FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for recovering valuable resources from spent lithium ion batteries. More particularly, it relates to an apparatus and a method for resource recovery, including electrode materials, housing, polymer/plastic matrix etc from spent lithium ion batteries using physical separation methods with no or minimal use of chemicals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Physical separation approaches have their own utilities in designing environmental friendly processes, especially in the electronic waste management domain. The physical methods mainly include dismantling/ crushing/pulverization, separation, sieving, filtration, washing and the like. These operations require separate equipments, manual efforts for execution and consume time for accomplishment. Further, the movement of a lot from one process to the next is difficult and laborious task.

The manual approaches become very challenging at large scale. Further, each operation provides some output; leaving some unfinished contents to be executed by succeeding steps or operations. In this procedure, the resources from each operation are collected and the remaining lot needs to be forwarded to the next step. Hence, connectivity among operations is needed to provide continuity to a process. Such connectivity may also be required to avoid time and material loss during shifting a batch form one operation to another.

CN1819326 discloses resource separation of waste lithium ion battery. The process includes: breaking wasted batteries by mechanical process; separating metal case from others; washing out electrolyte using organic solvent, and filtering it from remaining solid; processing the remaining component where the electrolytes are removed using organic solvent to make all electrode active component eluted from current collector, and separated from diaphragm, copper foil, and aluminum foil. The solvent and adhesive can be reused. The main drawback of this method is use of chemicals in recovery process which make the process costly and production of liquid effluent.

The majority of electronic devices are powered by lithium ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries own a lot of valuable resources that can be utilized again when they become obsolete. These batteries comprise copper, aluminum cathode material valuable metals and some electrolytes; toxic to the environment and human health that brings a huge potential risk. Hence, physical approaches are preferred to isolate resources of value. Various physical separation methods are known for recovering the contents of lithium ion batteries. These methods involve a number of operations that need to be conducted manually and separately on the equipments like shredders, mixers, washers etc.

EP1917694 discloses a plant for the recovery of spent electric batteries, comprising an apparatus for crushing batteries and one or more apparatuses for separating and recovering the different components of said batteries being advantageously carried on a mobile unit; said plant can further comprise an apparatus for loading said spent batteries to said crushing apparatus, said loading apparatus being carried on a second mobile unit, such as a second semi-trailer. The main drawback of this method is use of very costly apparatuses such as gravimetric separator etc.

US 8,616,475 B1 discloses a process for recovery of copper, aluminum, carbon and cathode material from spent lithium ion batteries having lithium metal oxide cathode material. The cathode material which is recovered can be regenerated with lithium hydroxide and reused as cathode material. The main drawback of this method is various operations involved in this process are carried out at separate on the equipments like hammer mill, mixers, washers etc. Also, the process involves use of surfactants in froth floatation process and the crushing must take place in an inert atmosphere.
Hence, there is a need of an apparatus capable of executing all necessary steps in a continuous fashion. Further, the apparatus should work upon an environment friendly principle and capable of providing resources in their purest form.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
The main object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for separating components from spent lithium ion batteries using physical separation approach.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for physical separation of spent lithium ion battery components.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that recovers electrode materials in their purest form with no or minimal use of chemicals.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a cost effective, economic and environmental friendly process for recovering metals of value.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an eco-friendly and cost effective method to recover metal of values in good quantity without compromising on the quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for separating components from spent lithium ion batteries using purely physical approaches.

According to a preferred embodiment, the apparatus comprises of a shredder compartment; conical bottom reactor with agitator and water line; a screw conveyor assembled to conical bottom reactor at bottom; a material receiving tray; a receiver tank with a mesh assembled on the top; a slurry tank with a mesh assembled on the top; a filter press; a storage tank; and a pump.

In another embodiment of the proposed invention, the apparatus executes various steps including wet shredding, washing, floatation to separate light materials like polymer/plastics; wet sieving and recovers copper and aluminum through screw conveyor from the bottom of the reactor.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides a method for recovering metals from spent lithium batteries, said method comprises the steps of:

a. wet shredding the batteries into a shredder (212) to obtain a slurry comprising electrode material, coarse metallic and coarse non metallic particles ;
b. moving the slurry obtained in step a) into a conical bottom reactor (214) using a continuous water flow;
c. agitating the slurry in water in the reactor (214);
d. retaining the non metallic components after agitation in step c) over a mesh in a slurry tank (220);
e. receiving the slurry containing electrode material after passing through the mesh in step d) in the slurry tank;
f. recovering coarse metallic particles with some amount of electrode material from the bottom of the reactor through a screw conveyor (226) outlet into a material receiving tray (216);
g. filtering the coarse metallic particles from electrode material from step e) in a receiver tank (218) with mesh on top of the receiver tank (218);
h. receiving the slurry after filtration from step g) through the sieve in receiver tank and moving in slurry tank (220);
i. feeding the slurry obtained in step e) and the slurry obtained after filtration from step g) into a filter press (222) to obtain an electrode cake and a filtrate;
j. collecting the filtrate from step i) into storage tank (224) for reuse purpose during shredding in step a).
wherein,
a continuous flow of water in shredder (212) and conical bottom reactor (214) is maintained through a pump; and
the method has effluent exit rate of less than 1%.
The exit of effluent, i.e. waste water containing electrode or any other metallic components, is minimised in this apparatus and method; thus making the invention highly efficient in recovery of resources and at the same time saving the water consumption. The invention obviates the drawback of recycling industry effluent waste in the ecosystem. The invention is thus eco-friendly as well as economic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The various features, advantages and other uses of the present e-waste recycling method and apparatus will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description and drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a process flow diagram elucidating the steps involved in the underlying invention.
FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will now be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, the invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention set forth herein will readily occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the description. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

The present invention provides a novel apparatus for recovery of resources from spent lithium ion battery shred wherein different components of the apparatus are arranged in a manner that such that various processes including wet shredding, washing, floatation to separate light materials like polymer/plastics; wet sieving and recovering copper and aluminium through screw conveyor from the bottom of the reactor take place in a continuous manner without producing any liquid effluent.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The batch of spent batteries is fed into the shredder (212). The shredded battery components fall into a conical bottom reactor (214) by a continuous water flow. The shredded battery components are agitated with water in a conical bottom reactor (214). The coarse non metallic particles are the floating contents like polymer/plastic matrix and are retained over a 1mm mesh provided on the top of the slurry tank (220). The coarse metallic particles like copper and aluminium of size 4 - 6 mm are recovered from the bottom of the reactor (214) through the screw conveyor (226) outlet into a material receiver tray (216). The copper and aluminium mixture is filtered in the receiver tank (218) with 1mm mesh on top of the receiver tank (218). Slurry is received after filtration through the sieve in a receiver tank and is moved to the slurry tank (220). The slurry is then fed into a filter press (222) for filtration. The filtrate is collected in the storage tank (224) for reuse purpose in the shredding step and the electrode material is collected from the filter press (222) as cake. The size of electrode material ranges from 300 - 600 µm.

FIG. 2 is the flow diagram elucidating the steps involved in the resource recovery process of the present invention. In the preferred embodiment, the spent lithium ion batteries are shredded in wet environment. The shredded components are washed with water, wherein the lighter materials that float over the water are sent for wet sieving step. The plastic and polymer matrix are retained on the sieve and removed whereas the undersize contents are sent for filtration. The electrode material is collected as a filter cake whereas the filtrate was kept stored for it reuse in the wet shredding step.

FIG. 3 is a side perspective view of the apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The shredder compartment (212) is provided with a platform for convenient input of batch of spent batteries into shredder. Storage tank (224) stores approximately 2000 litre water that is supplied to shredder (212) and conical bottom reactor (214) through a pump. The conical bottom reactor (224) is provided with an outlet such that floating contents like plastic/polymer an approximately 90% of the electrode material floats into a slurry tank (220). The apparatus for resource recovery from spent lithium batteries, said apparatus comprises:
a) at least one wet shredder (212) to receive and shred a batch of spent batteries into a slurry comprising electrode material, coarse metallic and coarse non metallic particles;
b) at least one conical bottom reactor (214) comprising:
i. a broad upper end (228) to receive the slurry;
ii. an agitator (242) to agitate the slurry;
iii. a narrow lower end (230) to collect coarse metallic particles; and
iv. an overflow outlet (232) to allow overflow of the electrode material along with the non metallic particles;
c) at least one screw conveyor (226) having a geared end (240) and an outlet end (234), said geared end (240) being connected to the lower end (230) of conical bottom reactor to convey out the coarse metallic particles at the outlet end (234),
d) a slurry tank (220) connected to the overflow outlet (232) of the conical bottom reactor, said slurry tank (220) having a sieve of a preferred mesh size to filter coarse non metallic particles; and
e) at least one filter press (222) to filter the electrode material from slurry, said filter press having an anterior end (236) connected to the slurry tank (220) and a posterior end (238) connected to a storage tank (224), said storage tank collects filtrate from said filter press;
wherein,
a waterline connects the shredder (212) and the storage tank (224);
a continuous flow of water in shredder (212) and conical bottom reactor (214) is maintained through a pump;
the water in storage tank is circulated to the shredder (212); and
the apparatus has effluent exit rate of less than 1%.
the outlet end (234) of the screw conveyor is levelled above the lower end (230) of the conical bottom reactor (214).

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises at least one material receiving tray (216) to collect coarse metallic particles along with small amount of electrode material from the outlet end (234) of the screw conveyor; said material receiving tray is connected to a receiver tank (218); said receiver tank (218) having a sieve of mesh size 1mm on top to filter coarse metal particles from electrode material; and said receiver tank (218) is connected to the slurry tank (220) for circulating the electrode material received from outlet end (234) of the screw conveyor.

The exit of effluent, i.e. waste water containing electrode or any other metallic components, is minimised in this apparatus and method; thus making the invention highly efficient in recovery of resources and at the same time saving the water consumption. The invention obviates the drawback of recycling industry effluent waste in the ecosystem. The invention is thus eco-friendly as well as economic.

EXAMPLE 1
A BATCHWISE TESTING FOR RESOURCE RECOVERY FROM SPENT LITHIUM ION BATTERIES
The proposed apparatus and method of recovering battery components from the spent lithium-ion battery in the present invention is tested for its efficiency. The testing is carried out in batch wise and around 500 Kg of spent lithium-ion batteries were taken for each batch. The input and output details of the five batches are presented in the Table 1.
Table 1. Input and output details of the process
Batch No. Input Output
Fed into Shredder From Washing Reactor From Filter Press From Screw Conveyer Outlet
Wt. of Batteries, Kg Polymer/Plastics, Kg Electrode Material, Kg Al & Cu mix, Kg
1 500 59 123 318
2 518 73 130 315
3 543 77 139 327
4 512 67 125 320
5 523 64 146 313

Therefore, from the experimental data it is evident that resources such as copper, aluminium and plastics are recovered efficiently in pure and saleable form using only mechanical process proposed in the present invention.
The technological advancement in resource recovery method is environment friendly as the present invention involves no chemicals and there is no liquid effluent produced as the filtrate obtained at different stages is reused within the process. The present invention involves no expense for chemicals and makes the invention is economical.

We Claim:

1. An apparatus for resource recovery from spent lithium batteries, said apparatus comprises:

a) at least one wet shredder (212) to receive and shred a batch of spent batteries into a slurry comprising electrode material, coarse metallic and coarse non metallic particles;
b) at least one conical bottom reactor (214) comprising:
v. a broad upper end (228) to receive the slurry;
vi. an agitator (242) to agitate the slurry;
vii. a narrow lower end (230) to collect coarse metallic particles; and
viii. an overflow outlet (232) to allow overflow of the electrode material along with the non metallic particles;
c) at least one screw conveyor (226) having a geared end (240) and an outlet end (234), said geared end (240) being connected to the lower end (230) of conical bottom reactor to convey out the coarse metallic particles at the outlet end (234),
d) a slurry tank (220) connected to the overflow outlet (232) of the conical bottom reactor, said slurry tank (220) having a sieve of a preferred mesh size to filter coarse non metallic particles; and
e) at least one filter press (222) to filter the electrode material from slurry, said filter press having an anterior end (236) connected to the slurry tank (220) and a posterior end (238) connected to a storage tank (224), said storage tank collects filtrate from said filter press;
wherein,
a waterline connects the shredder (212) and the storage tank (224);
a continuous flow of water in shredder (212) and conical bottom reactor (214) is maintained through a pump;
the water in storage tank is circulated to the shredder (212); and
the apparatus has effluent exit rate of less than 1%.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrode material is obtained in the form of cake from the filter press (222).

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises at least one material receiving tray (216) to collect coarse metallic particles along with small amount of electrode material from the outlet end (234) of the screw conveyor; said material receiving tray is connected to a receiver tank (218); said receiver tank (218) having a sieve of mesh size 1mm on top to filter coarse metal particles from electrode material; and said receiver tank (218) is connected to the slurry tank (220) for circulating the electrode material received from outlet end (234) of the screw conveyor.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the coarse metallic particles comprise aluminium and copper.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the size of the coarse metallic particles ranges from 4 - 6 mm.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the size of electrode material ranges from 300 - 600 µm.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the preferred mesh size of the sieve in slurry tank is 1mm.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outlet end (234) of the screw conveyor is levelled above the lower end (230) of the conical bottom reactor (214).

9. A method for recovering metals from spent lithium batteries, said method comprises the steps of:

a. wet shredding the batteries into a shredder (212) to obtain a slurry comprising electrode material, coarse metallic and coarse non metallic particles ;
b. moving the slurry obtained in step a) into a conical bottom reactor (214) using a continuous water flow;
c. agitating the slurry in water in the reactor (214);
d. retaining the non metallic components after agitation in step c) over a mesh in a slurry tank (220);
e. receiving the slurry containing electrode material after passing through the mesh in step d) in the slurry tank;
f. recovering coarse metallic particles with some amount of electrode material from the bottom of the reactor through a screw conveyor (226) outlet into a material receiving tray (216);
g. filtering the coarse metallic particles from electrode material from step e) in a receiver tank (218) with mesh on top of the receiver tank (218);
h. receiving the slurry after filtration from step g) through the sieve in receiver tank and moving in slurry tank (220);
i. feeding the slurry obtained in step e) and the slurry obtained after filtration from step g) into a filter press (222) to obtain an electrode cake and a filtrate;
j. collecting the filtrate from step i) into storage tank (224) for reuse purpose during shredding in step a).
wherein,
a continuous flow of water in shredder (212) and conical bottom reactor (214) is maintained through a pump; and
the method has effluent exit rate of less than 1%.