Innovative discharging technologies for Lithium-ion battery recyclability (DISCOVERY)

全球变暖的挑战导致电动汽车（EV）的快速普及，预计到2040年全球销量将超过3600万辆。与此相一致，英国最近宣布了雄心勃勃的计划，到2030年禁止销售新的化石燃料汽车，并从2035年起实现尾气排放完全为零。锂离子电池（LIB）是电动汽车的首选，但在报废时，它们会带来严重的废物管理挑战：LIB是非常危险的材料，具有化学，火灾和爆炸风险，考虑到这些风险，直接处置到垃圾填埋场不是一种选择。它们也是锂、镍、钴和铜等稀有和有价值的原材料的来源，这为发展循环经济产业提供了机会，在循环经济产业中，废物被回收利用为新资源。这有三个主要好处：环境：与采矿相比，回收可以节省能源。** 经济 **：发展回收基础设施将创造就业机会和价值。** 战略 **：英国没有锂离子电池回收设施：目前，所有废旧锂离子电池（汽车或非汽车）都被运往欧盟，或更远的中国和韩国进行回收。运输这些危险材料是昂贵的，后勤上具有挑战性，并具有重大的环境影响。考虑到未来十年内可能达到报废的汽车锂离子电池的预计数量，这种情况是不可持续的。现有的工业使用火法冶金技术，这种技术在回收有价值的金属方面效率相对较低，而且是能源密集型和污染型的。较新的湿法冶金技术更环保，效率更高，但要求在加工之前将LIB排放和拆卸。该项目将汇集电池回收商（Ever Resource）、电气工程公司（Advanced Electronics and Logistics）和大学技术开发商（WMG），共同开发一个创新的深度放电平台DISCOVERY，该平台将允许大多数商用电动车锂离子电池严格控制、安全和高效的放电。DISCOVERY是一个技术平台，可用作各种下游湿法冶金加工步骤的前端。它将支持英国锂离子电池回收供应链的发展，以符合法拉第电池挑战赛的目标。

The challenges of global warming have led to the rapid uptake of Electric Vehicles (EVs), with sales predicted to top 36 million vehicles globally by 2040\. In line with this, the UK has recently announced ambitious plans to ban sales of new fossil fuel vehicles by 2030, and achieve fully zero emission at the tailpipe from 2035\.Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the preferred choice to power EVs, but at end-of-life they present a serious waste management challenge: LIBs are incredibly hazardous materials posing chemical, fire and explosion risks, and direct disposal into landfill is not an option given these risks. They are also a source of rare and valuable raw materials - such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper - which presents an opportunity to develop a circular economy industry in which waste is recycled for new resources. This has 3 major benefits;\* **Environmental**: recycling allows energy savings compared to mining.\* **Economic**: development of a recycling infrastructure will create jobs and value.\* **Strategic**: allows the recovery of mineral resources , many of which are not found in the UK.There are no LIB recycling facilities in the UK: currently, all spent LIBs (automotive or non-automotive) are shipped to the EU, or further afield to China and Korea, for recycling. Shipping these hazardous materials is expensive, logistically challenging and has significant environmental impact. Given the projected volumes of automotive LIBs potentially reaching end-of-life within the next ten years this situation is unsustainable.Developing LIB recycling capability is a complex technical problem. The incumbent industry uses pyrometallurgical techniques, which are relatively inefficient at recovering valuable metals, energy intensive and polluting. Newer hydrometallurgical technologies are greener and much more efficient -- but require that LIBs be discharged and disassembled prior to their processing. Discharging has received comparatively little research attention, and is the focus of this project.This project will bring together a battery recycler (Ever Resource), an electrical engineering company (Advanced Electronics and Logistics) and a University technology developer (WMG) to develop an innovative deep-discharge platform, DISCOVERY, that will allow tightly controlled, safe and efficient discharge of the majority of commercial EV LIBs. DISCOVERY is an enabling technology platform which can be employed as the front-end to a variety of downstream hydrometallurgical processing steps. It will support the development of a UK supply chain for LIB recycling in line with the goals of the Faraday Battery Challenge.