separate pyrolysis device to and transfer device, its characterized in that: the transfer device is capable of charging the raw material from the charging container to the separate pyrolysis device; the separation pyrolysis unit is used for separating the raw materials into heavy solid products and light solid products; further comprising a steam/top dross remover for removing product steam and the light solid products, and a solids removal device; the solids removal unit is for removing the heavy solids products from near the bottom of the separation pyrolysis unit; the raw material is cut into pieces in the charging container.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the separation pyrolysis apparatus is composed of a plurality of unit containers connected to each other.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bottom of the separate pyrolysis device is inclined by 10 to 50 degrees.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the steam/top dross remover comprises a centrifugal separator, means for separating the product steam from the light solid products.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the solids removal means comprises a plurality of drains at a low point.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the transfer device is provided with a conveyor for feeding the raw material into the separation pyrolysis device.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a screw is used to remove light pyrolysis products from the separation pyrolysis apparatus.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the light pyrolysis products and the pyrolysis vapors are removed from the pyrolysis chamber through a discharge slot in a side wall of the pyrolysis chamber.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the centrifugal separator consists of a filter, a screw, a toothed screen or a vortex separator arranged in series.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pyrolysis liquid in the separation pyrolysis device is molten salt, and any one or combination of lithium chloride, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, cyanide, nitrate and nitrite is used.

The invention solves the defects in the background technology, and has the following beneficial effects:

the invention combines the metal concentration and gravity separation processes with pyrolysis. Precious and other metals are collected as top or bottom dross, or alloyed with molten zinc in a separate pyrolysis unit. The metal alloy mixture accumulated in the separate pyrolysis unit is periodically discharged and may be processed through another unit operation, thereby reducing capital and operating costs since the battery does not require pulverization.

The invention provides a concentration process of precious metals and low-value metals, and simultaneously is a pyrolysis process of epoxy resin, plastics, paper and other materials, so that polychlorinated biphenyl can be treated, and pyrolysis oil can be produced by the process, thereby providing an additional income source for metal recovery.

Detailed Description

Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment," "an embodiment," or "other embodiments" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments, of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be obtained by a person skilled in the art without making any creative effort based on the embodiments in the present invention, belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

A waste battery recycling system, a charging container, a separation pyrolysis device, and a transfer device, wherein the transfer device can charge raw materials from the charging container to the separation pyrolysis device; the separation pyrolysis device is used for separating the raw material into a heavy solid product and a light solid product; also included are a steam/top dross remover for removing product steam and light solid products, and a solids removal apparatus; a solids removal unit for removing heavy solid products from near the bottom of the separation pyrolysis unit; the raw material is cut into pieces in the charging container.

In one embodiment for treating used household batteries, the process is characterized by one-step metal concentration, gravity separation and pyrolysis. Rare earth, gold, palladium, nickel, lead, etc. metals are mixed or alloyed with molten metals, separated into different phases, or top or bottom dross is formed, while plastics, paints and papers are pyrolyzed. In one embodiment, the molten metal recovered from the cell is zinc, and the pyrolysis liquid is a molten salt, preferably a mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride. Other salts, such as ternary nitrate-nitrites, for example sodium nitrate-sodium nitrite-potassium nitrate (NaN 03-NaN02-KN 03), may also be used as heat transfer media on an industrial scale in solar power plants. The recovery process of the waste battery is as follows: the received waste batteries are sorted by size or dicing machine and the batteries are cut into sheets of about 0.5 to 1 cm long or longer, whereas coin cells may not need to be cut or may be cut into sections of about 0.5 cm or shorter. The cell may also be cut along its longitudinal axis, it being noted that the cost of the cutting process is much lower than the cost of the comminution.

The cut or uncut battery is sent into the charging container to be full, and the cold valve of the charging container is closed; the air in the vessel was evacuated by a vacuum pump and then charged with nitrogen until the charging vessel was inerted. Then the charging chamber hot valve is opened, and the thermal electrolyte is flushed. Due to the high temperature of the pyrolysis liquid 7, typically above 350 ℃, the cell is easily decomposed and separated into steam, top light solids and bottom heavies.

After light solids, or so-called top dross, have accumulated to a certain level in the pyrolysis chamber, the top of the chamber is opened to remove the top dross, either manually or by other means.

It is noted that the top dross may consist of graphite, cobalt oxide, aluminum oxide, zinc oxide, manganese oxide and other materials having a density lower than the pyrolysis liquid.

Steam and some top dross is continuously removed from the pyrolysis chamber through a steam/top dross removal line. In other embodiments, an extractor is provided that can extend into the separation/pyrolysis chamber. Entrained solids in the vapor stream are removed from the vapor stream by a rotating separator. The collected solids exit the system for further processing through a rotary valve and a solids removal line.

In addition, steam is also directed for further processing, and in some embodiments, steam can provide energy for the process, with the suction driving force for steam removal provided by the fan.

Heavy metal compounds, such as rare earths or mischmetal, cobalt, nickel, manganese, stainless steel and cadmium oxide, separate to the bottom of the pyrolysis chamber and, due to the slope of the wall, can be removed through a number of discharge points or captured by a solids removal device.

Lead, aluminum and other metals can be alloyed with the pyrolysis liquid. The melt is removed for further processing by a drain or solids removal device.

The bottom product, i.e., the stainless steel housing of the spent battery, can be removed from the pyrolysis chamber using a solids removal device, and the zinc adhering to the housing and other steel or metal parts can be removed by another unit operation.

It should be noted that the grid is closed to ensure that the cell is in contact with the pyrolyzation liquid or has a reaction time long enough. This is very important for the process to achieve complete separation.

In summary, the present invention combines the pyrolysis with metal concentration and gravity separation processes. Precious and other metals are collected as top or bottom dross, or alloyed with molten zinc in a separate pyrolysis unit. The metal alloy mixture accumulated in the separate pyrolysis unit is periodically discharged and may be processed by another unit operation, thereby reducing capital and operating costs since the battery does not require pulverization.

The invention provides a concentration process of precious metals and low-value metals, and simultaneously is a pyrolysis process of epoxy resin, plastics, paper and other materials, so that polychlorinated biphenyl can be treated, and pyrolysis oil can be produced by the process, thereby providing an additional income source for metal recovery.

In light of the foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the content of the specification, and must be determined according to the scope of the claims.

Claims (10)

1. A waste battery recycling system comprises: the container that charges, separation pyrolysis device to and transfer device, its characterized in that:

the transfer device is capable of charging the raw material from the charging container to the separation pyrolysis device; the separation pyrolysis unit is used for separating the raw materials into heavy solid products and light solid products;

further comprising a steam/top dross remover for removing product steam and the light solid products, and a solids removal apparatus; the solids removal unit is for removing the heavy solids products from near the bottom of the separation pyrolysis unit;

the raw material is cut into pieces in the charging container.

2. The recycling system of waste batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that: the separation pyrolysis device is composed of a plurality of unit containers which are connected with each other.

3. The waste battery recycling system according to claim 1, wherein: the bottom of the separation pyrolysis device is inclined by 10-50 degrees.

4. The waste battery recycling system according to claim 1, wherein: the steam/top dross remover comprises a centrifugal separator, means for separating the product steam from the light solid product.

5. The waste battery recycling system according to claim 1, wherein: the solids removal apparatus includes a plurality of drains at a low point.

6. The recycling system of waste batteries according to claim 1, characterized in that: the transfer device is equipped with a conveyor for feeding the raw material into the separation pyrolysis device.

7. The waste battery recycling system according to claim 4, wherein: removing light pyrolysis products from the separation pyrolysis apparatus using a screw.

8. The waste battery recycling system according to claim 7, wherein: the light pyrolysis products and the pyrolysis vapors are removed from the pyrolysis chamber through a discharge slot in a side wall of the pyrolysis chamber.

9. The waste battery recycling system according to claim 8, wherein: the centrifugal separator is formed by serially mounting a filter, a spiral device, a sawtooth screen or a vortex separator.

10. The waste battery recycling system according to claim 1, wherein: the pyrolysis liquid in the separation pyrolysis device is molten salt, and any one or combination of lithium chloride, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, cyanide, nitrate and nitrite is adopted.