KR20110046938A - Recycling apparatus and method of the waste lithium battery - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: Recycling apparatus and method for waste lithium batteries are provided to prevent the discharge of waste lithium batteries and the explosion in a cutting process since an acid solution is not used. CONSTITUTION: A recycling apparatus for waste lithium batteries comprises: a puncher(110) for perforating waste lithium batteries; a discharger(120) for discharging the perforated waste lithium batteries; and a cutter which cuts both ends of the discharged waste lithium battery in a width direction and cuts the center of the discharged waste lithium batteries in a longitudinal direction. The discharger includes a palette(121) for discharge, a chamber(122) for discharge, and a conveyor(123) for discharge.

Description

Recycling apparatus and method of the waste lithium battery

The present invention relates to a waste lithium battery processing apparatus and method for recycling waste lithium batteries.

Lithium batteries refer to batteries using metal lithium as a negative electrode, and many primary batteries are mainly used as power sources for cameras and electronic watches. Accordingly, the used lithium primary battery is disposed of several hundred tons per year. Lithium primary battery uses metal lithium as negative electrode material, manganese dioxide, thionyl chloride, graphite fluoride, copper oxide, sulfur dioxide, etc. as positive electrode material, organic solvent as electrolyte, and current collector and case are nickel metal And stainless steel.

Generally, the whole amount is buried as a method for processing a waste lithium battery in Korea. However, since it is difficult to confirm whether the battery is discharged during the actual collection, transportation and processing, the charged battery is buried. By the way, the organic solvent used in the battery is ignited when there is a flame at room temperature, and has a characteristic of spontaneously igniting at about 320 ℃. In addition, since 10% of the total metal lithium remains undischarged inside the battery, it may react with moisture in the air and cause an explosion or fire. If the explosion or the fire occurs first, it may affect the batteries in the surrounding area, and thus, a chain explosion and a fire may occur.

In particular, organic solvents such as dimethyl ether (DME), tetrahydrofuran (THF: Tetrahydrofuran), and propylene carbonate (PC: propylene carbonate) and substances used as positive electrodes cause inhibition of central nervous system function of the human body. As a very harmful substance, when embedding a battery containing such a hazardous substance, there is a problem that can cause serious pollution of the surrounding environment as well as damage to the human body due to the leakage of harmful substances.

In order to solve this problem, Korean Patent No. 10-0716199 (announcement date 10 May 2007) is proposed a wet treatment method using an acidic solution. According to this, the spent lithium batteries are discharged in sulfuric acid for about 14 to 20 days, and then dried and crushed for treatment. However, in this case, since sulfuric acid harmful to the worker and the working environment is used, the occupational disease occurrence rate of the worker may be high. And, when drying the battery corroded by sulfuric acid, there is a risk of fire and gas poisoning accidents.

In addition, when the dried battery is crushed, the undischarged battery may explode or harmful gas may be generated. In addition, when the crushed material is separated into a magnetic material and a non-magnetic material by a magnetic separator, nickel, which is a valuable metal to be obtained, is crushed with stainless steel to be selected as a mixed magnetic material, and thus nickel and stainless steel have to be sorted again.

On the other hand, there is an example in which the waste lithium primary battery is treated using a cooling-crushing step. To explain this, the spent lithium battery is frozen to -195 ° C. in liquid argon, placed in an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate, and then broken into a battery case. At this time, when the hydrogen gas generated together with the heat is discharged, no violent explosion occurs, the acid electrolyte is neutralized by caustic soda contained in the aqueous solution, and lithium reacts with the aqueous solution to generate lithium hydroxide, lithium sulfide, lithium carbide, and the like. This stabilizes the battery. After the stabilized cell is repeatedly crushed to a desired size, metal fragments are separated and lithium carbonate is recovered from the aqueous solution.

However, in the above case, since expensive liquid argon and high energy are required, there is a disadvantage in that the cost of treating the waste lithium battery is high and the economic efficiency is low.

Disclosure of Invention An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to provide a waste lithium battery processing apparatus and method that enables safe and low cost recycling of waste lithium batteries.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a waste lithium battery processing apparatus comprising: a perforator for punching holes on both side surfaces corresponding to a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrode terminal in a waste lithium battery, respectively; Discharging the perforated waste lithium battery by the perforator, receiving the perforated waste lithium battery and immersing it in a discharging liquid containing a surfactant and water, and receiving and receiving the discharging pallet A discharger having a discharge chamber and a discharge conveyor for transferring the discharge pallet in the discharge chamber; And a cutter for cutting both ends of the waste lithium battery discharged from the discharger in the width direction and cutting the center of the discharged waste lithium battery in the longitudinal direction.

The waste lithium battery processing method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: perforating holes on both side surfaces corresponding to the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal in the supplied waste lithium battery, respectively; Discharging the perforated waste lithium battery while being immersed in a discharging liquid containing a surfactant and water; And cutting both ends of the discharged waste lithium battery in the width direction, and cutting the center of the discharged waste lithium battery in the longitudinal direction.

According to the present invention, since an acidic solution such as sulfuric acid is not used unlike in the related art, explosions may be prevented during the discharge and cutting of waste lithium batteries, and human harmful gases may not be exposed to workers. Accordingly, the waste lithium battery can be treated more safely.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the waste lithium battery is not frozen through liquid argon in the process of treating the waste lithium battery, the treatment cost can be reduced. In addition, according to the present invention, since the lithium lithium batteries can be discharged while continuously transporting without stacking, there is an effect of increasing the work efficiency.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing a waste lithium battery processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the waste lithium battery processing apparatus 100 may process and recycle waste lithium batteries 10 (see FIG. 2) that have reached the end of their life, and may include a perforator 110 and a discharger 120. , And a cutter 130.

The perforator 110 is for perforating holes at both end sides of the waste lithium battery 10. If a hole is formed in the waste lithium battery 10, an explosion may be prevented during the processing of the waste lithium battery 10. In addition, the waste lithium battery 10 may be easily discharged because the discharge liquid may be introduced into the hole through the perforated hole. In addition, when both ends of the waste lithium battery 10 are cut by the cutter 130, since it can be cut corresponding to the hole portion, it may be easy to cut.

In order to prevent the explosion, as shown in FIG. 2, the perforator 110 first drills a hole in one side corresponding to the positive electrode terminal. At this time, the waste lithium battery accommodates the electrode assembly in the battery case, and has a space between the electrode assembly and the positive electrode, so that the hole perforated corresponding to the space. Thereafter, a hole is drilled in the other side surface corresponding to the negative electrode terminal. In addition, the depth of the hole perforated by the perforator 110 is set to 5 ~ 10mm and perforated. The diameter of the hole perforated by the perforator 110 may be about 2 to 5 mm. The waste lithium battery 10 supplied to the perforator 110 may be a waste lithium primary battery or a secondary battery that has reached the end of its life.

The waste lithium battery 10 may be loaded after being collected for each battery case type and battery standard in the loading unit 101 before being supplied to the perforator 110. And, the dismantling process may be performed in the release working unit 102 with respect to the loaded waste lithium battery 10. For example, an ABS case, a PVC film, an electric wire, and the like packaging the waste lithium battery 10 may be dismantled manually or semi-automatically. The waste lithium batteries 10 which have undergone the disassembly process may be supplied to the sorter 103, and may be sequentially supplied to the perforator 110 after being aligned by the sorter 103.

The discharger 120 is for discharging the waste lithium battery 10 punched by the perforator 110. The discharger 120 includes a discharge pallet 121, a discharge chamber 122, and a discharge conveyor 123.

The discharge pallet 121 contains a discharge liquid and is arranged to receive the waste lithium battery 10 which is punched out of the perforator 110 and discharged. Here, the discharge pallet 121 may be transferred to the perforator 110 and the discharge chamber 122 by the pallet transfer mechanism. The discharge pallet 121 immerses the supplied waste lithium battery 10 in the discharge liquid so that the waste lithium battery 10 can be discharged.

The discharge liquid contains water and a surfactant. Accordingly, the discharge liquid flows through the holes of the immersed waste lithium battery 10 and reacts with lithium to neutralize it while dissolving lithium. Lithium may be recovered from such an aqueous lithium solution.

Since an acidic solution such as sulfuric acid is not used for discharging the ferrite lithium battery 10, the waste lithium battery 10 can be discharged more safely. The discharge chamber 122 receives and receives the discharge pallet 121 in which the waste lithium battery 10 is immersed, so that the waste lithium battery 10 may be discharged through a predetermined time in an internal space.

The discharge conveyor 123 is for transferring the discharge pallet 121 in the discharge chamber 122. The discharge conveyor 123 allows the waste lithium battery 10 in the discharge pallet 121 to be discharged while being transferred. Accordingly, while fully securing the discharge time of the waste lithium battery 10, since the waste lithium battery 10 discharged from the perforator 110 can be discharged while continuously transporting without accumulation, the work efficiency can be increased.

In order to further increase the working efficiency, the discharge conveyor 123 may be disposed in a plurality of layers having different heights, respectively, to transfer the discharge pallet 121 for each layer. In this case, the elevating mechanism 107 may be further provided while supplying to the discharge chamber 122 while discharging the discharge pallet 121, and discharged from the discharge chamber 122.

The waste lithium batteries 10 discharged through the discharger 120 may be loaded on the drying rack 104 and dried. The dried waste lithium batteries 10 may be aligned with the discharged sorter 105 and supplied to the cutter 130.

The cutter 130 cuts both ends of the waste lithium battery 10 discharged through the discharger 120 in the width direction, and cuts the center of the waste lithium battery 10 in the longitudinal direction. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the cutter 130 may include a first cutout 131 for cutting both ends of the waste lithium battery 10 in the width direction, and a length of the center of the waste lithium battery 10. It may be provided with a second cut portion 132 to cut in the direction. The first and second cutting parts 131 and 132 may be disposed to cut both ends of the waste lithium battery 10 in the width direction, and to cut the center of the waste lithium battery 10 in the longitudinal direction. .

The first cutter 131 is operated to cut correspondingly to the perforated holes of the waste lithium battery 10, respectively. The second cutout 132 is operated to cut to a depth capable of cutting only the battery case in order to prevent explosion of the undischarged lithium battery 10. In the cutting process, the second cutout 132 may suppress explosion and prevent explosion progress even when the undischarged lithium battery 10 explodes, and may be mounted on a jig using hydraulic pressure such that the electrode assembly does not protrude out. It can be configured to firmly secure both ends of the waste lithium battery (10).

As such, as both ends and the center of the waste lithium battery 10 are cut, the inside of the cut waste lithium battery 10 may be more easily decomposed.

On the other hand, although not shown, the cut waste lithium battery 10 may be recut to facilitate decomposition. In addition, the positive electrode wire, the negative electrode wire, the separator, etc. of the cut waste lithium battery 10 may be sent to the decomposing unit 106 to be decomposed after the re-discharge process.

In the decomposing unit 106, the battery case and the cathode material of the stainless steel are separated from the cut waste lithium battery 10, and the nickel constituting the current collector is first recovered from the separated cathode material to dissolve the separated cathode material. Nickel may be recovered secondary through the process. Accordingly, valuable metals can be recovered.

Since the waste lithium battery processing apparatus 100 having the above-described configuration does not use an acidic solution such as sulfuric acid, unlike the conventional method, the waste lithium battery processing apparatus prevents an explosion during the discharge and cutting process of the waste lithium battery 10, and the human body may emit harmful gases such as This may not be exposed. Accordingly, the waste lithium battery 10 can be treated more safely. In addition, unlike the conventional method, the waste lithium battery processing apparatus 100 does not freeze the waste lithium battery 10 through liquid argon in the process of treating the waste lithium battery 10, thereby reducing processing costs. In addition, the waste lithium battery processing apparatus 100 can discharge the waste lithium batteries 10 while being continuously transported without stacking, thereby improving work efficiency.

Meanwhile, the discharger 120 may further include a liquid injector 124, a gas scrubber 125, and a wastewater collector 126. Accordingly, the discharge process of the waste lithium battery 10 can be performed more safely.

The liquid injector 124 injects the discharge liquid toward the waste lithium battery 10 in the discharge chamber 122, thereby reducing the generation of toxic gases in the discharge process of the waste lithium battery 10. The liquid injector 124 may include a discharge liquid tank 124a for storing the discharge liquid and an injection nozzle 124b for receiving and discharging the discharge liquid by the discharge pump from the discharge liquid tank 124a. have. The injection nozzle 124b may be disposed above the discharge pallet 121 so as to inject the discharge liquid toward the discharge pallet 121 transferred in the discharge chamber 122. In addition, a plurality of spray nozzles 124b may be provided and arranged along a conveying direction of the discharge pallet 121.

The gas scrubber 125 is for removing toxic gas generated in the discharge process of the waste lithium battery 10. The gas scrubber 125 may be connected to the discharge chamber 122 and the duct 125a to inhale and remove the toxic gas in the discharge chamber 122. The gas scrubber 125 may be connected to a duct or the like so as to suck and remove gas from the discharging, cutting, drying, and decomposition regions of the waste lithium battery 10 as well as the discharge region of the waste lithium battery 10.

The wastewater collector 126 collects wastewater in which metal lithium of the waste lithium battery 10 is dissolved in the discharge process of the waste lithium battery 10. The wastewater collector 126 is connected to the discharge chamber 122 by a pipe, and the wastewater discharged from the discharge chamber 122 may be collected by the suction pump into the wastewater tank 126a. The wastewater collector 126 may be installed to collect not only the discharge region of the waste lithium battery 10 but also wastewater generated from the dry region of the waste lithium battery 10 or the like. Since the lithium metal is dissolved in the wastewater collected from the wastewater collector 126, lithium may be recovered from the wastewater.

The waste lithium battery processing method according to the embodiment of the present invention by the waste lithium battery processing apparatus 100 having the above configuration will be described below.

First, holes are respectively drilled in the supplied waste lithium battery 10 by the perforator 110 on both side surfaces corresponding to the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal. Before the waste lithium battery 10 is supplied to the perforator 110, the waste lithium battery 10 may be collected by battery case type and battery standard and then loaded. Thereafter, the loaded lithium battery 10 may be dismantled in an ABS case, a PVC film, an electric wire, etc., which pack the waste lithium battery 10. Thereafter, the disassembled waste lithium batteries 10 may be arranged and sequentially supplied to the perforator 110.

Subsequently, the perforated waste lithium battery 10 is discharged while being immersed in a discharging liquid containing a surfactant and water. That is, in the state where the perforated waste lithium battery 10 is immersed in the discharge pallet 121 containing the discharge liquid, it was put into the discharge chamber 122, and then discharge pallet by the discharge conveyor 123. The lithium battery 10 is discharged by transferring the 121.

In this case, as the discharge pallet 121 is transported for each layer by the discharge conveyors 123 disposed on a plurality of layers having different heights, the waste lithium battery 10 may be discharged while being transported for each layer. . And, in order to reduce the generation of toxic gas in the discharge process of the waste lithium battery 10, the liquid discharge liquid is injected to the waste lithium battery 10 being transported in the discharge chamber 122 by the liquid injector 124 do. The gas cleaner 125 sucks and cleans the toxic gas in the discharge chamber 122.

In the discharge process of the waste lithium battery 10, the wastewater in which the metal lithium of the waste lithium battery 10 is dissolved is collected by the wastewater collector 126. Lithium is recovered from the wastewater thus collected. Meanwhile, after the discharged spent lithium batteries 10 are dried, the dried waste lithium batteries 10 may be aligned and supplied to the cutter 130.

Thereafter, the both ends of the waste lithium battery 10 are cut in the width direction by the cutter 130, while the center of the discharged lithium battery 10 is cut in the longitudinal direction and discharged to the decomposing unit 106. Before discharging to the decomposing unit 106, the cut waste lithium battery 10 may be re-cut for easy disassembly and re-discharges the positive lead, the negative lead, the separator and the like of the cut waste lithium battery 10. Can be.

Thereafter, in the disintegrating unit 106, the battery case and the cathode material of the stainless steel may be separated from the cut waste lithium battery 10. Subsequently, after recovering nickel, which constitutes the current collector, from the separated cathode material, the valuable metal can be recovered by dissolving the separated cathode material and recovering nickel.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, this is merely exemplary, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. Could be. Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

1 is a block diagram showing a waste lithium battery processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view for explaining an example in which a perforated lithium battery is perforated by a perforator.

3A and 3B are side views for explaining an example in which the waste lithium battery is cut by a cutter in FIG. 1.

<Brief description of the major symbols in the drawings>

10.Lithium lithium battery 110.Perforation machine

120. Discharger 121. Discharge pallet

122. Discharge Chamber 123 Discharge Conveyor

124. Liquid injectors 125. Gas scrubbers

126 .. wastewater collector 130 .. cutter

Claims (7)

A perforator for drilling holes in both sides of the lithium battery in order to correspond to the positive terminal and the negative terminal, respectively; Discharging the perforated waste lithium battery by the perforator, receiving the perforated waste lithium battery and immersing it in a discharging liquid containing a surfactant and water, and receiving and receiving the discharging pallet A discharger having a discharge chamber and a discharge conveyor for transferring the discharge pallet in the discharge chamber; And A cutter for cutting both ends of the waste lithium battery discharged from the discharger in the width direction, and cutting the center of the discharged lithium battery in the longitudinal direction; Waste lithium battery processing apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 1, The discharger is: A liquid injector for injecting a discharging liquid containing a surfactant and water toward the discharging pallet in the discharging chamber to reduce generation of toxic gases in the discharging process of the waste lithium battery in the discharging chamber; A gas scrubber for removing toxic gases generated during a discharge process of a waste lithium battery, and And a wastewater collector for collecting wastewater in which metal lithium of the waste lithium battery is dissolved in a discharge process of the waste lithium battery. Perforating holes in turn on both side surfaces corresponding to the positive electrode terminal and the negative electrode terminal in the supplied waste lithium battery; Discharging the perforated waste lithium battery while being immersed in a discharging liquid containing a surfactant and water; Cutting both ends of the discharged waste lithium battery in the width direction, and cutting the center of the discharged waste lithium battery in the longitudinal direction; Waste lithium battery treatment method comprising a. The method of claim 3, Discharging the waste lithium battery is: Spraying a discharge liquid containing a surfactant and water toward the waste lithium battery to reduce the generation of toxic gases during the discharge of the waste lithium battery; Removing toxic gases generated during the discharge of the spent lithium battery; And The waste lithium battery treatment method further comprising the step of collecting the waste water in which the metal lithium of the waste lithium battery is dissolved in the discharge process of the waste lithium battery. The method according to claim 3 or 4, Discharging the waste lithium battery is: A waste lithium battery processing method comprising discharging waste lithium batteries while transferring them in a plurality of layers having different heights. The method of claim 5, After cutting the waste lithium battery: Separating a case and a cathode of stainless steel from the cut waste lithium battery; First recovering nickel constituting the current collector from the separated positive electrode; And The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of dissolving nickel first to recover the nickel. The method of claim 3, Cutting the waste lithium battery is: A method of treating a waste lithium battery, characterized by firmly fixing both ends of the waste lithium battery in the process of cutting the center of the waste lithium battery in a longitudinal direction, thereby suppressing the explosion of the waste lithium battery and preventing the progress of the explosion.

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