Development of Mn recovery process from waste dry cell batteries

• Published in: Journal of material cycles and waste management Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 1909 - 1917
• Main Authors: Yamaguchi, T., Nagano, H., Murai, R., Sugimori, H., Sekiguchi, C., Sumi, I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Springer Japan 01-10-2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Batteries; Chemical separation; Chemical treatment; Civil Engineering; Desiccants; Engineering; Environmental Management; Filtration; High strength steels; Iron and steel making; Manganese; Manganese compounds; Manganese oxides; Metals; Oxidation; Purity; Recovery; Special Feature: Original Article; Steel industry; Steel production; Waste Management/Waste Technology; oxidation; Mn; Electric furnace; Chemical separation; Dry-cell batteries; O
• ISSN: 1438-4957; 1611-8227
• DOI: 10.1007/s10163-017-0679-0

High-purity Mn is necessary for high strength steel production. However, the availability of metal Mn is limited to a few countries. Therefore, as an alternative to direct purchasing of metal Mn, a process for Mn recovery was investigated. Waste dry cell batteries are considered to be one of the most feasible Mn sources. We have developed a high efficiency chemical separation system. This system consists of a three-phase chemical treatment. In the first phase, the metal components of the waste dry cell batteries were dissolved by acid, along with a reducing agent. Afterward, the undissolved carbon particles were separated by filtration. In the second phase, the dissolved Mn was selectively precipitated as manganese oxide by O
3
oxidation. Then, the precipitated manganese oxide was separated from the other metal components by filtration. Finally, in the third phase, the manganese oxide was reduced to high-purity Mn using an electric furnace.