Time: 2018.07.03
In a battery recovery operation workshop, a new energy vehicle power battery that has been scrapped is being “processed” by the nickel cobalt manganese three-yuan pre-drive system preparation line.
Nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum and so on in this battery, because of its recycling value, by the Green beauty’s favor, has also become a third-party battery recycling institutions in the eyes of the best-loved.
Data show that by the end of 2017, China’s new energy vehicles had 1.8 million units. For early-market electric vehicles, battery life has gradually come to an end, with one battery after another facing scrapping. Some professionals predict that in 2018, China’s new energy vehicle power battery will usher in the first scrap peak, the market size of used batteries recycling market will expand to 5.2 billion yuan, by 2020 will even reach nearly 7 billion yuan.
But the reality is that the recovery process for power batteries is relatively slow.
The technology and environmental protection problems in recycling have not been solved, the recycling model is not clear, the industrial chain is not complete, etc. , these are the obstacles to a scrap battery recycling “rebirth”.
For the growing number of institutions that are flocking to the battery recycling market, while the market’s prospects are promising, it is not easy to eat this “cake”。
At present, the power battery used in new energy vehicles is mainly lithium iron phosphate battery and three-dollar lithium battery.
Until 2017, most enterprises used lithium iron phosphate batteries as energy storage devices, which have the advantage of a relatively long service life, good safety, but low energy density. With the new energy vehicles to the increasingly high demand for range, many new energy vehicle companies have turned to the use of three-way lithium batteries.
The “birth” of a lithium battery mainly involves four materials, namely positive materials, negative materials, electrolytes and diaphragms. Lithium phosphate and terayuan materials are positive materials for lithium batteries. Tianjin Dongyu Membrane Technology Co. , Ltd. Deputy General Manager Wang Bo introduced that his company is mainly responsible for the production of diaphragm, through docking with battery production enterprises, through logistics delivery materials, by the battery production enterprises on the battery package (group) and battery management system, constitute the new energy vehicle power system to provide energy battery. On January 26, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other relevant ministries jointly issued a notice on the issuance of the Interim Measures for the Management of The Recycling of New Energy Vehicle Power Batteries (hereinafter referred to as the Interim Measures). In the Interim Measures, the definition of power battery includes lithium-ion power battery, metal hydride/nickel power battery, etc., without lead-acid battery.
For a power battery, its life is typically three to five years.
Zhai Qiang, a researcher at the China Institute of Science and Technology Information, said the end-of-life of the power battery is mainly related to battery life, battery material and capacity decay. “At present, the domestic new energy vehicle power battery scrap standard is less than 80% of the battery capacity, in general, after 3 to 5 years of use, the range will not meet the standard, the need to replace a power lithium battery. “I’m going to say, ” said Mr.Zhai
In accordance with the “first ladder after the use of recycling” principle of recycling power lithium battery scrap, how to recycle it has become the future of the new energy vehicle battery industry to face the main problem.
Consulting data found that, at present, the domestic power battery recycling market mainly has three main forces, namely, BYD, CATL as the representative of the vehicle and battery manufacturers, to Green Beauty, Tianqi shares as the representative of the third-party recycling institutions, to Huayou cobalt industry, Xiamen Tungsten industry as the representative of the battery materials suppliers.
A Green beauty staff member told the Rule of Law Weekend reporter, they generally according to the amount of end-of-life battery loss to deal with accordingly.
“If the battery is between 50% and 80%, we will use it step by step through the appropriate technical equipment, if the battery is below 50%, cannot use it, the battery will generally be put into the brine, discharge, after the completion of the crushing treatment, extraction of raw materials.” The aforementioned Greene staff said.
According to the Interim Measures, on how to dispose of end-of-life batteries, battery production enterprises should be encouraged to cooperate with enterprises in the comprehensive utilization, under the premise of ensuring safety and control, and in accordance with the principle of first-step use and then recycling, to carry out multi-level, multi-purpose rational utilization of waste power batteries, reduce comprehensive energy consumption, improve energy efficiency, improve the level of comprehensive utilization and economic benefits, and ensure the environmental protection of non-use of residues.
As early as 2016, the state has issued a series of waste battery scrap recycling policy, clear the responsibility of the main body, and set up a new energy vehicle power battery traceability information management system, tracking the recovery of power batteries.
After many years of deep cultivation in the field of battery production, Wang Bo found that, at present, after the battery scrap is actually two main treatment methods, that is, dismantling and recycling and ladder utilization.
“Dismantling, residual life detection, sorting, and system integration after the recovery of end-of-life batteries. If there is no recycling value, the resulting element is broken and recycled. Recyclable, according to different requirements for integration, to use the ladder to the energy storage equipment, put into commercial residential energy storage stations, electric vehicle charging energy storage stations and telecommunications base stations and other places. Wang Bo told reporters at the Rule of Law Weekend.
Shenzhen Xiongyu Power Technology Co. , Ltd. chief engineer Yi Shouzhong has said that the use of ladders is only a part of recycling, and ultimately to dismantle the application, and dismantling applications involving harmless, resource-based, can not be said to be high cost, no recycling value to do, the future will be from technology, market, policy three aspects of comprehensive consideration of battery recycling.
Recovery market pain points
Despite the promising market prospects for power battery recycling and the principle of recycling, in Wang Bo’s view, the business of power battery recycling is not good.
According to Yan Qiang, the use of end-of-life batteries and recycling is not an easy thing. At present, the recycling of new energy vehicle power batteries involves many aspects, such as technology and environmental protection issues have not yet been overcome, recycling mode and profit model is not clear, recycling channels are narrow, etc. , are market pain points.
“In the recycling technology, because of the battery model complex, technical route is not unified, will inevitably lead to high selection costs, dismantling difficult, so not every enterprise can be recycled. In addition, the rapid detection means is not perfect, the re-integration of good product slower, and so on, will seriously affect the enthusiasm of power battery recycling enterprises. Wang Bo said.
Recently in Beijing through the map search, found that there are many recycling of used batteries, batteries of enterprises and individuals, but clearly recycled power lithium batteries are very few.
Some specialized recycling of waste practitioners told reporters: “lead-acid battery directly opened, the lead plate inside can sell money, but lithium batteries do not know how to deal with, generally we will not receive.”
In addition to the technical threshold, end-of-life battery recycling channels are also a major problem for enterprises.
According to the above-mentioned staff, the source of battery recovery is mainly the agreement cooperation with the vehicle factory and battery factory to deal with the discarded battery packs and the retired battery packs during the R & D process. As the car manufacturer is the first person in charge, it is difficult to recycle from other channels except these two ways. Generally, the amount of waste power battery recycled is not large.
Industry insiders also generally believe that the traditional plastic, paper, metal recycling, from production to recycling to reuse, has formed a closed loop, these recycling enterprises do not need to find their own waste, but the power battery recovery is obviously not yet the degree of traditional material recovery closure.
In addition, an effective market profitability model has not yet been developed, which is difficult for recycling companies to stimulate their enthusiasm for power battery recycling.
Data show that the price of the ladder power battery is 65% to 85% of the price of the lithium battery storage energy. Zhai Qiang’s analysis of the rule of law weekend reporter, from a profit point of view alone, the benefits cannot fully cover the enterprise in the recovery, transportation, storage and material decomposition process costs.
“The primary premise of battery recycling is that it is not possible to pollute the environment. At the same time, in the battery dismantling and material recovery process, also need a large amount of capital investment. All this will lead to a lack of incentives for recycling manufacturers, and government subsidies and concessions in fiscal and taxation are keys. “I’m going to say, said Mr.Zhai.
