JP5533319B2 - NaS battery processing equipment and NaS battery pre-processing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a NaS battery processing facility for disposing of a used NaS battery, and a NaS battery pre-processing apparatus used in this NaS battery processing facility.

In recent years, NaS batteries using a reaction between sodium and sulfur have been developed as power storage systems.
In this NaS battery, a β-alumina solid electrolyte tube is inserted into a positive electrode vessel made of, for example, aluminum, and a space between the positive electrode vessel and the β-alumina solid electrolyte tube is filled with sulfur. -Alumina solid electrolyte tube is filled with sodium. The positive electrode container is a sealed container whose inside is kept airtight, and sodium and sulfur are accommodated in the sealed container.
And it is set as the structure by which charge and discharge are repeatedly performed by reversible reaction of sodium and sulfur through a solid electrolyte. The positive electrode container and the β-alumina solid electrolyte tube are usually housed in an outer container made of stainless steel or the like for easy handling.

By the way, since this NaS battery deteriorates by repeating charging and discharging, its service life is assumed to be about 10 years, and it is necessary to appropriately treat a used NaS battery that has passed its service life. There is.
Thus, for example, Patent Documents 1-3 disclose various techniques for processing a used NaS battery.

Patent Document 1 discloses a processing method and processing equipment in which a mouth portion of a NaS battery is cut and immersed in a heated oil tank, and molten sodium is caused to flow down from the inside and recovered. Patent Document 2 is used. A NaS battery having a structure easy to disassemble and a method of disassembling the NaS battery and taking out molten sodium in a paraffin bath have been proposed.
Patent Document 3 proposes a method in which the electrode cap of a used NaS battery is cut, the positive electrode container and the solid electrolyte tube are destroyed, and this is incinerated under excess air.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-088029 JP-A-10-144362 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-060915

  By the way, recently, NaS batteries have been put into practical use, and many NaS batteries have been used. Here, since the service life of the NaS battery is about 10 years as described above, a large amount of NaS battery is expected to be disposed of in the future. Therefore, efficient disposal of NaS batteries is required.

However, in the processing facilities described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, since NaS batteries are disassembled one by one and metallic sodium is recovered from the inside, it is difficult to process a large amount of NaS batteries. .
Further, when metallic sodium comes into contact with oxygen, heat is generated by an oxidation reaction, so that it has been necessary to take out sodium in a state immersed in molten paraffin. Further, sulfur is recovered after sodium is taken out, but since sulfur becomes SO _X gas by oxidation, handling becomes difficult. As described above, since sodium and sulfur that are difficult to handle are individually taken out, it is necessary to provide facilities and processes corresponding to these, and the treatment of the NaS battery cannot be performed efficiently.

Moreover, in the processing method described in Patent Document 3, since sodium and sulfur are reacted and taken out simultaneously by incinerating a used NaS battery in excess air, the metal sodium is directly handled as described above. There is no.
However, in order to allow sodium or sulfur to flow outside, the electrode cap of the NaS battery is cut or the positive electrode container and the solid electrolyte tube are destroyed. There was a risk of leaking. Further, when such cutting processing or the like is performed, metal sodium may come into contact with the outside air, which may cause an oxidation reaction or a reaction with moisture to generate hydrogen.
Moreover, depending on the abundance ratio of sodium and sulfur flowing out into the incinerator, there is a possibility that it cannot be converted into a neutral substance such as Na ₂ SO ₄ . Furthermore, since substances other than sodium and sulfur such as the positive electrode container and the solid electrolyte tube remain as incineration ash, it is necessary to further process the incineration ash.

As described above, the processing method and the processing equipment described in Patent Literatures 1-3 cannot efficiently process the NaS battery.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described situation, and is a NaS battery processing facility capable of efficiently processing a large amount of a discarded NaS battery, and a NaS battery used in this NaS battery processing facility. An object of the present invention is to provide a pre-processing apparatus.

  In order to solve this problem, a NaS battery processing facility according to the present invention is a NaS battery processing facility that disposes of a NaS battery in which sodium and sulfur are contained in a hermetically sealed container. A metal smelting furnace, and a pre-processing device that performs pre-processing on the NaS battery charged in the metal smelting furnace, the pre-processing device including a processing chamber that houses the NaS battery; , An inert gas supply means for making the processing chamber an inert gas atmosphere, a processing means for providing a communication port communicating with the outside of the sealed container of the NaS battery, and the NaS battery in the metal smelting furnace And a charging unit for charging.

In the NaS battery processing facility having this configuration, sodium or sulfur is recovered by introducing the NaS battery into a metal smelting furnace. That is, by putting the NaS battery into the metal smelting furnace, the sealed container of the NaS battery is melted, and sodium and sulfur filled therein flow out to the metal smelting furnace. Here, since the inside of the metal smelting furnace is an oxidizing atmosphere, sodium is oxidized and absorbed into the slag. Further, sulfur also becomes SO ₂ gas or the like by oxidation and is absorbed by sulfuric acid or gypsum generated in the metal smelting process.
Therefore, it is not necessary to disassemble the NaS battery and take out sodium and sulfur separately, and the NaS battery can be processed efficiently.

Moreover, since the NaS battery is put into the metal smelting furnace, it is not necessary to handle metallic sodium alone. Moreover, a sodium component and a sulfur component can be collect | recovered using the existing slag collection | recovery means and sulfur content collection | recovery means attached to the metal smelting furnace.
Furthermore, since the reaction in the metal smelting furnace is used instead of simply reacting sodium and sulfur, even if the abundance ratio of sodium and sulfur is not stable, sodium and sulfur can be reliably Can be processed.
In addition, the members such as the outer container, the positive electrode container, and the solid electrolyte tube are also melted in the metal smelting furnace as described above, and thus are recovered in the slag generated in the metal smelting furnace, and incinerated. Waste such as ash is not generated.

Here, when the NaS battery in which sodium and sulfur are accommodated in the closed vessel is put in the high-temperature metal smelting furnace as it is, the internal pressure of the closed vessel rises abnormally.
Therefore, the NaS battery processing facility of the present invention includes a pre-processing device that performs pre-processing on the NaS battery that is put into a metal smelting furnace. Since this pre-processing apparatus includes processing means for providing a communication port that communicates with the outside of the sealed container of the NaS battery, it communicates in advance with the NaS battery that is put into the high-temperature metal smelting furnace. By providing the mouth, an abnormal pressure increase inside the sealed container can be prevented, and the NaS battery can be reliably processed.
Furthermore, since this processing means is disposed in a processing chamber in an inert gas atmosphere, even if a communication port is provided in the sealed container, sodium and the like inside the sealed container are oxidized and generate heat. Can be suppressed

Moreover, it is preferable to provide the drilling machine which drills with respect to the said airtight container as said process means.
By drilling the sealed container of the NaS battery, it is possible to provide the communication port, and the internal pressure of the sealed container rises abnormally even if it is put into a high-temperature metal smelting furnace. Can be prevented. In addition, by performing drilling in advance, the melt can quickly come into contact with the internal sodium, and the oxidation absorption of sodium can be promoted.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the processing means includes a cutting machine that performs a cutting process on the sealed container.
By cutting the sealed container of the NaS battery, it becomes possible to provide the communication port, and the internal pressure of the sealed container rises abnormally even if it is put into a high-temperature metal smelting furnace. Can be prevented. Also, when the sealed container is thick or made of a material that is difficult to melt, etc., the melting of the contents of the sealed container should be promoted by cutting the sealed container in advance. Can do.

Further, the charging unit is provided with a first on-off valve located on the processing chamber side and a second on-off valve located on the metal smelting furnace side. A local exhaust means is preferably connected to the space between the on-off valve.
In this case, a first on-off valve and a second on-off valve are provided at the input portion between the metal smelting furnace and the processing chamber, and further, a space between the first on-off valve and the second on-off valve. Since the local exhaust means is connected to the metal smelting furnace, it is possible to prevent the high temperature gas inside the metal smelting furnace from entering the charging portion, and the processing in the processing chamber can be performed stably.

Further, the metal smelting furnace includes a melt discharge port for discharging an internal melt to the outside, and a lance row hanging from above, and the charging unit is more than the lance row. It is preferable that the NaS battery is inserted at a position away from the melt outlet.
In this case, since air is blown into the melt in the metal smelting furnace by the lance row, the NaS battery charged in the furnace moves toward the direction away from the melt outlet due to the flow of the melt. Thus, the residence time in the furnace is secured. Therefore, the NaS battery can be reliably melted in the metal smelting furnace.

The metal smelting furnace is preferably a smelting furnace of a continuous copper making facility.
In this case, since the metal smelting furnace is a smelting furnace of a continuous copper making facility, sodium or the like can be absorbed into the slag even if the NaS battery is continuously charged and processed. Since the slag is continuously processed, the processing efficiency of the NaS battery can be greatly improved. In addition, by introducing NaS batteries into the smelting furnace of an existing continuous copper production facility, sodium and sulfur can be recovered using the slag recovery means and sulfur content recovery means (sulfuric acid factory) attached to this continuous copper production facility. can do.

  A NaS battery pre-processing apparatus according to the present invention is a NaS battery pre-processing apparatus used in the above-described NaS battery processing equipment, a processing chamber for housing the NaS battery, and an inert gas atmosphere in the processing chamber. An inert gas supply means, a processing means for providing a communication port communicating with the outside of the sealed container of the NaS battery, and a charging section for charging the NaS battery into the metal smelting furnace. It is characterized by that.

  In the NaS battery pre-processing apparatus having this configuration, the metal smelting furnace is provided with processing means for providing a communication port communicating with the outside of the sealed container of the NaS battery put into the metal smelting furnace. Even if a NaS battery is inserted, an abnormal pressure rise inside the sealed container can be prevented, and the NaS battery can be reliably processed. Furthermore, since this processing means is disposed in the processing chamber in an inert gas atmosphere, even if a communication port is provided in the sealed container, an oxidation reaction of sodium or the like inside the sealed container can be suppressed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the processing equipment of the NaS battery which can process a discarded NaS battery efficiently in large quantities, and the NaS battery pre-processing apparatus used for this NaS battery processing equipment can be provided.

It is sectional explanatory drawing which shows an example of a NaS battery. It is a schematic explanatory drawing of the continuous copper making equipment provided with the metal smelting furnace (smelting furnace) of the processing equipment of the NaS battery which is an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic explanatory drawing of the metal smelting furnace (smelting furnace) of the processing equipment of the NaS battery which is an embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the smelting furnace shown in FIG. It is a schematic explanatory drawing of the NaS battery pre-processing apparatus with which the processing facility of the NaS battery which is embodiment of this invention was equipped. It is explanatory drawing which shows the processing flow by the processing equipment of the NaS battery which is embodiment of this invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The NaS battery processing facility 10 according to this embodiment is for disposing of a used NaS battery 50, and a metal smelting furnace 11 into which a used NaS battery 50 is charged, and a NaS battery to be charged. And a pre-processing device 20 that performs pre-processing on 50.
First, the general structure of the NaS battery 50 processed in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The NaS battery 50 includes a positive electrode container 53 that is a sealed container, a solid electrolyte tube 55 that is accommodated in the positive electrode container 53, and an exterior container 51 that accommodates the positive electrode container 53 and the solid electrolyte tube 55. ing. Here, the outer container 51 (that is, the outer shape of the NaS battery) is formed in a cylindrical shape having a diameter of 90 mm and a length of 520 mm, for example.
A support portion 54 that protrudes inward in the radial direction is formed at the upper portion of the positive electrode container 53, and an annular insulating member 57 is disposed on the support portion 54. The inner peripheral surface of the positive electrode container 53 and the outer peripheral surface of the solid electrolyte tube 55 are fitted. An electrode cap 59 is disposed on the annular insulating member 57.
That is, in the present embodiment, the electrode cap 59 is disposed in the opening of the positive electrode container 53, whereby the inside of the positive electrode container 53 is hermetically sealed.

The solid electrolyte tube 55 is filled with sodium 65. In the space between the positive electrode container 53 and the solid electrolyte tube 55, a sulfur electrode 67 obtained by impregnating graphite felt with sulfur is disposed.
A positive electrode terminal 61 is connected to the upper end of the positive electrode container 53, and a negative electrode terminal 62 is disposed on the electrode cap 59.

  Here, the positive electrode container 53 is made of aluminum, and the outer container 51 is made of stainless steel containing nickel. The solid electrolyte tube 55 is made of β-alumina. Further, the annular insulating member 57 is made of α-alumina, and the electrode cap 59 is made of aluminum or the like. Further, the positive terminal 61 and the negative terminal 62 are made of aluminum or the like.

In this NaS battery 50, sodium (Na) filled inside the solid electrolyte tube 55 and sulfur (S) arranged outside the solid electrolyte tube 55 are passed through the solid electrolyte tube 55 made of β-alumina. By reacting with each other, charging and discharging are performed.
That is, charging and discharging are repeated by a reversible reaction of 2Na + XS → Na ₂ S _X (discharge) and Na ₂ S _X → 2Na + XS (charge). Here, sodium polysulfide (Na ₂ S _X ) produced by the reaction is present in the above-described sulfur electrode 67.

Next, the copper smelting furnace 11 used in the NaS battery processing facility 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4. The copper smelting furnace 11 is the same as the continuous copper smelting facility 1 shown in FIG. This is a smelting furnace 11 provided on the upstream side (left side in FIG. 2).

  The continuous copper making facility 1 includes a smelting furnace 11 that heats and melts a copper concentrate as a raw material to produce a melt having a mat M and a slag Sg, and a mat M produced in the smelting furnace 11. The separation furnace 3 for separating the slag Sg, the copper making furnace 4 for further oxidizing the mat M separated in the separation furnace 3 to produce crude copper C and slag Sg, and the copper making furnace 4 A refining furnace 5 for refining crude copper C to produce higher grade copper. These smelting furnace 11, separation furnace 3, copper making furnace 4, and refining furnace 5 are connected by firewood 6 </ b> A, 6 </ b> B, 6 </ b> C. In order that the furnace 4 and the refining furnace 5 are moved in this order, they are provided with a height difference in this order.

Here, the smelting furnace 11 and the copper making furnace 4 are provided with lances 15 and 7 composed of a plurality of pipes for supplying copper concentrate, oxygen-enriched air, a solvent, a coolant and the like into the furnace. The ceiling of the furnace is provided so that it can be moved up and down, and a discharge port for discharging the gas generated from the furnace is provided in the ceiling of these furnaces. 8 is connected.
The separation furnace 3 separates the mat M and the slag Sg in the melt fed from the smelting furnace 11 using a specific gravity difference, and has a small specific gravity on the layer of the mat M having a large specific gravity. A layer of slag Sg is formed. A plurality of electrodes 9 are inserted into the separation furnace 3 with the lower ends immersed in the slag. In the separation furnace 3, the three-phase alternating current is input to these electrodes 9 from a transformer to generate Joule heat to keep the temperature of the melt.

In order to smelt copper with this continuous copper making facility 1, dry copper concentrate and flux (eg, sand, lime, etc.) are blown into the melt of the smelting furnace 11 together with oxygen-enriched air with a lance 15. In the smelting furnace 11, melting of raw materials and oxidation reaction proceed, and a mat M whose main component is a mixture of copper sulfide and iron sulfide, and a slag Sg composed of gangue, solvent, iron oxide, etc. in copper concentrate. Generated. The mat M and the slag Sg are sent to the separation furnace 3 by the eaves 6A, where they are separated into the lower layer mat M and the upper layer slag Sg due to the difference in specific gravity.
The slag Sg separated in the separation furnace 3 is recovered by existing slag recovery means. Further, the sulfur-containing gas such as SO ₂ gas generated in the smelting furnace 11 or the like is sent to a sulfuric acid factory and recovered as sulfuric acid or gypsum (CaSO ₄ ).

  Note that the mat M separated in the separation furnace 3 is sent to the copper making furnace 4 through the basket 6B. In the copper making furnace 4, a flux is blown together with air to oxidize sulfur and iron in the mat M to obtain crude copper C having a purity of 98.5% or more. Crude copper C continuously produced in the copper making furnace 4 is injected into the refining furnace 5 through the jar 6C and becomes a copper raw material.

Next, the NaS battery processing facility 10 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5. The NaS battery processing facility 10 includes the smelting furnace 11 and the pre-processing apparatus 20 as described above.
The smelting furnace 11 collects a furnace body 12, a melt outlet 13 for discharging a melt from the furnace body 12, a lance row 16 in which a plurality of lances 15 are arranged, and exhaust gas generated from the inside of the furnace body 12. An uptake 17 and a boiler 18.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the pre-processing apparatus 20 is connected to a transport unit 21 that transports the NaS battery 50, a processing chamber 23 that houses the transported NaS battery 50, and a subsequent stage of the processing chamber 23. And a charging unit 30 for charging the pre-processed NaS battery 50 into the smelting furnace 11.
As shown in FIG. 5, the processing chamber 23 includes a holding member 24 that holds the NaS battery 50, a cutting machine 25 that performs a cutting process on the outer container 51 of the NaS battery 50, and the NaS battery 50. A drilling machine 26 for drilling the outer container 51 and the like is disposed.
The processing chamber 23 is connected to an inert gas supply unit 27 for introducing an inert gas such as dehumidified nitrogen gas.
Further, a shutter portion 28 that seals the outlet of the processing chamber 23 is disposed between the processing chamber 23 and the input portion 30.

  The charging unit 30 has one end connected to the processing chamber 23 and the other end connected to the smelting furnace 11. The first opening / closing valve 31 is disposed on one end of the charging unit 30, and the second on the other end. An on-off valve 32 is provided. A local exhaust device 33 is connected to the space between the first on-off valve 31 and the second on-off valve 32. In the present embodiment, the local exhaust device 33 is also connected to the space between the processing chamber 23 and the first on-off valve 31.

Here, the charging unit 30 is disposed so that the NaS battery 50 is charged at a position farther from the melt outlet 13 than the lance row 16. Specifically, the NaS battery 50 is inserted in the vicinity of the uptake 17 disposed on the opposite side of the lance row 16 with respect to the melt outlet 13.
In the pre-processing apparatus 20, the NaS battery 50 is continuously charged in the processing chamber 23, and the NaS battery 50 after the pre-processing is continuously discharged to the input unit 30.

Next, a processing method of the NaS battery using the smelting furnace 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The used NaS battery 50 is transported to the processing chamber 23 by the transport unit 21, and in this processing chamber 23, the outer container 51 and the positive electrode container 53 are cut and processed using the cutting machine 25 and the drilling machine 26. The cap 59 is drilled (pretreatment step S1).
Note that a plurality of cuts may be formed in the outer peripheral portions of the outer container 51 and the positive electrode container 53 by the cutting machine 25. In this case, with the first on-off valve 31 and the second on-off valve 32 of the input unit 30 closed, the shutter unit 28 between the processing chamber 23 and the input unit 30 is opened, and a part of the NaS battery 50 is input. Processing is performed by the cutting machine 25 or the like in a state where the part 30 is located.

The NaS battery 50 that has been subjected to the cutting process and the drilling process is input into the smelting furnace 11 through the input unit 30 (input process S2). First, after the NaS battery 50 that has been subjected to the cutting process and the drilling process is transferred into the input unit 30, the shutter unit 28 is closed and the processing chamber 23 and the input unit 30 are shut off. Thereafter, the first on-off valve 31 and the second on-off valve 32 are opened simultaneously, and the NaS battery 50 is put into the smelting furnace 11.
Further, in the charging step S2, as described above, the NaS battery 50 is charged in the vicinity of the uptake 17 disposed on the opposite side of the melt outlet 13 with the lance row 16 interposed therebetween. .

  The NaS battery 50 charged into the smelting furnace 11 is immersed and melted in a high-temperature melt of, for example, 1220 to 1240 ° C. (melting step S3). As a result, the outer container 51, the positive electrode container 53, and the solid electrolyte tube 55 of the NaS battery 50 are melted, and sodium (Na) and sulfur (S) filled therein also flow out into the smelting furnace 11. .

Here, sodium (Na) flowing out into the smelting furnace 11 is oxidized by oxygen in the smelting furnace 11 and absorbed into the slag Sg generated in the smelting furnace 11.
Further, the sulfur (S) flowing out into the smelting furnace 11 is oxidized by oxygen in the smelting furnace 11 to become SO ₂ gas or the like.
Further, sodium polysulfide (Na ₂ S _X ) present in the sulfur electrode 67 is decomposed into a sodium component and a sulfur component, the sodium component is absorbed in the slag Sg, and the sulfur component becomes SO ₂ gas or the like.

Further, in the exterior container 51 made of stainless steel, nickel is recovered as crude nickel sulfate, and other components are oxidized and absorbed by the slag Sg.
The positive electrode container 53, the electrode cap 59, the positive electrode terminal 61, and the negative electrode terminal 62 made of aluminum are also oxidized and absorbed by the slag Sg.
The solid electrolyte tube 55 and the annular insulating member 57 made of alumina are directly absorbed by the slag Sg.
Further, the graphite felt constituting the sulfur electrode 67 burns in the smelting furnace 11 and is discharged as exhaust gas through the uptake 17 and the boiler 18.

The slag Sg generated in the smelting furnace 11 is transferred to the separation furnace 3 together with the mat M through the melt outlet 13. As described above, the slag Sg is separated from the mat M in the separation furnace 3 and recovered by the existing slag recovery means. The slag Sg is rapidly cooled and solidified by dropping the molten slag Sg into a water stream to form a granulated slag having a particle size of about 2 mm, which is reused as a cement raw material, a sandblasting material, a fine aggregate for concrete, or the like.
In addition, the SO ₂ gas is sent to a sulfuric acid factory, which is a sulfur content recovery means, together with sulfur-containing gas generated from copper sulfide, iron sulfide, etc., and is recovered as sulfuric acid and gypsum.
In this way, all members constituting the NaS battery are processed.

According to the NaS battery processing equipment 10 and the NaS battery pre-processing device 20 of the present embodiment configured as described above, by introducing the NaS battery 50 into the smelting furnace 11 of the continuous copper making equipment 1, Since it is configured to collect sodium (Na) and sulfur (S), it is not necessary to disassemble the NaS battery 50 and take out sodium and sulfur separately, and it is not necessary to handle metallic sodium that is difficult to handle. Therefore, the NaS battery 50 can be processed efficiently.
Although SO ₂ gas is generated by sulfur is oxidized, since constitutively SO ₂ gas is generated in a continuous made of copper equipment 1 utilizes existing sulfuric acid plant, which is provided in a continuous made of a copper facility 1 Thus, it becomes possible to recover the sulfur content as sulfuric acid or gypsum.

Furthermore, since sodium and sulfur are oxidized and processed in the smelting furnace 11, sodium and sulfur can be reliably processed even if the existing ratio of sodium and sulfur is not stable.
Further, since the outer container 51, the positive electrode container 53, the solid electrolyte tube 55, the annular insulating member 57, the electrode cap 59, the positive electrode terminal 61 and the negative electrode terminal 62 are also melted in the smelting furnace 11, the slag Sg It will be collected. Further, the graphite felt constituting the sulfur electrode 67 is burned in the smelting furnace 11 and discharged as normal exhaust gas. Therefore, even if the NaS battery 50 is put into the smelting furnace 11 as it is, waste such as incineration ash is not generated, and all are processed by a normal continuous copper making process.

Further, the NaS battery 50 is blown from the lance 15 because the NaS battery 50 is configured to be inserted in the vicinity of the uptake 17 arranged on the opposite side of the melt discharge port 13 with the lance row 16 interposed therebetween. Due to the flow of the melt by the air, the charged NaS battery 50 moves in a direction away from the melt discharge port 13, so that the residence time in the melt is secured, and the NaS in the smelting furnace 11. The battery 50 can be reliably melted.
Further, since the NaS battery 50 is charged into the smelting furnace 11 of the continuous copper making facility 1, the slag Sg in which sodium or the like is absorbed is continuously processed, and the NaS battery 50 is continuously charged. Thus, the processing efficiency of the NaS battery 50 can be dramatically improved.

  And since it is set as the structure which drills with respect to the positive electrode container 53 and the electrode cap 59 of the NaS battery 50 thrown into the smelting furnace 11 in the pre-processing apparatus 20, it is set in the high temperature melt of 1220-1240 degreeC. Even if the NaS battery 50 is inserted, it is possible to prevent the internal pressure of the positive electrode container 53 and the solid electrolyte tube 55 from rising abnormally, and the processing operation can be performed stably. In addition, by performing drilling in advance, the melt quickly comes into contact with the sodium 65 in the solid electrolyte tube 55, and the oxidation absorption of the sodium 65 can be promoted.

  Further, the pre-processing apparatus 20 is configured to perform cutting processing on the outer container 51 of the NaS battery 50 put into the smelting furnace 11, and further, a plurality of cuts are formed in the outer peripheral portion of the outer container 51. Therefore, the melting of the contents of the outer container 51 and the positive electrode container 53 can be promoted even when the outer container 51 of the NaS battery 50 is thick or made of a material that is difficult to melt. The NaS battery 50 can be reliably processed.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the inert gas supply part 27 which introduces inert gas, such as dehumidified nitrogen gas, is connected to the process chamber 23 of the pre-processing apparatus 20, and the inside of the process chamber 23 is non-oxidizing atmosphere. Therefore, even if sodium leaks into the processing chamber 23 by cutting or drilling, the oxidation reaction of sodium and the reaction with moisture are suppressed.

Further, a first on-off valve 31 is disposed on the processing chamber 23 side of the charging unit 30, and a second on-off valve 32 is disposed on the smelting furnace 11 side. The first on-off valve 31 and the second on-off valve Since the local exhaust device 33 is connected to the space between the first on-off valve 31 and the second on-off valve 32, the high-temperature gas that has entered the space between the first on-off valve 31 and the second on-off valve 32 can be reliably removed.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the local exhaust device 33 is also connected to the space between the first on-off valve 31 and the processing chamber 23, the space between the first on-off valve 31 and the processing chamber 23 should be used. Even if the hot gas enters, the hot exhaust gas can be removed by the local exhaust device 33.

  Further, in the present embodiment, a shutter portion 28 that seals the outlet of the processing chamber 23 is disposed between the processing chamber 23 and the input portion 30, and the first on-off valve 31 and the second valve 31 of the input portion 30 are disposed. By opening the shutter portion 28 between the processing chamber 23 and the loading portion 30 with the on-off valve 32 closed, a cut can be formed at any location of the NaS battery 50 using the cutting machine 25. . Furthermore, after the NaS battery 50 that has been subjected to the cutting process and the drilling process is transferred into the input unit 30, the shutter unit 28 is closed to prevent the hot gas from being mixed into the processing chamber 23. .

As mentioned above, although the processing equipment of the NaS battery and the NaS battery pre-processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and is appropriately within a range not departing from the technical idea of the present invention. It can be changed.
For example, although it demonstrated as using the smelting furnace of a continuous copper making facility as a copper smelting furnace which puts a NaS battery, it is not limited to this, Other copper smelting furnaces, such as a flash smelting furnace and a reflective furnace, It may be used.
Moreover, although the copper smelting furnace has been described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, and the NaS battery may be processed using other metal smelting equipment such as a Ni smelting furnace.

Further, the structure of the NaS battery to be processed is not limited to that shown in FIG. 1, and NaS batteries having other structures can be applied.
Furthermore, although it was set as the structure put into the copper smelting furnace for every exterior container, you may take out a positive electrode container from an exterior container, and may throw in into a copper smelting furnace.

1 Continuous copper making equipment 10 NaS battery processing equipment 11 Smelting furnace (metal smelting furnace)
13 Melt outlet 16 Lance row 20 NaS battery pre-processing device 23 Processing chamber 25 Cutting machine (processing means)
26 Drilling machine (machining means)
27 Inert gas supply section (inert gas supply means)
30 Input part 31 1st on-off valve 32 2nd on-off valve 33 Local exhaust apparatus (local exhaust means)
50 NaS battery Sg slag

Claims (7)

A NaS battery processing facility for disposing of a NaS battery in which sodium and sulfur are contained in a sealed container,
A metal smelting furnace into which the NaS battery is charged, and a pre-processing device for pre-processing the NaS battery charged into the metal smelting furnace,
The pre-processing apparatus includes a processing chamber that houses the NaS battery, an inert gas supply unit that makes the processing chamber an inert gas atmosphere, and a communication port that communicates with the sealed container of the NaS battery. A processing facility for NaS batteries, comprising processing means to be provided and a charging section for charging the NaS batteries into the metal smelting furnace.   The NaS battery processing facility according to claim 1, wherein the processing means includes a drilling machine that drills holes in the sealed container.   The NaS battery processing facility according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes a cutting machine that performs a cutting process on the sealed container.   The charging part is provided with a first on-off valve located on the processing chamber side and a second on-off valve located on the metal smelting furnace side. The first on-off valve and the second on-off valve The NaS battery processing facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a local exhaust means is connected to a space between the first and second spaces. The metal smelting furnace includes a melt discharge port for discharging the internal melt to the outside, and a lance row suspended from above,
The said insertion part is comprised so that a NaS battery may be thrown in in the position spaced apart from the said melt outlet from the said lance row | line | column, The any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. NaS battery processing equipment.   The said metal smelting furnace is a smelting furnace of continuous copper making equipment, The processing equipment of the NaS battery as described in any one of Claims 1-5 characterized by the above-mentioned. A NaS battery pre-processing apparatus used in the NaS battery processing facility according to claim 1,
A processing chamber for accommodating the NaS battery, an inert gas supply means for making the processing chamber an inert gas atmosphere, a processing means for providing a communication port communicating with the outside of the sealed container of the NaS battery, A NaS battery pre-processing apparatus, comprising: a charging unit for charging the NaS battery into the metal smelting furnace.

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