How online elemental analysis can solve battery recycling sustainability issues

by Umesh Tiwari, Thursday, 22nd August 2024

There’s no doubt that batteries are the future: renewable energy can power any application by making it possible to store electricity from any source. However, batteries currently have their own sustainability issues. Long-life batteries, such as those used in electric vehicles (EVs), use materials that are expensive, difficult to extract, and can be harmful to the environment if disposed of improperly.

Hence, battery recycling is a compelling way forward. When discharged and crushed, the “black mass” extracted from EV batteries retains the valuable metals used in their manufacture, such as nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum, and copper.

What is the black mass of a battery?

Black Mass, a powdery extract from crushed lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion batteries, is essentially a concentrated form of cathode material that’s rich in valuable metals like nickel, cobalt, and manganese. These metals can be recovered through hydrometallurgical or pyrometallurgical processes. Precisely determining the metal content within the black mass is vital for optimizing the recovery process and ensuring its efficiency. 

Unlike LFP batteries, NMC batteries have diverse compositions, including variants like 622, 811, 111, 333, and 532. The black mass recovered from spent lithium-ion batteries is highly inconsistent in composition, making traditional laboratory analysis through sampling a challenge.

What is the black mass recovery process?

The first step in the battery recycling process – shredding – separates components such as copper and aluminum foil, leaving the black mass as residual waste. The next step is a hydrometallurgical process called “leaching,” where the black mass is dissolved in a strong acid. This releases a mixture of metals that must be separated.

A variety of techniques are used to achieve this separation, such as solvent extraction, ion exchange and precipitation. That’s because each element has different chemical properties, so it requires a specific technique to extract it from the black mass. Doing this efficiently is critical, as the separation is followed by further purification processes to ensure that the recovered metals meet battery quality standards.

If the separation is done incorrectly, it can mean that more extensive purification is required or that the quality of the recovered metals cannot be restored – resulting in additional costs and lost revenue. So how can manufacturers optimize the separation process?

The power of online elemental analysis

The secret to optimizing black mass recovery is to identify its elemental composition as accurately as possible. With a deeper understanding of the elements that make up the black mass, the separation steps can be adjusted accordingly. For example, if there’s a lot of nickel in the battery’s black mass, it will be more efficient to increase the use of some separation techniques and decrease the use of others.

However, laboratory analysis by sampling isn’t up to the challenge. Because of the inconsistency of the black mass, no guarantee extracted samples are representative of the whole.

That’s where the CNA Pentos online elemental analyzer comes in.

Equipped with the unique D-T PFTNA electric neutron generator, the CNA Pentos enables direct bulk measurement of the incoming black mass, ensuring representative results. This means that separation steps can be fully optimized according to the composition of the black mass, reducing costs and increasing confidence in the quality of the final product.

Further benefits of the CNA Pentos

By removing sampling and laboratory analysis from the equation, the CNA Pentos can handle high throughput without the need for costly sampling equipment and laboratory staff. When placed online, operators don’t need to approach the process line for high-precision elemental analysis, which means greater safety for on-site personnel. That’s why the CNA Pentos is a great solution to the challenges of battery sustainability!

Learn more about the CNA Pentos – head to its product page!

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