Research Project "ProMotion" for the Optimisation of Lithium Ion Battery Recycling

The increased use of batteries (LIB) in electrical vehicles, portable equipment and stationary energy storage systems has led to a rapid increase in waste batteries worldwide. According to calculations by the Fraunhofer ISI, the amount of batteries requiring recycling in Europe alone will reach 420 kilotons per year by 2030, with an upward trend.

Machine and plant manufacturers will have to massively expand their recycling capacities to cope with the projected recycling volumes. But while the future volumes of used batteries are predictable, the specific machine and plant concepts that could be used to implement the recycling processes efficiently still remain under discussion. While the basic recycling methods have been understood, there remains a significant need for further development in order to optimise processes and permit industrial implementation.

Experiences from the greenBatt research clusters and various doctoral theses at the IME of RWTH Aachen University have shown that the active mass and foil components from conventional batch reactors and rotary tube units cannot be thermally converted completely or that various system-specific limitations apply. This affects the efficiency of lithium ion battery recycling processes.

At the same time, the EU battery directive demands increasingly strict recycling rates and, in the future, the use of recycled LIB materials in the production of new batteries to promote sustainability. By 2031, for instance, 70 % of all batteries and battery components will have to be recycled and a recovery rate of over 80 % for lithium will have to be reached. The rate for cobalt, copper and nickel is even higher at 95 %. Robust, economically and ecologically worthwhile processes will be required to achieve these rates.

The project "ProMotion - Development and Validation of a Prototype Reactor For Mixture-Optimised Thermal Conditioning of EoLLIB Materials" is intended to thoroughly research the process step of thermal treatment for different battery components, a step highly relevant for achieving the legally mandated recycling rates, through use of a prototype reactor built by Gebrüder Lödige Maschinenbau GmbH. In general, this process step is conducted after deep discharging, disassembly and subsequent crushing of cells. The aim of thermal pre-treatment is to remove organic components and to create soluble Li compounds that can be easily separated in a later step. Effects such as improved wettability and a smaller particle size in the black mass have a positive effect on subsequent hydrometallurgical processes. Both the quality of the recycled material and the yield of valuable materials are improved.

This optimisation will be accompanied by an ecological assessment of the reactor concept and the recycling process conducted by Öko-Institut e.V. They will create an environmental performance evaluation according to the requirements of DIN EN ISO 14040/44. The final aim of the ecological and economic assessment is the creation of an industrialisation concept for operational deployment of the prototype reactor. The reactor type's configurability, scalability and automatability make it a promising new product by Gebrüder Lödige Maschinenbau GmbH for the booming battery recycling sector.

The project started on 01/01/2025 and will be completed by 31/12/2026. It is receiving funding from the German Ministry for Education and Research in the context of the Go Industry cluster.

Funding code: 03XP0628