Production method for valuable metals

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2024318281-A1
Application number	US-202218575894-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 25, 2022
Priority date	Jul 16, 2021
Publication date	Sep 26, 2024
Grant date	—

Abstract

Provided is a method by which it is possible to collect valuable metals from raw material including waste lithium-ion batteries or the like. The present invention is a method which includes: a step for preparing raw material including at least Li, Al, and the valuable metals; a step for obtaining a reduction that includes slag and an alloy containing the valuable metals by subjecting the raw material to a reduction melting treatment; and a slag separation step for collecting the alloy by separating out the slag from the reduction, wherein, in a step for adding a flux containing calcium (Ca) to the raw material and performing reduction and melting thereof, the reduction melting treatment is performed such that the liquidus line temperature of ternary Al 2 O 3 —Li 2 O—CaO slag in a phase diagram is greater than the liquidus line temperature of a ternary Cu—Ni—Co alloy in a phase diagram.

First claim

1 . A method of producing a valuable metal from a raw material comprising the valuable metal comprising copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), and cobalt (Co), the method comprising:
a preparation step of preparing a raw material containing at least lithium (Li), aluminum (Al), and the valuable metal; a reductive melting step of subjecting the raw material to a reductive melting treatment to obtain a reduced product comprising a slag and an alloy comprising the valuable metal; and a slag separation step of separating the slag from the reduced product to recover the alloy, wherein, in one or both of the preparation step and the reductive melting step, a flux containing calcium (Ca) is added to the raw material, and in the reductive melting step,
the reductive melting treatment is performed so that liquidus temperature in a state diagram of an Al 2 O 3 —Li 2 O—CaO ternary slag is higher than liquidus temperature in a state diagram of a Cu—Ni—Co ternary alloy, as well as
a submerged arc furnace is used as a melting furnace so that the liquidus temperature of the alloy is lower than the liquidus temperature of the slag by 100° C. or more.

2 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 1 ,
wherein, in the reductive melting step, the reductive melting treatment is performed so that a mass ratio of Al 2 O 3 /(Al 2 O 3 +CaO+Li 2 O) in the slag to be generated is 0.5 or more and 0.65 or less, and a mass ratio of Cu/(Cu+Ni+Co) in the alloy to be generated is 0.2 or more.

3 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 1 ,
wherein the raw material comprises a discarded lithium ion battery.

4 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 1 ,
wherein a melting furnace to be used in the reductive melting step is provided with a means for cooling a furnace wall from outside.

5 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 1 ,
further comprising an oxidative roasting step of oxidatively roasting the raw material into an oxidatively roasted product prior to the reductive melting treatment, and subjecting the obtained oxidatively roasted product to the reductive melting treatment.

6 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 2 ,
wherein the raw material comprises a discarded lithium ion battery.

7 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 2 ,
wherein a melting furnace to be used in the reductive melting step is provided with a means for cooling a furnace wall from outside.

8 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 3 ,
wherein a melting furnace to be used in the reductive melting step is provided with a means for cooling a furnace wall from outside.

9 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 6 ,
wherein a melting furnace to be used in the reductive melting step is provided with a means for cooling a furnace wall from outside.

10 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 2 ,
further comprising an oxidative roasting step of oxidatively roasting the raw material into an oxidatively roasted product prior to the reductive melting treatment, and subjecting the obtained oxidatively roasted product to the reductive melting treatment.

11 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 3 ,
further comprising an oxidative roasting step of oxidatively roasting the raw material into an oxidatively roasted product prior to the reductive melting treatment, and subjecting the obtained oxidatively roasted product to the reductive melting treatment.

12 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 4 ,
further comprising an oxidative roasting step of oxidatively roasting the raw material into an oxidatively roasted product prior to the reductive melting treatment, and subjecting the obtained oxidatively roasted product to the reductive melting treatment.

13 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 6 ,
further comprising an oxidative roasting step of oxidatively roasting the raw material into an oxidatively roasted product prior to the reductive melting treatment, and subjecting the obtained oxidatively roasted product to the reductive melting treatment.

14 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 7 ,
further comprising an oxidative roasting step of oxidatively roasting the raw material into an oxidatively roasted product prior to the reductive melting treatment, and subjecting the obtained oxidatively roasted product to the reductive melting treatment.

15 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 8 ,
further comprising an oxidative roasting step of oxidatively roasting the raw material into an oxidatively roasted product prior to the reductive melting treatment, and subjecting the obtained oxidatively roasted product to the reductive melting treatment.

16 . The method for producing a valuable metal according to claim 9 ,
further comprising an oxidative roasting step of oxidatively roasting the raw material into an oxidatively roasted product prior to the reductive melting treatment, and subjecting the obtained oxidatively roasted product to the reductive melting treatment.

Assignees

• Sumitomo Metal Mining Co

Inventors

• Yamashita Yu
• Nagakura Toshihiko
• HAGIO Tomoya

Classifications

• H01M10/54

  Reclaiming serviceable parts of waste accumulators · CPC title

• C22B23/02

  by dry processes · CPC title

• C22B15/00

  Obtaining copper · CPC title

• C22B7/00

  Working up raw materials other than ores, e.g. scrap, to produce non-ferrous metals and compounds thereof; {Methods of a general interest or applied to the winning of more than two metals (briquetting of scrap C22B1/248; preliminary treatment of scrap C22B1/005)} · CPC title

• C22B5/02

  Dry methods {smelting of sulfides or formation of mattes} · CPC title