• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.3-18
• /
• 2019

Due to the increasing demand for clean energy, the consumption of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is expected to grow steadily. Therefore, stable supply of lithium is becoming an important issue globally. Commercially, most of lithium is produced from the brine and minerals viz., spodumene, although various processes/technologies have been developed to recover lithium from other resources such as low grade ores, clays, seawaters and waste lithium ion batteries. In particular, commercialization of such recycling technologies for end-of-life LIBs being generated from various sources including mobile phones and electric vehicles(EVs), has a great potential. This review presents the commercial processes and also the emerging technologies for exploiting minerals and brines, besides that of newly developed lithium-recovery-processes for the waste LIBs. In addition, the future lithium-supply is discussed from the technical point of view. Amongst the emerging processes being developed for lithium recovery from low-grade ores, focus is mostly on the pyro-cum-hydrometallurgical based approaches, though only a few of such approaches have matured. Because of low recycling rate (<1%) of lithium globally compared to the consumption of lithium ion batteries (56% of lithium produced currently), processing of secondary resources could be foresighted as the grand opportunity. Considering the carbon economy, environment, and energy concerns, the hydrometallurgical process may potentially resolve the issue.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.30 no.4
• /
• pp.59-66
• /
• 2022

Lithium-ion batteries have greatly expanded along with the mobile phone market, and as the electric vehicle business is activated in earnest, they will attract many people's attention even afterwards. Until now, many people have attracted attention to the recovery of valuable metals inside lithium-ion batteries, but graphite, which is mainly used as an anode material, is also worth recycling. Therefore, in order to recover graphite with high purity and valuable metals, graphite that can be used as an anode material of a secondary battery may be generated again through a regeneration process of purifying and separating graphite from a waste lithium-ion battery and recovering electrical characteristics of graphite. This paper describes the process of converting waste graphite into regenerated graphite and the environmental and economic effects of regenerated graphite.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.5-14
• /
• 2021

As the implementation of carbon reduction measures would be monitored starting from 2023 in line with the Paris Agreement, it is crucial and urgent to control GHGs emitted from wastes contributing to 11% of methane emissions. Despite such importance and urgency, 93% of wastes are deposited in unsanitary landfills in developing countries, presenting challenges to methane management. Against the backdrop, landfill gas-to-energy projects have once again drawn attention for their economic substantiality secured through CDM projects while there has been much research actively carried out to estimate methane emissions and GHG reductions in landfills located in developing countries. Although a signifiant difference was found between estimations calculated based on research methodologies and actual results monitored through registered CDM projects, there has not been a study conducted on what is causing such a difference. Accordingly, the research team conducted an analysis of 18 LFG projects out of 46 that were registered as LFG CDM projects under the UNFCCC and has identified precipitation(28%), malfunction(22%), organic content(11%), amount of landfilled waste(11%) and temperature(11%) as key parameters causing the difference between the amount of methane captured and the amount of GHG reduced.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.91-96
• /
• 2019

Microalgae do not require much land and make a higher efficient oil production. However, it costs still much higher than other biodiesel resources, such as crops. Sugars charge 80% of culture media when microalgae are massively cultured in the fermenter. This study aims to develop a cost-efficient process for sugar production from Chinese cabbage byproducts. Pre-treatment with 0.25% H₂SO₄ was most effective when chopped cabbage was incubated 50℃/130 rpm for 24 hours. To hydrolyze cabbage cellulose, we used cellulases secreted from Trichoderma. harzianum. T. harzianum was cultured at 28℃/pH 7/130 rpm for five days. Optimal enzymatic activity of cellulase was obtained by incubating at 0.24 FPU/ml/45℃/pH 5/130 rpm for three days. In comparison to other agricultural waste, such as rice straw, green tea leaves, and palm residue, Chinese cabbage produced the highest sugar yield. We found the optimal conditions to produce sugar from Chinese cabbage byproducts as a carbon source to culture biodiesel-producing microalgae. The efficient process developed in this study helps microalgae as a sustainable alternative energy source by cost-down.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.25-33
• /
• 2023

With the growth of the battery industry, a rapid increase in the production and usage of lithium-ion batteries is expected, and in line with this, much interest and effort is being paid to recycle waste batteries, including production scrap. Although much effort has been made to recycle cathode material, much attention has begun to recycle anode material to secure the supply chain of critical minerals and improve recycling rates. The proximate analysis that measures the content of coal can be used to analyze graphite in anode material, but it cannot accurately analyze due to the interaction between the components of the black mass. Therefore, in this study, thermogravimetric analysis of each component of black mass was measured as the temperature increased up to 950℃ in an oxygen atmosphere. As a result, in the case of cathode material, no change in mass was measured other than a mass reduction of about 5% due to oxidation of the binder and conductive material. In the case of anode material, except for a mass reduction of about 2% due to the binder, all mass reduction were due to the graphite(fixed carbon). In addition, metal conductors (Al, Cu) were oxidized and their mass increased as the temperature increased. Thermal analysis results of mixed samples of cathode/anode show similar results to the predictive values that can be calculated through each cathode and anode analysis results.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.45-53
• /
• 2023

This study discussed the trend and future strategy of adsorption technology R&D to effectively recover ammonia emitted from the livestock fields. A proper ammonia adsorbent should incorporate acidic or hydrogen bonding functional groups on the surface, as well as a high specific surface area and a good surface structure appropriate for ammonia adsorption. Activated carbon and minerals such as zeolite have widely been used as ammonia adsorbents, but their adsorption effects are generally low, so any improvement through surface modification should be necessary. For example, incorporation of metal chloride included in a porous adsorbent can promote ammonia adsorption effectiveness. Recently, new types of adsorbents such as MOFs (Metal-Organic Frameworks) and POPs (Porous Organic Polymers) have been developed and utilized. They have shown very high ammonia adsorption capacity because of adjustable and high specific surface area and porosity. In addition, Prussian Blue exhibited high ammonia adsorption and desorption performance and selectivity. This looks relatively advantageous in relation to the recovery of ammonia from livestock waste discharge. In the future, further research should be made to evaluate ammonia adsorption/desorption efficiency and purity using various adsorbents under conditions suitable for livestock sites. Also, effective pre- and/or post-treatment processes should be integrated to maximize ammonia recovery.

• Resources Recycling
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.21-29
• /
• 2024

Globally, the demand for electric vehicles (EVs) is surging due to carbon-neutral strategies aimed at decarbonization. Consequently, the demand for lithium-ion batteries, which are essential components of EVs, is also rising, leading to an increase in the generation of spent batteries. This has prompted research into the recycling of spent batteries to recover valuable metals. In this study, we aimed to selectively leach and recover lithium from the cathode material of spent LFP batteries. To enhance the reaction surface area and reactivity, the binder in the cathode material powder was removed, and the material was subjected to heat treatment in both atmospheric and nitrogen environments across various temperature ranges. This was followed by a mechanochemical process for aqueous leaching. Initially, after heat treatment, the powder was converted into a soluble lithium compound using sodium persulfate (Na₂S₂O₈) in a mechanochemical reaction. Subsequently, aqueous leaching was performed using distilled water. This study confirmed the changes in the characteristics of the cathode material powder due to heat treatment. The final heat treatment in a nitrogen atmosphere resulted in a lithium leaching efficiency of approximately 100% across all temperature ranges.

• Clean Technology
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.13-25
• /
• 2001

With fast advancement of fine machineries and semiconductor industries in recent decades, the ultra-cleaning of organic chemicals, submicron particles from contaminated unit equipments and products such as silicon wafers becomes one of the most important steps for further advancement of such industries. To date, two kinds of ultra cleaning techniques are used; one is the wet-cleaning and the other is the dry cleaning. In case of wet cleaning, removal of organic contaminants and submicron particles is made by DIW with additives such as $H_2O_2$, $H_2SO_4$, HCl, $NH_4OH$ and HF, etc. While the wet cleaning method is most widely adopted for various occasions, it is inevitable to discharge significant amount of toxic waste waters in environment. Dry cleaning is an alternative method to mitigate environmental pollution of the wet cleaning with maintaining comparable degree of cleaning to the wet cleaning. Although there are various concept of dry cleaning have been devised, the dry cleaning with environmentally-benign solvent such as carbon dioxide proven to show high degree of cleaning from the contaminated porous surface as well as from the bare surface. Thus, special global attention has been placing on this technique since it has important advantages of simple process schemes and no environmentally concern, etc. Thus, this article critically reviews the state-of-the-art of the supercritical fluid drying with emphasis on the thermo-physical characteristics of the supercritical solvent, environmental gains compared to other dry cleaning methods, and the generic aspects of the basic design and processing engineering.

• Culinary science and hospitality research
• /
• v.13 no.1 s.32
• /
• pp.119-128
• /
• 2007

Volatile flavor compounds of sauces made from shrimps, crabs or lobsters were analyzed by the combination of canister system, gas chromatography(GC) and mass selective detector(MSD). Of 72 total volatile compounds from 4 kinds of sauces, 45 compounds were identified from shrimp sauce(SS). Ten alkanes, 5 ketones, 3 aldehydes were obtained from SS. Especially, 3-methyl-2-butanone, 2-pentanamine, isobutane, 3-methyl-2-butanol, carbon disulfide and dimethyl sulfide were predominant compounds in SS. In crab sauce(CS), there were 18 compounds identified, including 4 alcohols, 4 alkanes, 3 aldehydes, 2 ketones, acid and amine. 2-Methoxy ethanol, trimethyloxirane and 3-buten-1-ol were special volatile compounds in CC. Volatile compounds from lobster head sauce(LHS) or lobster shell sauce(LSS) were 16 or 18 kinds respectively. The major volatile compounds of LHS were formic acid, 1-propanethiol, $\beta$-pinene and allyl sulfide, and those of LSS were acids, pentane, 3-methyl-1-butanol and 2,4-dimethyl-3-pentanone. It was thought that the volatile compounds identified from sauces as well as shrimps, crabs or lobsters might come from wine, onions, bay leaves or celery used as minor ingredients.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.268-273
• /
• 2014

Experiments on carbonization were conducted using fish offal generated from fish market for the purpose of resource recycling. Elemental composition of fish offal and effect of carbonation temperature on the overall yield were investigated. Carbon and hydrogen contents of fish offal were 51.1% and 7.6%, respectively in view of elemental composition. Particularly, nitrogen and sulfur contents were as high as 9.8% and 1.0%, respectively. These values suggests that odor problem of fish offal can be serious. Comparing elemental composition of fish offal with other waste materials, it is thought that carbon and hydrogen contents are considerably high. These implies that thermal disposal will be the best option for final disposal method of fish offal. As a results of carbonization experiments on Mackerel, Hairtail, Croaker and mixed sample of Mackerel, Hairtail and Croaker, carbonization patterns were quite similar irrespective of fish species. Carbonization yield was varied significantly depending on carbonization temperature at the carbonization time of 5 minutes and 10 minutes. When the carbonization time was maintained longer than 30 minutes, yield variation depending on time variation at each temperature was insignificant. Thus, it can be concluded that effect of carbonization time on overall yield was minor when the carbonization time was maintained longer than 30 minutes. Primary vaporization in carbonization conducted at the temperature of $400^{\circ}C$ was minor. Thus, difference of yield between temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ and $400^{\circ}C$ was appeared greatly. It can be concluded that yield difference depending on carbonization temperature can be neglected if the carbonizing temperature exceed $600^{\circ}C$ and carbonizing time exceed 10 minutes at the same time.