One of the main problems that the automotive industry faces with electric cars is the recycling of batteries when they are no longer operational. Researchers at the University of Agder have come up with a very promising system.
A team from the Norwegian University of Agder is developing a system that allows fast and safe recycling of batteries intended for use in electric cars.
This is one of the main problems faced by those who promote the transition to electric mobility, since there are still no sufficiently effective techniques to prevent this from becoming a environmental problem.
«The objective is to automate and speed up the disassembly of electric car batteries, classify the components and prepare them for recycling»says Associate Professor Martin Choux, from the University of Agder (UiA).
Together with Associate Professor Ilya Tyapin, from the UiA Department of Engineering, Choux completed the four-year research project Libres (Lithium-ion Battery Recycling) before the summer.
The research project was a collaboration with Norsk Hydro, Elkem Carbon, Batteriretur and Glencore Nikkelverk, among others, and was funded by the Research Council.
A recycling robot
The new method carries out the automatic disassembly of electric car batteries using robots with tight gripper arms. The robot is in turn controlled by an advanced 3D camera with artificial intelligence.
Specifically, the robot’s grippers sort battery components to the point of distinguish the different types of plastics used in battery cells and modules.
This robot is capable of extracting these plastics from the battery, allowing in turn a much more efficient recycling of key materials: lithium, cobalt, copper, aluminum and nickel.
“The recycled mass that we obtain is free of plastic particles and there is less subsequent sorting. Around 40% of the content is classified in advance»Choux says.
Before the robot’s gripping arms start to disassemble the electric car battery, artificial intelligence has detected all the parts of the battery and has calculated its exact location.
“The disassembly must be done in a correct order that differs between the around 300 types of electric car batteries that exist. When disassembling, the state of the battery is never fully known. Artificial intelligence must be precise to detect if the battery is dirty, how it works and if it has been damaged partially before the disassembly begins,” says Tyapin.
Half a million electric cars and more than 300 types of batteries
The final objective of the robotic recycling project is to offer a solution at the end of the useful life of half a million electric vehicles that Norway hopes to have on its roads by 2025.
As electric cars come out of their lifecycle, recycling will either become a problem or a solution, depending on how prepared the industry is for it.
As Tyapin has already advanced, there are more than 300 types of electric car batteries that must be handled in different ways. In the case of manual disassembly, each battery requires two people and around 45 minutes.. Disassembly is also associated with the risk of explosion and the risk of leakage of toxic materials.
“The goal is for our method to be effective and safe. Disassembly is automated and must be able to effectively handle large volumes of electric car batteries.”Tyapin concludes.
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