The “waste heat” of discharged lithium iron phosphate batteries is difficult to give full play to
la source:
2021/12/16 11:30
【Sommaire】:
　　According to data released by the China Automotive Industry Innovation Alliance, the cumulative sales of power batteries in China in 2020 will reach 65.9GWh. Among them, the cumulative sales volume was 30.8GWh, a year-on-year increase of 49.2%, and it was the only power battery type with a year-on-year growth.

　　 In addition, by 2020, 200,000 tons of power batteries will be retired. It is estimated that by 2025, the total decommissioning of power batteries in China will exceed 730,000 tons. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta regions with a large number of new energy vehicles, the cumulative decommissioning of power batteries by 2021 has exceeded 35GWh, and may reach 280GWh in the next five years.

　　 The large amount of iron phosphate loaded will also face a large number of retirements within 4-6 years. In this context, how to better dispose of discarded lithium iron phosphate batteries has become an urgent problem for the industry.

　　If a large amount of waste power lithium iron phosphate batteries cannot be recycled reasonably, it will not only cause waste of resources, but also cause environmental pollution and other problems.

　　 In fact, under the policy guidance of encouraging long-distance driving and pursuing high energy density, lithium iron phosphate batteries with high safety but low energy density were once marginalized, while batteries with high energy density were favored by the market. However, as subsidies for new energy vehicles have fallen sharply, the prices of popular models have also fallen. At the same time, spontaneous combustion accidents of new energy vehicles occur frequently. Cost and safety have become a problem for new energy automobile companies, providing conditions for the counterattack of lithium iron phosphate batteries. At the same time, the hot-selling red light MINIEV, Tesla Model3, BYD Han three models occupy the top three insurance models of lithium iron phosphate battery passenger car sales in 2020, and these three models also make lithium iron phosphate batteries. “Fire” up. Lithium iron phosphate batteries have made a comeback.

　　 It is understood that the current price of lithium iron phosphate batteries per kilowatt-hour is around 500-600 yuan, while the price of three-way lithium batteries is around 800 yuan.

　　 At the same time, the energy density of lithium iron phosphate, which has always been the focus of attention, has also increased. Wu Hui, general manager of the research department of Ivey Economic Research Institute, told reporters that although the energy density of lithium iron phosphate batteries has not been greatly improved, it has been improved through structural innovations such as blade batteries and CTP batteries.

　　 However, my country’s power battery recycling industry is still in its infancy, especially lithium iron phosphate batteries are facing many difficulties in the recycling process. If a large number of waste lithium iron phosphate batteries cannot be recycled reasonably, it will not only cause a waste of resources, but also cause environmental pollution and other problems.

　　 The cost of recycling a ton of lithium iron phosphate battery for a standard power battery recycling company is 8,500 yuan, while the value of the material extracted from a ton of lithium iron phosphate battery is only about 8,000 yuan

　　 The reporter learned that the use of retired power batteries is divided into two forms: echelon use and regeneration. With the increase in the number of cycles, the capacity of the decommissioned ternary lithium battery shows a trend of rapid decay, and the safety is relatively poor. Therefore, processing is generally carried out through crushing, dismantling, smelting, etc., to realize the recycling and utilization of resources such as nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium. However, the retired lithium iron phosphate battery still has good recyclability and safety, so it will be used first and then recycled.

　　 Generally speaking, lithium iron phosphate batteries are mostly used in low-speed electric vehicles and in the field of energy storage after continuous use. However, all interviewees said that power battery technology has been iterating rapidly in recent years, and the lithium iron phosphate batteries that are being phased out were basically produced four or five years ago, which has a large performance gap with the batteries currently produced. Most low-speed electric vehicle manufacturers do not choose to carry lithium iron phosphate batteries after continuous use. “At present, the cascade utilization effect of lithium iron phosphate batteries is not ideal. The stability of batteries produced a few years ago is poor, and the price after cascade utilization is not very good, about 0.1-0.2 yuan/Wh. A lithium battery recycling industry told reporters.

　　 Wu Hui believes that the current lithium iron phosphate battery technology used by the echelon is relatively mature, but the cost is relatively high. “If the technology reaches a certain level and the cost falls to a reasonable range, there is still an advantage in eliminating batteries.” Wu Hui said that in the future, the cost of batteries is unlikely to drop as rapidly as in previous years. The phased use of scrap batteries will definitely have advantages in the future. .

Tang Xiaolin, a senior researcher of lithium battery recycling, told reporters frankly: “Waste lithium iron phosphate batteries that cannot be used in the echelon cannot be sold at a good price, but the echelon manufacturers do not need to pay the processing fees and freight. Generally, a certain amount of lithium iron phosphate recycling manufacturers have accumulated Go.” In the future, with the increase in the number of used lithium iron phosphate batteries or the rise in the price of lithium salt, the situation will improve. ”

　　 It is understood that recycling companies are not very interested in the decommissioning of lithium iron phosphate batteries. According to relevant data, if taxation and waste disposal costs increase, the cost of recycling a ton of lithium iron phosphate batteries for conventional power battery recycling companies is 8,500 yuan, and the value of materials from a ton of lithium iron phosphate batteries is only 8,000 yuan.

　　 “At present, the entire recycling channel is chaotic, and the cost of formal enterprises is high. Many middlemen resell retired batteries, which makes formal enterprises unable to receive batteries and make profits.”

The heat of lithium iron phosphate batteries continues to rise. Some industry insiders pointed out that compared with ternary batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries have low recycling rates, lack of profit points, or even “losses”, resulting in lithium iron phosphate batteries not only unable to recycle Bring economic benefits, but it will become a burden.

　　 “Although the value of lithium iron phosphate batteries is low, the value of recycling is not high, the income from recycling and resale is low, and the price is not high at the time of purchase,” Wu Xiaodong said. Regarding the prediction of large-scale decommissioning of lithium iron phosphate batteries within 4-6 years, the interviewees all believe that as long as the number of decommissioning of lithium iron phosphate batteries or ternary lithium batteries reaches a certain scale and produces scale effects, this will affect the entire recycling industry. By playing a positive role, companies can also realize profits.

　　 “At present, the entire recycling channel is chaotic, the cost of formal enterprises is high, and many middlemen resell retired batteries, resulting in formal enterprises not receiving battery profits.” said Wu Hui.

　　Huayou Recycling General Manager Bao Wei said: “Retired batteries should go to leading companies, but this is not the case. Leading companies recycle less than 30% of used batteries.”

　　Statistics show that as of the beginning of 2020, the number of companies in my country’s business scope includes about 3,000 “battery recycling” companies. In 2019 alone, there were more than 700 new companies, but there were very few “regular forces” among them. In 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the first batch of companies that met the “Industry Standards and Conditions for the Comprehensive Utilization of Waste Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles”. There were only 5 shortlisted companies. By 2020, the number of shortlisted companies will only increase by 22.

　　 “If more companies participate in recycling, the price of recycling will be higher.” The above-mentioned lithium battery recycling industry said that overcapacity is currently the main problem facing the power battery recycling industry. “There is no need to worry that no one will collect these used batteries. There are already enough companies, and the track has been’blocked’.”

In fact, as early as 2018, the “Interim Measures for the Management of the Recycling of Power Batteries for New Energy Vehicles” jointly issued by seven ministries and commissions pointed out that as the main body of responsibility, automobile manufacturers should establish power battery recycling channels to be responsible for recycling new energy vehicles and scrapping. Waste power battery.

　　 Bao Wei believes that whether it is direct recycling or echelon utilization, both upstream and downstream enterprises of power battery need to play a role together. “Automakers can better cooperate with companies that use waste batteries and actively innovate profit models.”