The Chemical Engineering Behind Battery Recycling

Battery recycling utilizes chemical processes like pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy to recover valuable metals. Pyrometallurgy, while mature and scalable, loses valuable materials and has environmental concerns, while hydrometallurgy recovers more materials but is complex, costly, and less scalable. A third, emerging method, direct recycling, physically separates materials, but its technology is still developing.

Pyrometallurgy

• 00:00:11 Pyrometallurgy involves melting and recovering valuable metals like cobalt, copper, and nickel. It's a mature, scalable technology, but significant amounts of valuable materials are lost during combustion, and it can have a high energy use and environmental impact if emissions and slag waste aren't managed.

Hydrometallurgy

• 00:00:35 Hydrometallurgy utilizes acids or bases to leach metals from crushed battery materials, followed by purification and recovery. It's more complex and expensive than pyrometallurgy due to longer reaction times, intricate equipment needs, and the production of chemical waste. Despite recovering more valuable materials, it is less scalable for large volumes.