Waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment, and method for recovering valuable metals from lithium-based battery using same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018026318-A1
Application number	US-201615547847-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 4, 2016
Priority date	Feb 11, 2015
Publication date	Jan 25, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

The present invention relates to a waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment, and a method for recovering valuable metals from lithium-based batteries using the same, the waste battery treatment apparatus comprising: a frame ( 10 ); a reaction reservoir ( 30 ) which is disposed in the inner space of the frame ( 10 ) and has thereinside a treatment space (S 1 ) in which waste batteries to be treated are disposed; an inlet 34 ( 33 ) in which a gas blocking door ( 34 ) is disposed so as to selectively communicate the treating space (S 1 ) with the outside, and which serves as a path through which an object to be treated is inputted to the treating space (S 1 ) of the reaction reservoir ( 30 ). In addition, the waste battery treatment apparatus is provided with a vacuum forming means ( 40 ) which is connected to the treatment space (S 1 ) of the reaction reservoir ( 30 ) to vacuumize the treatment space (S 1 ). In the treatment apparatus of the present invention, since the inside of the reaction reservoir ( 30 ) is vacuumized and, at the same time, an inert gas is injected thereinto while a pretreatment process of waste batteries is performed in the reaction reservoir ( 30 ), the waste batteries are prevented from exploding during heat treatment, whereby work stability can be improved.

First claim

1 . A waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment, comprising:
a frame; a reaction reservoir which is disposed in the inner space of the frame and has thereinside a treatment space in which waste batteries to be treated are disposed; an inlet in which a gas blocking door is disposed so as to selectively communicate the treatment space with an outside, and which serves as a path through which an object to be treated is inputted to the treatment space of the reaction reservoir; and a vacuum forming means which is connected to the treatment space of the reaction reservoir to vacuumize the treatment space.

2 . The waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 1 , wherein the reaction reservoir further includes a gas inlet for inputting inert gas into the treatment space from the outside in connection with the treatment space of the reaction reservoir.

3 . The waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 1 , wherein a rotary pump is provided in the vacuum forming means to selectively vacuumize the inside of the treatment space of the reaction reservoir.

4 . The waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 1 , wherein a gas outlet is provided in the reaction reservoir to discharge poisonous gas and dust generated in the treatment space to the outside.

5 . The waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 4 , wherein a connection pipe is provided between the gas outlet and the inlet to prevent the poisonous gas and the dust in the treatment space to the outside through the inlet.

6 . The waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 1 , wherein the inlet obliquely extends in a central direction of the reaction reservoir and an entrance is formed at an upper end of the inlet.

7 . The waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 1 , wherein a storage device storing the waste battery which is the object to be treated is selectively inserted into the reaction reservoir, a moving device is provided at a lower portion of the storage device and the frame and the reaction reservoir are opened to one side, and as a result, the storage device is inserted into the treatment space of the reaction reservoir or separated from the treatment space through one opened side of the reaction reservoir.

8 . The waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 7 , wherein a shielding plate is provided in the storage device to shield one opened side of the treatment space when the storage device is positioned in the treatment space of the reaction reservoir.

9 . The waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 8 , wherein the storage device includes
a lower frame with the moving device, an upper frame which extends upward from the lower frame, and a basket provided in the upper frame and having a storage space capable of the object to be treated therein.

10 . The waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 9 , wherein the basket is configured to be separated from the upper frame and a hanger selectively hung by a hoist is provided in the basket, and as a result, the basket is elevatable by the hoist.

11 . The waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 10 , wherein the moving device is configured by a wheel or a moving rail.

12 . A method for recovering valuable metals by a continuous heat treatment process from a lithium-based battery by using a waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment, which includes a frame, a reaction reservoir, a vacuum forming means, and an inlet, the method comprising:
a vacuum forming step of vacuumizing the inside of the reaction reservoir by using the vacuum forming means; a heat treatment step of inputting and heat-treating waste batteries to be treated by opening a gas blocking door of the inlet; a closing step of closing the gas blocking door in order to prevent poisonous gas or dust in the reaction reservoir from being discharged to the outside after the waste battery inputting step; a gas discharging step of discharging the poisonous gas and dust generated during the heat treatment through a gas outlet; a gas treatment step of separating and treating valuable metal powder included in the discharged dust in the gas discharging step; a collection step of collecting the waste battery heat-treated through the heat treatment step from the reaction reservoir; and a step of crushing or grinding the collected waste battery and thereafter, separating and recovering the valuable metal powder of the crushed or ground waste battery.

13 . The method for recovering valuable metals from a lithium-based battery by using a waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 12 , further comprising:
a step of injecting inert gas into a treatment space through a gas inlet in order to prevent the inside of the reaction reservoir from exploding subsequently to the vacuum forming step.

14 . The method for recovering valuable metals from a lithium-based battery by using a waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 12 , wherein a storage device inserting step of inputting an object to be treated into a storage device input into/output from the treatment space of the reaction reservoir and thereafter, moving the storage device and inserting the storage device into the treatment space of the reaction reservoir prior to the heat treatment step.

15 . The method for recovering valuable metals from a lithium-based battery by using a waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of claim 14 , further comprising:
a reaction reservoir separating step of separating the storage device from the treatment space of the reaction reservoir and discharging the separated storage device to the outside prior to the collection step.

Assignees

• Korea Inst Geoscience & Mineral Resources

Inventors

• Shin Shun Myung
• Ju Sung Ho
• Shin Dong Ju
• Wang Jei Pil
• Oh Chang Hyun

Classifications

• C22B1/005

  Preliminary treatment of scrap (C22B1/02 - C22B1/26 take precedence) · CPC title

• H01M10/052

  Li-accumulators · CPC title

• C22B7/005

  Separation by a physical processing technique only, e.g. by mechanical breaking · CPC title

• Y02W30/84

  Recycling of batteries or fuel cells · CPC title

• H01M10/4207

  for several batteries or cells simultaneously or sequentially · CPC title