Battery production & recycling

Across the world, businesses are rising to one of the biggest challenges facing us all today: the growing demand for renewable electricity. Gigafactories are being built for manufacturing batteries to store wind, solar, and hydroelectric energy. Recycling facilities will reduce the demand for new lithium and cobalt, thus averting supply chain disruptions. However, battery production and recycling are not free from contamination.

DESOTEC is proud to be part of this drive to a greener future. Our filters can treat pollutants such as N-Methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). This is a substance of very high concern (SVHC) and is therefore subject to very strict emissions limits. Based on activated carbon, DESOTEC filtration can also remove carbonic acid esters such as dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and ethylmethyl carbonate (EMC), which are not classified as SVHC but are very volatile and photosensitive.

In lithium battery production, air emissions are a bigger challenge than wastewater. DESOTEC’s sustainable mobile filtration solutions provide the simple answer to this complex problem.

Our filters handle the high flow rates with low concentrations which are typical of this application. They treat emissions from the coating of cathodes (e.g., NMP) and from the injection of electrolytes into the battery (e.g., DMC and EMC). DESOTEC filtration solutions are also effective at treating emissions from storage tanks.

By purifying NMP and electrolyte solvents, our filters may allow the solvent reuse in the battery manufacturing process. They remove impurities from decomposition such as aromatic or halogenated compounds from these solvents, potentially improving their quality and that of the finished product.

When batteries are shredded, electrolytes evaporate, often at low flow rates but high concentrations. Again, DESOTEC filters are up to the task of removing EMC, DMC and their decomposition products from these emissions.

DESOTEC filters may also be used in combination with other technologies. For example, wet scrubbers may treat highly corrosive hydrofluoric acid upstream, while our filters can remove residual acid downstream, therefore acting as a polishing step.

The washing and rinsing of shredded components as well as on-site rainfall run-off give rise to industrial wastewater. This contains a mixture of components from electrolytes, coatings, and cleaning fluids, and their contamination is measured in terms of overall chemical oxygen demand (COD) levels. DESOTEC is here for your firm, with mobile water filtration services to treat wastewater and keep our waterways and land clean.