RECYCLE OF LEAD ACID BATTERY

Battery recycling is a recycling activity that aims to reduce the number of batteries being disposed as municipal solid waste. Batteries contain a number of heavy metals and toxic chemicals and disposing of them by the same process as regular household waste has raised concerns over soil contamination and water pollution.

Lead-acid batteries include but are not limited to: car batteries, golf cart batteries, UPS batteries, industrial fork-lift batteries, motorcycle batteries, and commercial batteries. These can be regular lead–acid, sealed lead–acid, gel type, or absorbent glass mat batteries. These are recycled by grinding them, neutralizing the acid, and separating the polymers from the lead. The recovered materials are used in a variety of applications, including new batteries. The lead in a lead–acid battery can be recycled. Elemental lead is toxic and should therefore be kept out of the waste stream.

Lead–acid batteries collected by an auto parts retailer for recycling. The casing of a Lead–acid battery is often made of either polypropylene or ABS, which can also be recycled, although there are significant limitations on recycling plastics. Many cities offer battery recycling services for lead–acid batteries. A battery-industry promotional group, the Battery Council, says that about 99% of lead from used batteries is reclaimed.

Car battery recycling represents one of the most exciting recycling processes due to the possibility to recover important quantities of lead and plastics. The recycling process is easy and cost-effective as lead is easy to extract and can be reused multiple numbers of times. This led to many profitable businesses and the recycling of other batteries.

During 2015, the lead acid battery market in India was growing at a rate of 16.5 per cent. The number of vehicles in India increased from 55 million in 2001 to 159.5 million in 2012, consequently increasing the demand for lead acid batteries. Under the Batteries Management and Handling Rules (2001) ULABs procured by retailers are to be sold only to registered (formal) recyclers, who are required to use environmentally friendly processes to recycle the lead. Off-grid renewable energy storage is primarily used for solar power-based home systems in rural areas, lighting and charging solutions or roof-top solar applications in urban areas. Formal recycles incur additional costs for recycling every battery, and a significant share of ULAB (Unused Lead Acid Battery) gets diverted towards informal recycling.

Poor collection frequencies also lead to the diversion of batteries to informal smelters. Formal smelters face underutilization of plant capacity due to lack of feedstock, and as a result support the informal sector by procuring re-melted lead and smelting it further.

Value chain recycling; N: New Battery, O: Old battery, R: Re-cycled Lead

Lead Acid Batteries are recyclable due to the very nature of Lead. Lead can be recycled almost any number of times. Of course there are process losses but this recyclability of Lead has brought environmental and business sustainability to the Lead Acid battery Industry. Lead Acid Batteries have been irreplaceable for past several years due to this very important factor. Lithium Ion batteries fail miserably in the recyclability factor. Currently the process is not profitable for Entrepreneurs Individually and also the process is too complex due to the complex chemistry of the Lithium Ion Batteries.

Lead Acid Battery Recycling Plant / Battery Recycling Plant Owners should be responsible enough to know that Lead is toxic and can cause harm to the environment / people if not handled properly. They should select the best of Equipment to make sure that profits are made but sustainably and responsibly.

The battery contains around 70 % lead, 20% acid and 10% plastic case. In recycling process batteries are broken cover of batteries is removed and acid is drained out for neutralization. Top portion is hammered for shredding of plastic and the lead posts fixed in the top are released. Furnace smelting is done for approximately 5 hours at over 1000ᵒC lead and slag is tapped separately. Refining is done by lowering the temperature thereby decreasing the solubility of impurities. Once the lead is purified it is cast into ingots and reused for further purposes.

But during this process lead dust and toxic gases released which needs proper filtering. To arrest these dust particles bag filter or filter fabric can be used to collect dust particles.

It is estimated that at least 85% of lead consumed could potentially be recycled. However, in practice the amount that is recovered is lower. Car battery recycling represents one of the most exciting recycling process due to the possibility to recover important quantities of lead and plastics. The recycling process is easy and cost-effective as lead is easy to extract and can be reused multiple numbers of times. This led to many profitable businesses and the recycling of other batteries.

The lead recycling process is of great interest in the lead industry. Nowadays, more than 50% of the overall world lead production comes from secondary lead smelters. The main raw material for this process is used lead-acid batteries ( ISRI Rains) and lead scrap ( ISRI Radio). Roughly, about 90% of scrap batteries are recycled.

Lead has one of the highest recycling rates in the world, higher even than better known recycled objects such as paper or glass. It is also the most recycled metal of all those commonly used, far greater than copper, aluminum, or zinc.

Lead recycling makes a significant contribution to sustainable development, easing the pressure on non-renewable resources and reducing carbon emissions through a simple and energy-efficient recovery method.

It is intended to prepare a Feasibility Report to install a Lead Acid Battery Recycling Plant for Lead Ingot production with an installed capacity of 12000 Tons / Year as a Green Field Project.

Products WT.%
Lead Ingot 65%
Plastic recover 12%
Na2SO4 18%
Loss 5%
Total 100%