Techno-economic assessment of an automated lithium-ion battery module disassembly process: Investigating the optimal level of automated disassembly
Master thesis
Permanent lenke
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/3074520Utgivelsesdato
2023Metadata
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The use of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has rapidly increased recent years, mainly due tothe global adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Continued growth is expected, which willinevitably lead to a large amount of battery waste. Proper recycling is then required toreinsert valuable raw materials to the value chain. Recycling of LIBs are normally initiatedby disassembly, followed by various mechanical and metallurgical treatments. Disassemblyis one of the most labour intensive steps when recycling LIBs. Considering the expectedgrowth, a fully automated disassembly process will be required. However, this represents anon-negligible investment.
Determining the optimal disassembly level prior to recycling is a crucial step that mustbe considered before investing in automated disassembly. Currently, most EV LIBs areonly disassembled to module level prior to recycling. Instead, disassembly to cell levelcould produce greater purity material streams and less material to handle downstream. Thequestion is whether or not it is economic viable to carry out deeper robotic disassembly downto cell level instead of stopping at module level. This study presents a techno-economicassessment of a robotic module disassembly line, furnishing guidelines on the necessarydegree of automation in EV LIB disassembly. Different case study scenarios are proposed,demonstrating that investments in a robotic module disassembly line could be profitable