Investigation of zinc recovery by hydrogen reduction assisted pyrolysis of alkaline and zinc-carbon battery waste

Zinc (Zn) recovery from alkaline and zinc-carbon (Zn-C) battery waste were studied by a laboratory scale pyrolysis process at a reaction temperature of 950 °C for 15-60 min residence time using 5%H2(g)-N2(g) mixture at 1.0 L/min gas flow rate. The effect of different cooling rates on the properties of pyrolysis residue, manganese oxide particles, were also investigated. Morphological and structural characterization of the produced Zn particles were performed. The battery black mass was characterized with respect to the properties and chemical composition of the waste battery particles. The thermodynamics of the pyrolysis process was studied using the HSC Chemistry 5.11 software. A hydrogen reduction reaction of the battery black mass (washed with Milli-Q water) takes place at the chosen temperature and makes it possible to produce fine Zn particles by rapid condensation following the evaporation of Zn from the pyrolysis batch. The amount of Zn that can be separated from the black mass increases by extending the residence time. Recovery of 99.8% of the Zn was achieved at 950 °C for 60 min residence time using 1.0 L/min gas flow rate. The pyrolysis residue contains MnO and Mn2O3 compounds, and the oxidation state of manganese can be controlled by cooling rate and atmosphere. The Zn particles exhibit spherical and hexagonal particle morphology with a particle size varying between 200 nm and 3 µm. However the particles were formed by aggregation of nanoparticles which are primarily nucleated from the gas phase.