A Combined Pyro- and Hydrometallurgical Approach to Recycle Pyrolyzed Lithium-Ion Battery Black Mass Part 2: Lithium Recovery from Li Enriched Slag—Thermodynamic Study, Kinetic Study, and Dry Digestion

Due to the increasing demand for battery raw materials, such as cobalt, nickel, manganese, and lithium, the extraction of these metals, not only from primary, but also from secondary sources, is becoming increasingly important. Spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) represent a potential source of raw materials. One possible approach for an optimized recovery of valuable metals from spent LIBs is a combined pyro- and hydrometallurgical process. The generation of mixed cobalt, nickel, and copper alloy and lithium slag as intermediate products in an electric arc furnace is investigated in part 1. Hydrometallurgical recovery of lithium from the Li slag is investigated in part 2 of this article. Kinetic study has shown that the leaching of slag in H2SO4 takes place according to the 3-dimensional diffusion model and the activation energy is 22–24 kJ/mol. Leaching of the silicon from slag is causing formation of gels, which complicates filtration and further recovery of lithium from solutions. The thermodynamic study presented in the work describes the reasons for the formation of gels and the possibilities of their prevention by SiO2 precipitation. Based on these findings, the Li slag was treated by the dry digestion (DD) method followed by dissolution in water. The silicon leaching efficiency was significantly reduced from 50% in the direct leaching experiment to 5% in the DD experiment followed by dissolution, while the high leaching efficiency of lithium was maintained. The study takes into account the preparation of solutions for the future trouble-free acquisition of marketable products from solutions.

Investigation of mercury pollution in hornbeam trees of green space in industrial park area

The heavy metal mercury among other toxic metals can accumulate in plant organs in large quantities toxic to humans. Carpinus betulus is a most species from Caspian hyrcanian Mixed Forests, in this research it was studied that how much mercury absorbed from the environment . Twenty five trees were randomly selected, and the distances between trees(Hornbeam) were 10 to 15 meters in industrial park in North of Iran . From each tree selected, 15 grams leaves and 15 grams root were harvested with horticultural scissors and 15 g of soil from 30 cm depth. Four stations were selected near steel factory. A control station, located 2 km from the steel factory was selected and three stations were located near the steel factory. Samples of leaves, soil and roots are prepared after encoding, placed in paper envelopes and transferred to the lab. The amount of mercury in plant samples was prepared by dry digestion with atomic absorption spectroscopy. To compare the effect of mercury concentration on leaf and stem and root, Tukey's test was used. The average concentration of mercury in soil is 0.96 mg / kg, root 0.551 mg / kg, leaf 0.28 mg / kg. With increasing mercury, observed in the amount of leaf chlorophyll content is decreased. According to conducted investigations in study the Carpinus betulus tree can be concluded that the accumulation amount of heavy metal, mercury, and hornbeam is suitable for absorbing the contamination of mercury of soil pollution

Soil Fertilization and Texture on Boron Accumulation and Wood Volume in Corymbia citriodora (Hook) K.D. Hill & L.A.S Johnson

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of soil fertilization and texture on leaf Boron (B) accumulation and its relation with wood volume of Corymbia citriodora Hill & Johnson. The experiment was set in randomized block with four replications, four B fertilization levels (0, 1.1, 2.2 and 4.4 g.plant-1) in two soils types (sandy and clayey). To determine leaf B content, 25 leaves were collected from the median portion of four trees for each treatment. Leaves were dried on oven and B content was determined by the Azomethine-H method using extract obtained by dry digestion. The diameter at breast height and the total height of 25 trees were collected in all treatments and wood volume was calculated. Data were submitted to analysis of variance and the means adjusted to regression equations. The regression coefficients were evaluated by t-test at 1 and 5% probability. It was verified that clay soil produces more wood, compared to sandy soil. There was a gain increase in foliar B as B doses increased in both soil types. Leaf B affected Corymbia citriodora productivity only in clay soil.

Dry Anaerobic Digestion of Food and Paper Industry Wastes at Different Solid Contents

A large volume of food is being wasted every year, while the pulp and paper industry also generate a large amount of solid wastes on a daily basis, causing environmental challenges around the world. Dry anaerobic digestion (AD) of these solid wastes is a cost-effective method for proper management. However, dry digestion of these waste streams has been restricted due to their complex structure, the presence of possible inhibitors and inappropriate operating conditions. In light of this fact, dry digestion of food waste (FW) and paper wastes (PW) was conducted at different total solid (TS) concentrations of reactor mixtures of 14%, 16%, 18% and 20% TS, corresponding to substrate to inoculum (S/I) ratio of 0.5 and 1; investigating the optimum operating conditions for effective dry digestion of these complex wastes. The highest methane yields of 402 NmlCH4/gVS and 229 NmlCH4/gVS were obtained from digestion of FW and PW, respectively at 14%TS corresponding to an S/I ratio of 0.5. Increasing the S/I ratio from 0.5 to 1 and thereby having a TS content of 20% in the reactor mixtures was unfavorable to the digestion of both substrates.