US 12,266,770 B2
System for and method of processing waste lithium-ion battery
Fuminori Ando, Kobe (JP); Hiroaki Osawa, Kobe (JP); Chie Nakajima, Kobe (JP); Mariko Yamashita, Kobe (JP); Masahiro Sugata, Kobe (JP); Koji Fukumoto, Kobe (JP); Masaki Tsuzawa, Kobe (JP); and Ryosuke Nagai, Kobe (JP)
Assigned to KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Kobe (JP)
Appl. No. 17/436,908
Filed by KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Kobe (JP)
PCT Filed Feb. 28, 2020, PCT No. PCT/JP2020/008402
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 7, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/179692, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 10, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 2019-038149 (JP), filed on Mar. 4, 2019; and application No. 2019-105991 (JP), filed on Jun. 6, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0140412 A1, May 5, 2022
Int. Cl. H01M 10/54 (2006.01); B09B 3/35 (2022.01); B09B 3/40 (2022.01); B09B 3/70 (2022.01); C21D 9/67 (2006.01); C22B 7/00 (2006.01); C22B 26/12 (2006.01); H01M 10/0525 (2010.01); H01M 10/615 (2014.01)
CPC H01M 10/54 (2013.01) [B09B 3/35 (2022.01); B09B 3/40 (2022.01); B09B 3/70 (2022.01); C21D 9/67 (2013.01); C22B 7/001 (2013.01); C22B 7/005 (2013.01); C22B 26/12 (2013.01)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of processing a waste lithium-ion battery, the method comprising: a heating step of heat-treating a waste lithium-ion battery at a heating temperature of higher than or equal to 150° C. and lower than or equal to 250° C. to decompose and remove an electrolyte solution from the waste lithium-ion battery without decomposing organic matter included in the waste lithium-ion battery;
a crushing and classifying step of using a crusher-classifier for sorting out a cathode active material by separating the cathode active material from a cathode current collector of the waste lithium-ion battery that has been heat-treated in the heating step, while crushing the waste lithium-ion battery; and a roasting step of heat-treating the waste lithium-ion battery that has been crushed in the crushing step at a heating temperature that is higher than or equal to 400° C. in a reducing atmosphere or a low-oxygen atmosphere, wherein in the heating step, the waste lithium-ion battery is heat-treated by using a grate preheater while the waste lithium-ion battery is being transported in one direction, in the crushing step, the waste lithium-ion battery is crushed by a crusher located at an outlet of the grate preheater, and the roasting step includes: receiving, through a receiving inlet of a rotary kiln, the waste lithium-ion battery that has been crushed by the crusher, the rotary kiln including a cylindrical body that rotates about a center axis of the cylindrical body and with an internal atmosphere that is the reducing atmosphere or the low-oxygen atmosphere, an outer wall of the cylindrical body being heated, the receiving inlet being at one end of the cylindrical body in a direction of the center axis of the cylindrical body; transporting, inside the cylindrical body toward a discharging outlet by rotating the cylindrical body, the waste lithium-ion battery that has been received through the receiving inlet, the discharging outlet being at another end of the cylindrical body in the direction of the center axis of the cylindrical body; and discharging the waste lithium-ion battery through the discharging outlet.