3242 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
(TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany), as the
feed size would have been too large for the final shred-
der. All cells were subjected to a high-speed, single-shaft
rotary shear (Universal Granulator UG300, Andritz MeWa
GmbH Gechingen, Germany), with a discharge grid of
20 mm. Afterwards the cells were dried for 14 days at room
temperature in a fume cupboard to separate the highly
volatile components. Next, the material was screened at
1 mm using an EML 450 sieve machine (Haver &Boecker
OHG, Oelde, Germany) to separate the first black mass.
The fraction greater than 1 mm was then air classified with
a 120° Zig-Zag Air Classifier (ZZAC) (TU Bergakademie
Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany) with 9 stages. Here, set-
tling velocity distributions of the material were recorded.
At 2 m/s a separator fraction as light product was gained.
The material in the fraction greater than 6.4 m/s made up
the casing fraction. The third fraction, the electrode mix-
ture, was crushed again in a high-speed rotary-impact-mill
(Turborotor Görgens G-35S, Dormagen, Germany) to fur-
ther delaminate the electrodes and reshape them to more
spherical particles. To recover the liberated coating a sec-
ond classification at 0.5 mm was performed. The remaining
electrode mix (x 0.5 mm) was sifted in the same ZZAC
to create settling velocity distributions and to separate at
4.7 m/s aluminium particles as lighter fraction from copper
particles as heavier fraction.
To identify the composition of the settling velocity
fractions manual sorting was applied using tweezers. Black
mass 1 was analyzed in the fraction of 0–1000 µm and black
mass 2 in 0–500 µm for the elements Al, Co, Cu, Fe, Li,
Mn, Ni and P. The threefold determination was carried out
by ICP-OES (iCAP 6300, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Waltham, MA, USA) after digestion with inverse aqua regia
in a Multiwave 7000 (Anton Paar GmbH, Graz, Austria).
Calculations
The mass distribution (wi) of the different components
in the different cell types was calculated by dividing the
mass of each component (mComponent) by the total cell mass
(mTotal).
wi m
m
Total
Component =(1)
Using Equation (2) it was possible to calculate the com-
ponent recovery (Rc) into the different products (separa-
tor, electrodes, and casing). Therefore, the mass of the
Figure 2. Process scheme for investigated cell types
(TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany), as the
feed size would have been too large for the final shred-
der. All cells were subjected to a high-speed, single-shaft
rotary shear (Universal Granulator UG300, Andritz MeWa
GmbH Gechingen, Germany), with a discharge grid of
20 mm. Afterwards the cells were dried for 14 days at room
temperature in a fume cupboard to separate the highly
volatile components. Next, the material was screened at
1 mm using an EML 450 sieve machine (Haver &Boecker
OHG, Oelde, Germany) to separate the first black mass.
The fraction greater than 1 mm was then air classified with
a 120° Zig-Zag Air Classifier (ZZAC) (TU Bergakademie
Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany) with 9 stages. Here, set-
tling velocity distributions of the material were recorded.
At 2 m/s a separator fraction as light product was gained.
The material in the fraction greater than 6.4 m/s made up
the casing fraction. The third fraction, the electrode mix-
ture, was crushed again in a high-speed rotary-impact-mill
(Turborotor Görgens G-35S, Dormagen, Germany) to fur-
ther delaminate the electrodes and reshape them to more
spherical particles. To recover the liberated coating a sec-
ond classification at 0.5 mm was performed. The remaining
electrode mix (x 0.5 mm) was sifted in the same ZZAC
to create settling velocity distributions and to separate at
4.7 m/s aluminium particles as lighter fraction from copper
particles as heavier fraction.
To identify the composition of the settling velocity
fractions manual sorting was applied using tweezers. Black
mass 1 was analyzed in the fraction of 0–1000 µm and black
mass 2 in 0–500 µm for the elements Al, Co, Cu, Fe, Li,
Mn, Ni and P. The threefold determination was carried out
by ICP-OES (iCAP 6300, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Waltham, MA, USA) after digestion with inverse aqua regia
in a Multiwave 7000 (Anton Paar GmbH, Graz, Austria).
Calculations
The mass distribution (wi) of the different components
in the different cell types was calculated by dividing the
mass of each component (mComponent) by the total cell mass
(mTotal).
wi m
m
Total
Component =(1)
Using Equation (2) it was possible to calculate the com-
ponent recovery (Rc) into the different products (separa-
tor, electrodes, and casing). Therefore, the mass of the
Figure 2. Process scheme for investigated cell types