Disassembly of energy storage battery video

Can a robotic disassembly system save electric vehicle batteries?

Credit: Jenny Woodbery/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a robotic disassembly system for spent electric vehicle battery packs to safely and efficiently recycle and reuse critical materials while reducing toxic waste.

How do you disassemble a battery?

During the battery disassembly process, the casing and module must be separated. Standard methods include mechanical cutting, laser cutting, hydraulic shearing, and manual disassembly.

How to design a battery disassembly system?

The design of the disassembly system must consider the analysis of potentially explosive atmospheres (ATEX) 1 of the area around the battery pack and, if necessary, adopt tools enabled to work in the corresponding ATEX zone.

How does a battery disassembler work?

Once the casing is removed, the automated machine disassembles the battery down to its cell level, removing and recovering materials such as lithium, cobalt, and metal foils. It can also extract single battery modules for reuse in separate energy storage systems.

What is automated battery disassembly?

Automated disassembly reduces human exposure to toxic chemicals found inside the batteries and high power levels that are approaching the 900-volt level in some newer vehicles. The automated system, developed as part of DOE’s Critical Materials Institute, or CMI, can be easily reconfigured to any type of battery stack.

How can AI improve EV battery disassembly?

One optimization method is to conduct SOH estimation on electric vehicle batteries. Batteries with SOH values lower than 80% but higher than 50% can be used for echelon utilization. They are systematically disassembled if the SOH value is lower than 50%. AI has excellent potential in EV battery disassembly.