Spent Lead–Acid Battery Recycling by Hydraulic Fluidized Bed Sorting

Abstract

Abstract

Spent lead–acid batteries (LABs) have been extensively studied because of their environmental pollution, public health harmfulness, and their use as raw materials for the production of recycled lead. This article focuses on the recovery of valuable resources, such as lead paste and plastic, by the “crushing–sieving–sorting” treatment process. A mixture (lead paste, plastic, and grid) can be obtained from spent LABs by the impact crushing process. Then, they can be effectively separated for the first time by an independently designed hydraulic fluidized bed sorter with suitable water flow. The results show that when the flow rate is 12 m³/h, the yields of the three products (lead paste, grid, and plastic) were 73.34%, 20.58%, and 6.08%, with recovery rates of 97.97%, 98.91%, 97.39%, respectively. The impurity content of lead paste is 0.5%. Our pioneered fluidized bed sorting process is convenient, fast, and labor-saving. It not only helps to regenerate secondary lead products after recycling, but also reduces the harm to humans and the environment.