MoLIBity

Project long title

Development of a functional recycling process for Lithium-ion traction batteries from mobility applications

Molibity Projektlogo

 

Project description

The high market penetration of lithium-ion traction batteries (LITB) combined with steadily increasing production results in a high disposal rate of End-of-Life LITB (EoL-LITB). EoL-LITB waste generation is expected to increase to 85 % of the annually calculated battery waste of 18.000 tonnes Lithium-Ion batteries in Austria by 2030 (Beigl et al., 2021).

Compliance with the element-specific Li ≥ 50 % from 2027, ≥ 80 % from 2031; Ni, Co ≥ 90 % from 2027, ≥ 95 % from 2031) and mass-based (≥ 65 % from 2027, 70 % from 2031)  recycling quotas of the EU Battery Regulation is based on two pillars: (1) processing of the increasing volumes of production waste (e.g. from cell production) in the short to medium term, (2) recycling of high volumes of EoL-LITB in the long term (EU-Commission, 2020; Neef et al., 2021).

Together with research institutions and industrial partners, the Chair of Waste Processing Technology and Waste Management (AVAW) of the Montanuniversität Leoben uses the opportunity to enhance the transformation from waste disposal to production of recyclates and raw materials.

To achieve the recycling quotas of the EU Battery Regulation the project MoLIBity focuses on improving the process route for recycling LITB and production waste. The LIBRES-process for recycling production waste will be further developed to recover polymer-based materials, active material and conductor foils with less than 5 % impurities. The most recent stage of the LITB production design, incorporating the newest technologies, ideas and features will be validated by evaluating the design of recycling. In addition, the recovery of valuable metals will be improved by further developing the post-treatment of the COOL-Process and hydrometallurgy to reach an element-specific purity of Li ≥ 99 wt%; Ni, Co ≥ 99,5 wt%. To measure the quality and quantity of the improved recycling steps, a screening analysis for the input and output material will be developed. The final evaluation and validation of the entire recycling process will result in a criticality analysis for LIB-relevant raw materials and intermediate products by deriving recommendations for action in the sense of the EU Roadmap Battery 2023 (Figure).

Molibity Verfahrensablauf Englisch

Process route for recycling EoL-LITB and production waste

  

Aims of the project

  • Determine the Design of Recycling by carrying out a pre-treatment analysis (identification, discharge and disassembly) with the formulation of recommendations for industry and waste management regarding the content of recyclables, safety and reuseability
  • Refine the input characterization of EoL-LITB by developing a screening method for the cell chemistry resulting in a time and cost-effective chemical analysis
  • Increase the influx of critical raw materials by refining the output characterization of EoL-LITB and examining black mass produced via different process routes developing a reliable quantitative and qualitative analysis method
  • Identify and integrate the potential of further consumable materials through continuous zero-waste analysis by validating the functional closed-loop recycling

 

Funding

Ffg Logo De Rgb 1500px Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft (FFG)

 

Project partner

Boku  2  Universität für Bodenkultur

Molibity Fraunhofer Austria Fraunhofer Austria

Molibity Fraunhofer Itks Fraunhofer IKTS

Saubermacher 2 Saubermacher Dienstleistungs AG

Treibacher Treibacher Industrie AG

 

Publications

Beigl et. al. (2021) Beigl, Peter; Scherhaufer, Silvia; Part, Florian; Jandric, Aleksander; Salhofer, Stefan; Nigl, Thomas; Altendorfer, Michael; Rutrecht, Bettina; Pomberger, Roland; Meyer, Ina; Sommer, Mark: Entwicklung einer Wertschöpfungskette für das Recycling von Lithium-Ionen-Batterien (LIB) in Österreich, Zero Emission Mobility, Wien, 2021

Neef et al. (2021) Neef, Christoph; Schmaltz, Thomas, Thielmann, Axel: Recycling von Lithium-Ionen-Batterien: Chancen und Herausforderungen für den Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, 2021, Karlsruhe, Fraunhofer Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI

EU Commission (2020) EU Critical raw materials 2020, single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu, zuletzt aufgerufen am 16.09.2022. https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/raw-materials/areas-specific-interest/critical-raw-materials_en. Verordnung des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates über Batterien und Altbatterien, zur Aufhebung der Richtlinie 2006/66/EG und zur Änderung der Verordnung (EU) 2019/1020, 2020, Brüssel. Grüner Deal - Nachhaltige Batterien für eine kreislauforientierte und klimaneutrale Wirtschaft, 2020, Brüssel

 

 

You can send a message directly to the project responsible Miss Cornelia Rutkowski, BSc. by using the following form. 

Cornelia Rutkowski

BSc
Scientific staff

Phone: +43 3842 / 402-5118
Cell: +43 676 / 84 53 86-5118
Fax: +43 3842 / 402-5102
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