Abstract
Among existing and emerging technologies to recycle spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) from electric vehicles, pyrometallurgical processes are commercially used. However, very little is known about their environmental and energy impacts. In this study, three pyrometallurgical technologies are analyzed and compared in terms of global warming potential (GWP) and cumulative energy demand (CED), namely: an emerging direct current (DC) plasma smelting technology (Sc-1), the same DC plasma technology but with an additional pre-treatment stage (Sc-2), and a more commercially mature ultra-high temperature (UHT) furnace (Sc-3). The net impacts for the recovered metals are calculated using both “open-loop” and “closed-loop” recycling options. Results reveal that shifting from the UHT furnace technology (Sc-3) to the DC plasma technology could reduce the GWP of the recycling process by up to a factor of 5 (when employing pre-treatment, as is the case with Sc-2). Results also vary across factors, for example, different metal recovery rates, carbon/energy intensity of the electricity grid (in Sc-1 and Sc-2), rates of aluminum recovery (in Sc-2), and sources of coke (in Sc-3). However, the sensitivity analysis showed that these factors do not change the best option which was determined before (as Sc-2) except in a few cases for CED. Overall, the research methodology and application presented by this life cycle assessment informs future energy and environmental impact assessment studies that want to assess existing recycling processes of LIB or other emerging technologies. This article met the requirements for a gold–silver JIE data openness badge described at http://jie.click/badges.
Highlights
The scientific literature is in broad agreement in identifying ample evidence for environmental benefits of electric vehicles (EVs), when compared to conventional internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEVs)
The functional unit (FU) for this study is “treatment of 1 tonne of Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) modules” using different pyrometallurgical technologies. This translates to 1 tonne of LIB modules entering the furnace in Scenario 1 (Sc-1) and Scenario 3 (Sc-3), while 1 tonne of LIB modules entering Sc-2 is firstly treated using a set of pre-treatment stages and the remaining upgraded materials ending up in the furnace, that is, 440 kg
As uncertain substitution rates differ across products from the adopted hydrometallurgical process, the open-loop recycling results are deemed more trustworthy at this stage
Summary
The scientific literature is in broad agreement in identifying ample evidence for environmental benefits of electric vehicles (EVs), when compared to conventional internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEVs). Raugei et al (2018) found that under current energy grid mix conditions, the overall life-cycle demand for non-renewable primary energy of a compact BEV in the United Kingdom is 34% lower than for a similar ICEV. Such reduction may be expected to increase further under most of the future grid mix and EV penetration forecasts (Hill et al, 2019). In most published environmental studies of EVs and LIBs to date, the system boundaries are drawn to exclude the end of life (EoL) phase This is mainly due to the fact that, compared to most other industrial activities, LIB recycling is still in its infancy (Rajaeifar et al, 2020). Technologies do not achieve “closed-loop” recycling yet (Sommerville et al, 2021) and instead recycled lithium, for example, is used for the production of lubricants, glass, ceramics and other products (Battery University, 2019)
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