Potential Contribution of Secondary Materials to Overall Supply - The Example of the European Cobalt Cycle

2019 ◽  
Vol 959 ◽  
pp. 11-21
Author(s):  
Simon Glöser-Chahoud ◽  
Frank Schultmann
Keyword(s):  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Electronic Equipment ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Material Recycling ◽  
Material Recovery ◽  
Current State ◽  
Battery Packs ◽  
Supply Risks ◽  
Secondary Materials

Higher efficiency in raw material recycling is discussed as a key strategy to decrease the environmental impact of resource consumption and to improve materials’ availability in order to mitigate supply risks. However, particularly in the case of technology metals, demand is driven by specific emerging technologies from which recycling will not be possible before the end of their useful lifetimes. Hence, the availability of secondary materials is limited by the amount of obsolete products as well as their collection, separation and treatment during waste management and recycling. In this paper, we present the results of a dynamic material flow model for cobalt as a key raw material for lithium-ion batteries at an European level (EU28). This model aims at quantifying the current state of recycling and future recycling potentials from end-of-life (EoL) product flows. While it is expectable that obsolete large battery packs from (hybrid) electric vehicles will be efficiently collected in future, EoL Li-ion battery flows will remain dominated by smaller electronic equipment (smartphones, laptops etc.) in the coming years and the model results show a significant potential for improvements in collection and material recovery from EoL batteries in Europe. A major challenge will be the collection of smaller batteries and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in general from which a significant share of total European cobalt demand could be recovered in the coming years.

Resource efficiency in deinked pulp production: a review

TAPPI Journal ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 37-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
LIISA KOTANEN ◽  
MIKA KÖRKKÖ ◽  
ARI ÄMMÄLÄ ◽  
JOUKO NIINIMÄKI
Keyword(s):  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Resource Efficiency ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Ecological Strategy ◽  
Recycled Paper ◽  
Paper Production ◽  
Recycled Pulp ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Pulp Production

The use of recovered paper as a raw material for paper production is by far the most economical and ecological strategy for the disposal of waste paper. However, paper production from recovered paper furnish generates a great amount of residues, and the higher the demand requirements for the end product, the higher the amount of rejected material. The reason for this is that the selectivity of the deinking process is limited; therefore, some valuable components are also lost in reject streams. The rejection of usable components affects the economics of recycled paper production. As the cost of waste disposal continues to increase, this issue is becoming more and more severe. This paper summarizes the current state of the resource efficiency in recycled pulp production and provides information on the volumes of rejected streams and the usable material within them. Various means to use these reject streams are also discussed, including the main findings of a recent thesis by the main author. This review summarizes current internal and external use of reject streams generated in the deinking operations.

scholarly journals Separation and Efficient Recovery of Lithium from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries

Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1091
Author(s):  
Eva Gerold ◽  
Stefan Luidold ◽  
Helmut Antrekowitsch
Keyword(s):  
Lithium Ion Batteries ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Sodium Phosphate ◽  
Room Temperature ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Potassium Phosphate ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Rechargeable Batteries ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Efficient Recovery

The consumption of lithium has increased dramatically in recent years. This can be primarily attributed to its use in lithium-ion batteries for the operation of hybrid and electric vehicles. Due to its specific properties, lithium will also continue to be an indispensable key component for rechargeable batteries in the next decades. An average lithium-ion battery contains 5–7% of lithium. These values indicate that used rechargeable batteries are a high-quality raw material for lithium recovery. Currently, the feasibility and reasonability of the hydrometallurgical recycling of lithium from spent lithium-ion batteries is still a field of research. This work is intended to compare the classic method of the precipitation of lithium from synthetic and real pregnant leaching liquors gained from spent lithium-ion batteries with sodium carbonate (state of the art) with alternative precipitation agents such as sodium phosphate and potassium phosphate. Furthermore, the correlation of the obtained product to the used type of phosphate is comprised. In addition, the influence of the process temperature (room temperature to boiling point), as well as the stoichiometric factor of the precipitant, is investigated in order to finally enable a statement about an efficient process, its parameter and the main dependencies.

scholarly journals Forecast of International Trade of Lithium Carbonate Products in Importing Countries and Small-Scale Exporting Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1251
Author(s):  
Yichi Zhang ◽  
Zhiliang Dong ◽  
Sen Liu ◽  
Peixiang Jiang ◽  
Cuizhi Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Prediction Method ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Lithium Carbonate ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
Energy Field ◽  
Structure Of Trade

As the raw material of lithium-ion batteries, lithium carbonate plays an important role in the development of new energy field. Due to the extremely uneven distribution of lithium resources in the world, the security of supply in countries with less say would be greatly threatened if trade restrictions or other accidents occurred in large-scale exporting countries. It is of great significance to help these countries find new partners based on the existing trade topology. This study uses the link prediction method, based on the perspective of the topological structure of trade networks in various countries and trade rules, and eliminates the influence of large-scale lithium carbonate exporting countries on the lithium carbonate trade of other countries, to find potential lithium carbonate trade links among importing and small-scale exporting countries, and summarizes three trade rules: (1) in potential relationships involving two net importers, a relationship involving either China or the Netherlands is more likely to occur; (2) for all potential relationships, a relationship that actually occurred for more than two years in the period in 2009–2018 is more likely to occur in the future; and (3) potential relationships pairing a net exporter with a net importer are more likely to occur than other country combinations. The results show that over the next five to six years, Denmark and Italy, Netherlands and South Africa, Turkey and USA are most likely to have a lithium carbonate trading relationship, while Slovenia and USA, and Belgium and Thailand are the least likely to trade lithium carbonate. Through this study, we can strengthen the supply security of lithium carbonate resources in international trade, and provide international trade policy recommendations for the governments of importing countries and small-scale exporting countries.

Enhancing thermal safety in lithium-ion battery packs through parallel cell ‘current dumping’ mitigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 286 ◽  
pp. 116495
Author(s):  
Samuel T. Plunkett ◽  
Chengxiu Chen ◽  
Ramin Rojaee ◽  
Patrick Doherty ◽  
Yun Sik Oh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lithium Ion Battery ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Thermal Safety ◽  
Battery Packs ◽  
Cell Current

scholarly journals The COOL-Process—A Selective Approach for Recycling Lithium Batteries

Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 259
Author(s):  
Sandra Pavón ◽  
Doreen Kaiser ◽  
Robert Mende ◽  
Martin Bertau
Keyword(s):  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Mass Ratio ◽  
Reaction Conditions ◽  
Cool Process ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Selective Approach ◽  
Valuable Metals ◽  
Housing Materials

The global market of lithium-ion batteries (LIB) has been growing in recent years, mainly owed to electromobility. The global LIB market is forecasted to amount to $129.3 billion in 2027. Considering the global reserves needed to produce these batteries and their limited lifetime, efficient recycling processes for secondary sources are mandatory. A selective process for Li recycling from LIB black mass is described. Depending on the process parameters Li was recovered almost quantitatively by the COOL-Process making use of the selective leaching properties of supercritical CO2/water. Optimization of this direct carbonization process was carried out by a design of experiments (DOE) using a 33 Box-Behnken design. Optimal reaction conditions were 230 °C, 4 h, and a water:black mass ratio of 90 mL/g, yielding 98.6 ± 0.19 wt.% Li. Almost quantitative yield (99.05 ± 0.64 wt.%), yet at the expense of higher energy consumption, was obtained with 230 °C, 4 h, and a water:black mass ratio of 120 mL/g. Mainly Li and Al were mobilized, which allows for selectively precipitating Li2CO3 in battery grade-quality (>99.8 wt.%) without the need for further refining. Valuable metals, such as Co, Cu, Fe, Ni, and Mn, remained in the solid residue (97.7 wt.%), from where they are recovered by established processes. Housing materials were separated mechanically, thus recycling LIB without residues. This holistic zero waste-approach allows for recovering the critical raw material Li from both primary and secondary sources.

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