AbstractIn the present study, a numerical model is being developed to simulate a step in the battery recycling chain, namely the thermal pre-treatment process. This process involves exposing battery cells to a high-temperature environment to induce a thermal runaway, with the aim of maximising the recovery of valuable metals in the subsequent downstream recycling steps. The proposed numerical model utilises the CFD-DEM framework. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to calculate the gas phase variables. The battery is considered a solid phase, using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) to model its behaviour under high temperature. In this context, an experiment was designed to reproduce conditions similar to a battery thermal deactivation process. Once elaborated, the results from the experiments are compared to the numerical model, seeking further simulations using more realistic furnace designs.