XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 3271
sorting. Prior to the first crushing, it is essential to discharge
the batteries in order to avoid hazards like thermal run-
away or explosion (Kaas et al., 2023, Werner et al., 2022).
Afterwards the LIBs are subjected to the first crushing. In
order to remove the high volatile electrolyte components,
the batteries can be dried at different temperatures from
22–120°C (Werner et al., 2022, Wilke et al., 2023b).
Despite the temperatures above room temperature, this
recycling process is known as the cold route (Sommerville
et al., 2021). After drying, the shredded material, which
still contains the low volatile components of the electrolyte,
is classified at 1 mm to obtain the liberated coating of the
electrode foils. The fraction obtained is referred to as black
mass 1 (Figure 7 b -left). It depends on the process design,
whether the size cut of the screening step is set to 1 mm,
800 µm or below. This is always a tradeoff between yield
and product quality. In general, the black mass can con-
tain not only the coating of the foils, but also impurities
of the conductor foils (Wilke et al., 2023b). The separator
foil and the battery casing are obtained from the metal/
plastic mixture after classification using a zig-zag separator
(Kaas et al., 2022a). Figure 7 b shows the main products
from left to the right: black mass, casing materials (Al, Fe),
separator foil (PE, PP), Cathode foil (Al) and anode foil
(Cu). The separation takes place in a two-stage process.
As the current collector foils are not completely liberated,
the electrodes show a similar settling velocity distribution
(Wuschke, 2018). Therefore, the foils have to be further
treated in order to regain the remaining coating and achieve
a sufficient difference of the settling velocities. By subject-
ing the electrode mix to a high impact mill, the coating is
liberated and the foils are reshaped to more spherical parti-
cles. For this purpose, a high impact rotor mill (Lyon et al.,
2022) or a hammer mill (Wuschke, 2018) can be applied.
A further classification is carried out at 500 µm or 315 µm
to recover the detached coating. The resulting product is
called black mass 2. The overall black mass consists of both
black masses obtained, which is then send to hydromet-
allurgical treatment to regain further components. There
are also approaches to apply flotation to recover graphite
Figure 7. Flow-sheet of the mechanical recycling process of Li-ion batteries developed at the Technical University Freiberg
based on (Wuschke, 2018)
sorting. Prior to the first crushing, it is essential to discharge
the batteries in order to avoid hazards like thermal run-
away or explosion (Kaas et al., 2023, Werner et al., 2022).
Afterwards the LIBs are subjected to the first crushing. In
order to remove the high volatile electrolyte components,
the batteries can be dried at different temperatures from
22–120°C (Werner et al., 2022, Wilke et al., 2023b).
Despite the temperatures above room temperature, this
recycling process is known as the cold route (Sommerville
et al., 2021). After drying, the shredded material, which
still contains the low volatile components of the electrolyte,
is classified at 1 mm to obtain the liberated coating of the
electrode foils. The fraction obtained is referred to as black
mass 1 (Figure 7 b -left). It depends on the process design,
whether the size cut of the screening step is set to 1 mm,
800 µm or below. This is always a tradeoff between yield
and product quality. In general, the black mass can con-
tain not only the coating of the foils, but also impurities
of the conductor foils (Wilke et al., 2023b). The separator
foil and the battery casing are obtained from the metal/
plastic mixture after classification using a zig-zag separator
(Kaas et al., 2022a). Figure 7 b shows the main products
from left to the right: black mass, casing materials (Al, Fe),
separator foil (PE, PP), Cathode foil (Al) and anode foil
(Cu). The separation takes place in a two-stage process.
As the current collector foils are not completely liberated,
the electrodes show a similar settling velocity distribution
(Wuschke, 2018). Therefore, the foils have to be further
treated in order to regain the remaining coating and achieve
a sufficient difference of the settling velocities. By subject-
ing the electrode mix to a high impact mill, the coating is
liberated and the foils are reshaped to more spherical parti-
cles. For this purpose, a high impact rotor mill (Lyon et al.,
2022) or a hammer mill (Wuschke, 2018) can be applied.
A further classification is carried out at 500 µm or 315 µm
to recover the detached coating. The resulting product is
called black mass 2. The overall black mass consists of both
black masses obtained, which is then send to hydromet-
allurgical treatment to regain further components. There
are also approaches to apply flotation to recover graphite
Figure 7. Flow-sheet of the mechanical recycling process of Li-ion batteries developed at the Technical University Freiberg
based on (Wuschke, 2018)