Lead-acid Battery Recycling Equipment: Solving Customer Problems from Setup to Operation

Lead-acid batteries are one of the most widely used energy storage devices globally, and their recycling process involves a complex technological chain and stringent environmental requirements. Our factory's lead-acid battery recycling equipment has helped numerous clients establish and operate their systems, providing in-depth solutions to typical problems encountered during project implementation.

I. Equipment Setup: Modular Design and Compliance as Core

1. Site Selection and Layout Principles

Environmental Isolation: The factory must be located away from residential areas and water sources, with impermeable ground and rainwater collection systems to prevent electrolyte leakage and contamination.

Functional Zoning: Divided into a pre-treatment area (crushing and sorting), a smelting area (lead recycling), a plastic recycling area, and an acid treatment area to avoid cross-contamination.

Expansion Reserve: Adopting a modular design, 20%-30% space is reserved for future capacity upgrades or technology iterations.

2. Key Equipment Selection

Crushing System: Equipped with a dual-shaft shear crusher with a processing capacity of ≥5 tons/hour, ensuring complete separation of the battery casing and lead components.

Sorting Equipment:

Gravity Separator: Separates lead particles from plastic fragments based on density differences, with a sorting accuracy of over 95%.

Magnetic Separator: Removes ferrous impurities, protecting subsequent smelting equipment.

Eddy Current Separator: Recovers non-ferrous metals such as copper and aluminum, improving resource utilization.

Smelting Furnace: Employs side-blown furnaces or short kilns, equipped with bag filters and desulfurization towers to ensure lead recovery ≥98% and sulfur dioxide emissions ≤50mg/m³.

Automated Control System: Integrates PLC and SCADA systems to monitor parameters such as temperature, pressure, and material flow rate in real time, reducing human error.

II. Operation Process: Four-Step Closed-Loop Resource Regeneration

1. Pre-treatment Stage

Discharge Treatment: Places waste batteries in a salt solution for complete discharge, eliminating safety risks caused by residual charge.

Crushing and Sorting: The crusher pulverizes the batteries into particles ≤50mm.

The plastic casing, lead grid, and electrolyte are separated by a vibrating screen and air separator.

1. Acid Treatment: After neutralization, the acid solution is either discharged in compliance with standards or reused in production.

2. Lead Recycling Stage:

Smelting and Reduction: Lead particles are fed into a smelting furnace with reducing agents (coke, iron filings) and reduced to crude lead at a high temperature of 1200-1300℃.

Refining and Purification: Impurities are removed through electrolysis or pyrometallurgical refining to produce 99.99% high-purity lead ingots for reuse by battery manufacturers.

3. Plastic Recycling Stage: Cleaned polypropylene (PP) fragments are granulated using an extruder to produce recycled plastic granules for use in the production of new battery casings or industrial products.

4. Tail Gas and Wastewater Treatment:

Tail Gas Treatment: Smelting exhaust gas is cooled, filtered through bag filters, and subjected to wet desulfurization before being discharged in compliance with standards.

Wastewater Recycling: Production water is treated using reverse osmosis membrane technology, achieving a reuse rate of ≥85% and reducing fresh water consumption.

III. Final Products and Sorting Efficiency

1. Core Outputs

Recycled Lead: Purity ≥99.99%, conforming to GB/T 468-2019 standard, directly used in lead-acid battery plate manufacturing.

Recycled Plastics: PP granules meet melt flow index standards, capable of replacing 30%-50% of virgin plastics.

By-products: Sodium sulfate (electrolyte treatment product), iron slag (smelting waste), both can be recycled through third-party companies.

2. Sorting Rate and Resource Utilization

Lead Sorting Rate: Recovery rate from waste batteries to crude lead ≥98%, overall resource utilization rate over 95%.

Plastic Sorting Rate: PP recovery rate ≥90%, impurity content ≤2%.

Acid Recovery Rate: Sulfuric acid recovery rate ≥85%, significantly reducing chemical procurement costs.

IV. Core Problems and Solutions Faced by Customers

1. Technology Adaptability Issues

Pain Point: Indian customers generally lack experience in high-temperature smelting and waste gas treatment, leading to frequent equipment failures.

Solution: Provide a turnkey project + on-site guidance from a localized technical team to develop a smelting furnace control system adapted to India's fluctuating power supply.

2. Environmental Compliance Pressure

Pain Point: India's CPCB has stricter lead emission standards (0.05mg/m³) than most developing countries, making it difficult for traditional processes to meet the requirements.

Solution: Introduce imported German bag filters and dual-alkali desulfurization towers to ensure real-time online connection of emission data to the regulatory platform.

3. Insufficient Raw Material Stability

Pain Point: The lead content of waste batteries supplied through informal recycling channels fluctuates greatly (15%-25%), affecting smelting efficiency.

Solution: Establish a "trade-in" incentive mechanism and sign long-term agreements with car dealerships and UPS suppliers to lock in high-lead-content waste.

4. Long Cost Recovery Cycle

Pain Point: Formal recycling costs are 30%-40% higher than informal channels, with a customer investment payback period exceeding 5 years. Solution: Assist in applying for subsidies under the Indian government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to develop high-value-added products (such as lead alloys and modified plastics).

V. Case Study: Transformation Practice of an Indian Factory

After introducing our equipment, a client achieved the following breakthroughs:

Improved sorting efficiency: Lead recovery rate increased from 82% to 98.5%, reducing annual primary lead procurement by 2,000 tons;

Reduced compliance costs: Through an automated emissions monitoring system, annual environmental testing costs were saved by over 500,000 RMB;

Increased market acceptance: Products obtained TÜV certification and successfully entered the supply chains of Tata Motors and Reliance Energy in India.

Conclusion: Technology-Driven Sustainable Recycling

The successful operation of lead-acid battery recycling equipment requires a balance between technological advancement and local adaptability. Through modular design, intelligent control, and full-chain resource management, clients can not only meet stringent environmental requirements but also build a low-cost, high-value-added circular economy model. In the future, with the advancement of India's "National Action Plan for Waste Battery Management," such equipment will become a key infrastructure driving green industrial transformation.