Doosan Heavy Industries Develops Technology to Extract Lithium from Used Batteries Without Chemicals

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction announced on the 23rd that it has succeeded in developing a technology to recover lithium carbonate by recycling spent batteries.

Lithium carbonate is a key material that generates and charges electricity in batteries and is mainly used in IT device batteries such as laptops and mobile phones. To extract lithium carbonate from spent batteries, processes such as heat treatment, acid leaching (dissolving materials with acidic solutions), and crystallization are required, during which chemicals like sulfuric acid are generally used.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction explained that it has developed a new lithium extraction method that does not use chemicals. The method involves heat-treating the internal materials of spent batteries, selectively separating lithium using distilled water, and then extracting lithium carbonate through an electro-adsorption crystallization technology.

(Photo provided by Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction)

Starting in the second half of this year, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction plans to conduct a pilot operation of facilities capable of processing 1,500 tons of spent batteries annually and to produce lithium carbonate with 99% purity, thereby launching full-scale business operations.

Song Yongjin, Vice President of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, said, "With this technology development, we have secured an eco-friendly processing technology that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions and conserves resources compared to mining lithium from natural sources such as mines. We will actively target the domestic spent battery recycling market, which is expected to surge to 19,000 tons by 2029."

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction plans to lead the establishment of a circular economy through waste resource processing technologies such as spent battery recycling and hydrogen production from waste plastics and waste vinyl, while strengthening its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.