The present disclosure broadly relates to a process for recovering cobalt from lithium-ion batteries using thermal techniques.

A method for recovering the valuable materials from energy storage devices (e.g., spent rechargeable lithium batteries, especially those batteries using nickel-based or nickel and cobalt containing cathode materials) are described. In particular, the proposed method applies carbonyl technology, also known as vapometallurgy, to regenerate pure materials which can be reused as raw materials for making active cathode materials for new lithium batteries.

This method for recovering a valuable metal from a used LIB includes: a step of adding, to an electrode assembly taken out of a detoxified used LIB, metallic zinc in an excess amount relative to a mass of the electrode assembly; a step of heating a mixture of the electrode assembly and the metallic zinc to form a molten metal; a step of taking out the molten metal and separating the molten metal into an alloy metal and a slag; and a step of heating the alloy metal to volatilize zinc in the alloy metal, and thereby, recovering an alloy metal of a valuable metal.

A single-heating stage method for reclaiming or recovering metals like nickel and vanadium from a petroleum waste byproduct has three steps: melting the petroleum waste byproduct in a reducing atmosphere, generating agglomerated metal in the melted byproduct, and lifting the agglomerated metal to an exposed surface of the melted byproduct. The metal precipitates out of the molten byproduct, agglomerates into a separate portion, and rises to an exposed surface of the melted petroleum waste byproduct even though the metal may have greater density than the molten petroleum waste byproduct. The original petroleum waste byproduct stratifies into a byproduct remnant and the agglomerated metal disk. The agglomerated metal disk is separable from the byproduct remnant and may be additionally separated into constituent metals in those embodiments with multiple metals in the disk.

Provided is a method for producing valuable metal from raw materials including, for example, waste lithium ion batteries by a pyrometallurgical method, said method making it possible to efficiently separate manganese included in the raw materials from metal into slag without lowering the valuable metal recovery rate. The present invention is a method for producing valuable metal from raw materials comprising: a reduction melting step for subjecting the raw materials to a reduction melting process so as to obtain a reduction product containing slag and molten metal that contains valuable metal; a slag separation step for recovering the molten metal from the reduction product; and an oxidation purification step for adding silicon dioxide (SiO.sub.2) as flux to the recovered molten metal and performing an oxidation melting process. In the oxidation purification step, SiO.sub.2 is added as the flux such that the SiO.sub.2/MnO weight ratio is 0.4-1.0 in the slag.

The present invention addresses the problem, in methods for producing a metal or alloy by reducing a mixture that contains an oxide ore, of providing an oxide ore smelting method with good productivity and efficiency. The present invention is an oxide ore smelting method for producing a metal or alloy by reducing a mixture that contains an oxide ore, the method comprising at least: a mixing step S1 for mixing an oxide ore with a carbonaceous reducing agent; a mixture-molding step S2 for molding the mixture obtained to obtain a mixture-molded body; and a reducing step S3 for heating the mixture-molded body obtained at a specified reducing temperature in a reducing furnace.

Provided is a method for recovering a valuable metal from a material including waste lithium ion batteries or the like. The method comprises: a preparation step for preparing a material including at least Li, Al, and a valuable metal; a reduction and melting step for carrying out a reduction and melting process on the material to obtain a reduced product including a slag and an alloy containing a valuable metal; and a slag separation step for separating the slag from the reduced product to recover the alloy. In the preparation step and/or the reduction and melting step, a flux containing Ca is added. In the reduction and melting step, the reduction and melting process is performed such that the mass ratio of aluminum oxide/(aluminum oxide+calcium oxide+lithium oxide), in the generated slag, is set to 0.5-0.65, and the slag heating temperature is set to 1400-1600? ? C.

This method for recovering a valuable metal from a used LIB includes: a step of adding, to an electrode assembly taken out of a detoxified used LIB, metallic zinc in an excess amount relative to a mass of the electrode assembly; a step of heating a mixture of the electrode assembly and the metallic zinc to form a molten metal; a step of taking out the molten metal and separating the molten metal into an alloy metal and a slag; and a step of heating the alloy metal to volatilize zinc in the alloy metal, and thereby, recovering an alloy metal of a valuable metal.

The present disclosure concerns a 2-step smelting process, for recovering of Ni and Co from batteries and other sources.

The process comprises the steps of: defining an oxidizing level Ox, and a battery-bearing metallurgical charge; oxidizing smelting of the metallurgical charge by injecting an O.sub.2-bearing gas into the melt to reach the defined oxidizing level Ox; and, reducing smelting of the obtained slag using a heat source and a reducing agent.

The process is more energy-efficient than a single-step reducing smelting process and provides for a higher purity alloy and for a cleaner final slag.

The present invention relates to a process for recycling battery materials, in particular lithium ion/polymer batteries, and to the subsequent use of the useful materials recovered by way of the process according to the invention.