BEST publisher Vic Giles visits the inauguration in Rotterdam and sees how SK tes plans to profitably recycle lithium-ion batteries.

Singapore-based SK tes has opened a new lithium battery recycling plant in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The plant has initial capacity to process 10,000 tons of EV batteries annually – about 20,000 cars – with the option to double this on an adjacent plot. The output is about 5,000 tons of black mass plus other materials.

The inauguration event on 26 September brought together a range of interest, from the European Commission, Port of Rotterdam and Korean embassy in the Netherlands, as well as SK tes’ clients.

Jae-Yeon Cho, EVP and MD of the SK ecoplant Environment Business Unit, said: “This facility will keep critical resources in motion just like the Port of Rotterdam keeps global trade flowing. We have many global operations like in France, Singapore, China and, next year, in Australia as well. Our new Rotterdam facility will be the one showcasing our most advanced battery recycling technologies and processes.”

Thomas Holberg, COO at SK tes, said the facility will meet complex challenges in a huge market and is implementing our vision to close the loop for the supply chain of critical raw materials in Europe.

The SK process

The SK tes procedure is firstly to discharge battery packs, sending the recovered energy back to the grid and rendering them inert. Packs are then dismantled, and materials sorted for recycling.

The battery modules are shredded in an inert atmosphere before drying, where the electrolyte is recovered, producing dried scrap which is separated into aluminium, copper and black mass ready for further processing into new battery materials.

Following Dutch law, outdoor containers are used for storing incoming batteries containing electrical charge and these have a 10-metre exclusion radius for safety. Each can store 10 tons and is equipped with smoke detectors, carbon monoxide monitors and temperature sensors alarmed and connected to the local fire service.

Infrared cameras monitor the packs during discharge to ensure safe battery temperatures. The process can be halted to allow for cooling. The packs are left ‘shorted’ for 24 hours to ensure the voltage does not bounce back before dismantling.

Dismantling of some packs is easier than others. Packs glued together are a particular problem for dismantling, the company said. Once safe and disassembled, the modules are removed from the pack and stored ready for shredding. The case, plastics and copper cable are also separated for further recycling.

A conveyor transports the modules to a four-shaft shredder that reduces the batteries to 20mm pieces in an inert atmosphere maintained at low temperature and oxygen levels to minimise fires.

Aerosol dispersion and manual purge systems that can flood the shredder with 10,000 litres of water mixed with a foaming agent are on standby to control any fires in the shredder. The shredding capacity is more than five tons per hour in a continual process.

The plant currently runs at two tons per hour and is restricted by the drier – it has a capacity of five tons and uses just enough heat to evaporate the electrolyte with a system to recover it from the shredded material, which then goes to a mechanical separation process.

More than 90% of the electrolyte is recovered. The process includes gas scrubbing, with a condenser and an active carbon filter to collect the electrolyte vapour and meet the environmental regulations and emissions limits. The plant has the option of adding a second drier to double capacity.

The shredded and dried material is sent for physical separation by size, shape and density using magnetic and electrostatic methods. A special type of mill is used to brush the black mass off the copper and aluminium collector foils. The final bagged products from the process are black mass, copper, aluminium, ferrous and non-ferrous fractions and plastics.

Sampling and sample analysis ensure the quality of the product going to customers. Each machine is equipped with air extraction to keep the environment clean and capture all the black mass, which is sold for hydrometallurgical processing.

The site can take NMC and NCA chemistries, also NMCA. It does not treat LFP or LCO at the moment. The packs, modules or cells are separated into individual chemistry batches.

The plant is moving out of commissioning and into ramp-up for full commercial operation, which the company expects to be profitable.