Positive Electrode Foil Crushing and Recycling Equipment

1. Description of Waste Lithium Battery

Lithium-ion batteries (hereinafter referred to as lithium batteries) have rapidly occupied the power source market of portable electronic and electrical equipment since their commercialization due to their significant advantages such as high voltage, large specific capacity, long life and no memory effect, and the output has increased year by year. Lithium batteries are electronic consumables with a service life of about 3 years. After the end of life, if the lithium battery is not properly disposed of, the lithium hexafluorophosphate, carbonate organic compounds, cobalt, copper and other heavy metals contained in it will inevitably pose a potential pollution threat to the environment. On the other hand, cobalt, lithium, copper and plastics in waste lithium batteries are valuable resources with high recycling value. Therefore, the scientific and effective treatment and disposal of waste lithium batteries not only has significant environmental benefits, but also has good economic benefits. Lithium batteries are mainly composed of shell, positive electrode, negative electrode, electrolyte and separator. The cathode is composed of lithium cobalt oxide powder coated on both sides of the aluminum foil current collector through PVDF that plays a binding role. The structure of the negative electrode is similar to that of the positive electrode, consisting of toner powder bonded to both sides of the copper foil current collector. Based on the structural characteristics of the cathode of lithium batteries, the company adopts the combined process of crushing and screening and airflow sorting to separate and enrich them, so as to realize the separation and recovery of aluminum and black powder of the cathode of waste lithium batteries.

2. Working Principle of Waste Lithium Battery Cathode Foil Equipment

Based on the cathode structure of lithium batteries and the material characteristics of aluminum and positive materials, the combined process of hammer crushing, vibrating screening and airflow separation was used to separate and recycle the positive materials of waste lithium batteries. ICP-AES was used to analyze the metal grade of the experimental samples and separate the enriched products. The results show that after crushing and screening, the grade of aluminum in the crushed material with a particle size greater than 0.250 mm is 92.4%, and the grade of the cathode material in the crushed material with a particle size of less than 0.125 mm is 96.6%, which can be directly recovered. In the crushed material with a particle size of 0.125~0.250 mm, the grade of aluminum is low, and the effective separation and recovery of aluminum and cathode materials can be achieved through airflow separation. During the airflow separation, the recovery rate of aluminum was 92.3% and the grade was 84.4% at an operating airflow velocity of 1.00 m/s.

3. Characteristics of Waste Lithium Battery Cathode Foil Equipment

 A). Through the combined process of hammer vibration crushing, vibrating screening and airflow separation, the resource utilization of metal aluminum and cathode materials in the cathode materials of waste lithium batteries can be realized.

 B). The cathode material can effectively realize the mutual peeling between the toner aluminum foil after hammer vibration crushing, and then the aluminum foil and the cathode material can be preliminarily separated by vibrating sieve based on the size difference and shape difference between the particles. The results of hammer vibration stripping and screening showed that the aluminum and cathode materials were enriched in the particle size range of more than 0.250 mm and less than 0.125 mm, respectively, with grades as high as 92.4% and 96.6%, respectively, which could be directly sent to downstream enterprises for recycling.

C). For the crushed particles with a particle size of 0.125~0.250 mm and low aluminum grade, the effective separation between aluminum and cathode materials can be achieved by air separation, and a good recovery effect can be achieved when the air velocity is 1.00 m/s, and the recovery rate of aluminum can reach 92.3% and the grade can reach 84.4%.

D). The equipment is mainly used by lithium-ion battery manufacturers to separate the cathode materials in the scrapped cathode sheet for the purpose of recycling. The complete set of equipment operates in the negative pressure state, no dust diarrhea, and the separation efficiency can reach more than 98%.

4.  Process of the Crushing System of the Positive Electrode Foil

The scrapped cathode foil enters the special crusher for crushing, and the material enters the analyzer for initial sorting after crushing, and the metal and black powder mixture enters the linear screen for screening, and the upper layer produces metal aluminum, the lower layer produces the positive electrode powder, and the middle layer produces a mixture of metal aluminum and positive electrode powder, and the mixture enters the grinder for grinding, and the material enters the aggregate and is discharged into the rotary vibrating screen for screening.

5. Diagram of the Process Flow of Cathode Foil Treatment

A). Crusher: crush the material after air separation.

B). Analytical machine: the crushed material is separated by winnowing.

C). Airflow separator: the materials sorted by the analyzer are screened, and the metal materials and positive powder are sorted separately.

D). Grinding machine: The mixture of metal and black powder in the air flow separator is entered into the grinding machine for grinding, and part of the black powder is stripped of the coiled metal.

E). Aggregate: collect and discharge the powder.

F). Rotary vibrating screen: the ground material is screened.

G). Pulse purifier: collect and discharge the dust generated during the operation of the whole set of equipment.

6. Main Configurations

Our engineering team can walk you through the design process and help you choose the suitable integrated solution for the scrapped lithium battery that best fits your needs and at a price that will fit your budget. Please contact us for more information and obtain quotation concerning your request.