In order to avoid the "small workshop" of recycling with crude technology and backward technology from affecting the overall healthy development of the industry, the newly revised "Industrial Standard Conditions for Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Power Batteries of New Energy Vehicles" upgraded the environmental protection requirements. For example, the on-line monitoring devices for wastewater, waste gas and industrial solid waste generated in the process of comprehensive utilization have been changed from "encouraging installation" to "should have".
The production and sales of new energy vehicles in China have ranked first in the world. According to the data released by China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, 1-mdash in 2019; In August, the sales volume of new energy vehicles in China was 793,000, maintaining a year-on-year growth rate of 32%. With the large-scale popularization and application of new energy vehicles, the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries is particularly urgent.
Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has recently revised and officially solicited opinions from the public on the industrial standard conditions for the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries in new energy vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the standard conditions) and the Interim Measures for the Administration of the industrial standard announcement for the comprehensive utilization of waste power batteries in new energy vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the Measures) issued in 2016, which put forward requirements for the comprehensive utilization of power batteries to be more perfect, safer, more energy-saving and environmentally friendly.
Recycling is still in its infancy.
According to the calculation of China Automotive Technology and Research Center, combined with the factors such as automobile scrapping years and battery life, in 2018 — In 2020, the total number of scrapped power batteries in China will reach 120,000 — 200,000 tons, reaching the scale of 350,000 tons in 2025. It can be said that the wave of large-scale scrapping of power batteries for new energy vehicles is coming.
"The service life of power batteries is generally 5-mdash; 8 years, the effective life is 4-mdash; In 6 years, this means that the first batch of new energy vehicle power batteries put into the market are basically at the critical point of elimination. " Zhang Tianren, Chairman of Tianneng Group’s Board of Directors, told the Science and Technology Daily reporter that when the capacity of power storage battery decays below 80%, it will not fully meet the power demand of automobiles and can be used in other fields step by step.
The "Investigation Report on Recycling and Utilization of Power Batteries in New Energy Vehicles (Introduction)" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that most of the current cascade utilization of power batteries is in the experimental demonstration stage, mainly in the fields of power preparation and energy storage. In 2018, China Tower Company stopped purchasing lead-acid batteries, and vigorously promoted the step-by-step utilization of lithium batteries. The application of step-by-step utilization of batteries for power preparation has been carried out in about 120,000 base stations in 31 provinces and cities, and business development has been strengthened in the application scenarios of power preparation, energy storage and external power generation. State Grid has built a 1 MW-hour energy storage system demonstration project using lithium iron phosphate batteries in steps to accept renewable energy for power generation and frequency modulation.
Zhang Tianren said that at present, there are two main destinations for retired power batteries of new energy vehicles, one is step-by-step utilization, and the other is recycling. After dismantling the scrapped batteries, the heavy metals in them will be refined and reused. "From the perspective of the whole life cycle, the batteries used in the cascade need to be recycled after they are finally scrapped." The state attaches great importance to the recycling of power batteries. In 2018, the ministries and commissions of industry, information technology, environmental protection and other countries jointly issued the Interim Measures for the Management of Recycling of Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles and other regulations to strengthen the recycling management of power batteries, standardize the development of the industry and promote the comprehensive utilization of resources. However, the recycling of power batteries is still a new field, and it is still in its infancy, facing many difficulties and deficiencies. It is particularly critical and important to revise the Specifications and Measures in time.
Establish a perfect and mature comprehensive utilization database
The newly released revised draft of the Specification Conditions and the revised draft of the Measures are revised and improved on the basis of relevant documents in 2016, especially reflecting the technology and technology-driven, making the traceability and utilization of power batteries more perfect and safer.
In the recycling of used batteries, traceability is considered to be a key link. The Interim Provisions on the Traceability Management of Power Battery Recycling in New Energy Vehicles proposes that a comprehensive traceability management platform will be established to collect information on the whole process of production, sales, use, scrapping, recycling and utilization of new energy power lithium batteries, and to test the fulfillment of recycling responsibilities by all link subjects.
Zhang Tianren said that at present, China’s battery recycling system is not perfect, and there is no effective cooperation mechanism among automobile manufacturers, battery manufacturers, recycling enterprises and recycling enterprises, and the rights and responsibilities are not clear enough. These institutional measures have played a positive role in strengthening the efficient utilization of scrapped batteries. The further improvement of the traceability management of power batteries is highlighted in the revised draft of the Specification.
For example, in the general requirements of "technology, equipment and technology", the revised draft of "Specifications and Conditions" added a new item, "It should meet the relevant requirements of traceability management of recycling and utilization of power batteries for new energy vehicles, and have the ability of information traceability, such as traceability information system and auxiliary facilities and equipment such as code identification." When it comes to the inability to dispose of "electronic components, metals, graphite, plastics, rubber, diaphragms, electrolytes and other parts and materials produced in the process of comprehensive utilization", it requires enterprises to "hand over relevant qualified enterprises for centralized treatment according to relevant national requirements" and "do a good job in tracking management"; In the article "Product Quality and Vocational Education", recycling enterprises are required to upgrade from "establishing a complete traceability system" to "establishing a complete information production process management system", which is also conducive to establishing a more complete and mature comprehensive utilization database of used power batteries.
Safety is the foundation of the development of power batteries. Similarly, the revised version of Specification and Conditions puts forward higher requirements for the safety of power batteries in the process of recycling. Among them, in the "Environmental Protection Requirements" clause, more detailed treatment requirements are added for "gas" separately, "the residues that are flammable and explosive at normal temperature and pressure and discharge toxic gases generated in the process of comprehensive utilization must be pretreated to make them stable before storage, otherwise they will be stored as flammable and explosive dangerous goods"; In the clause of "Safety in production, personal health and social responsibility", a new requirement for transportation is added: "The transportation of waste power batteries should meet the requirements of relevant national laws, regulations and standards, and the battery structure should be ensured as far as possible. Before transportation, the waste power batteries should be classified according to their safety characteristics, and the corresponding transportation plan should be adopted according to relevant standards, with safety guarantee measures such as fire prevention, waterproof, explosion prevention, insulation and heat insulation, and emergency plans should be formulated."
Key common technologies need to be broken through urgently.
China’s lithium resources are about 7 million tons, ranking fourth in the world. However, due to the poor grade, difficult purification and high cost of lithium ore, it is necessary to import a large number of lithium ore every year, and its dependence on foreign countries exceeds 85%. "China demand" has also promoted the skyrocketing price of battery-grade lithium carbonate, from less than 50,000 yuan/ton at the beginning of 2015 to 180,000 yuan/ton at the end of 2017, an increase of nearly three times, which is not conducive to the development of new energy automobile industry and poses a serious challenge to China’s resource security.
Zhang Tianren said that waste power batteries are precious "urban mines", and the metal content is much higher than that of ores. Recovering and recycling valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel in them can improve resource utilization efficiency and reduce external dependence. Waste power batteries will do great harm to the ecological environment if they are improperly treated and discarded at will. "Heavy metal elements such as cobalt and nickel in cathode materials, organic substances in electrolyte and carbon materials in cathode will cause serious pollution to water and soil, especially once heavy metals penetrate into soil, it will be difficult to recover for decades."
Therefore, in the aspect of energy conservation and environmental protection, the revised draft of the Specifications and Conditions puts forward a specification for the recovery rate of lithium for the first time, that is, it is not less than 85%, and the material recovery rate should be not less than 90% if the material repair process is adopted. In order to avoid the "small workshop" of recycling with crude technology and backward technology from affecting the overall healthy development of the industry, the revised draft of "Specifications and Conditions" upgraded the environmental protection requirements. New construction, renovation and expansion of comprehensive utilization enterprises should strictly implement the environmental assessment system, and be included in the construction projects listed in the classified management list of pollutant discharge permits of fixed pollution sources, and apply for pollutant discharge permits in accordance with the relevant management regulations of the state on pollutant discharge permits; On-line monitoring devices such as wastewater, waste gas and industrial solid waste generated in the process of comprehensive utilization have changed from "encouraging installation" to "should have".
The revised version of the Specification emphasizes that "production equipment and facilities with high production automation efficiency, advanced energy consumption indicators, environmental protection standards and high comprehensive utilization rate of resources should be selected, and new technologies and processes that are energy-saving, environmental protection, clean, efficient and intelligent should be adopted." Zhang Tianren said that at present, the recycling technology is not mature, the level of automation is low and the cost remains high. "In view of the weak links in the recycling of waste power batteries, Industry-University-Research should be organized to jointly tackle key problems, continuously improve the level of process equipment, metal refining technology, energy saving and consumption reduction, break through key common technologies, effectively reduce production costs, and gradually cultivate mature industrial systems." (Reporter Li He)
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