Lithium-ion battery recyclers and Hydromet processors can think like recyclers but must act like chemical plants. This is especially true for operator safety and environmental emissions. That’s the focus of my presentation at the Battery Show in Detroit this October 12-15.
I’ll be discussing chemical “industry-level” engineering design, safety protocols, and environmental controls with hazard and operability studies to prevent accidents and ensure process safety during operations.
After all, the lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) value chain is a complex process from recycling to the downstream hydromet processes. The steps include deep-discharging, shredding/granulating, black mass drying, electrolyte recovery with gas treatment, classification and sorting of black mass, copper, aluminum, plastic and ferrous metals and finally the hydromet process to produce battery grade materials.
Many hazards exist including exposure to combustible dust and flammable, corrosive, and toxic electrolytes. I’ll address these in my presentation, but the following is a short overview of what to expect.
The Chemical Plant Thinking Process
Each type of plant handles solids emissions (dust such as ferrous, non-ferrous metals and plastics), liquid emissions (wastewater, electrolyte and solvents), and gaseous emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and acid gases (hydrofluoric acid). These emissions each present serious safety risks.
To manage these hazards, operators should begin with comprehensive hazard and operability studies (HAZOPs) and process hazard analyses (PHAs) during the early design stages. These assessments, involving multiple disciplines, help integrate safety into every part of the process—often encompassing up to 25 unit operations.
Dust forms during shredding, granulating, drying, sorting, and packaging. Metal and plastic dust from shredding is highly combustible, particularly with lithium. Conducting these processes in inert nitrogen environments or using wet shredding eliminates ignition risk. Engineers must gather data on dust characteristics and follow ASTM E1226 testing and NFPA 660 standards to design proper containment systems.
The electrolytes used which are typically flammable, toxic, and corrosive must be characterized and safely managed. Recycling processes require systems to meet OSHA, NFPA, and VOC emission standards.
Additional safety measures include explosion-proof electrical systems, fire suppression, PPE, labeling, and operator training as well as involving experienced chemical engineers. Adopt a holistic safety culture for successful, incident-free battery recycling operations.
Perlmutter & Idea Development provides the designs and approaches for safe and reliable processes with the required environmental controls. Let me know if you will be attending, and we can plan to meet. If not, contact us to schedule a Think Like a Chemical Plant education session at your facility.