With the rapid development of the new energy industry, the number of retired lithium-ion batteries continues to grow. Standardized, harmless, and high-recovery-rate crushing, sorting and recycling has become an important part of resource recycling. In the whole recycling process, pre-discharge before recycling is an indispensable pretreatment step, which directly affects production safety, equipment service life and recycling efficiency.
Most retired lithium batteries still have residual power regardless of size. Direct crushing and disassembly without sufficient discharge can easily cause short circuits, high temperatures, sparks and other safety hazards, threatening the safety of operators and possibly damaging crushing equipment, as well as disrupting the subsequent sorting process. Meanwhile, undischarged batteries may lead to electrode damage and material oxidation during crushing, reducing the recovery rate of valuable materials such as copper, aluminum and cathode materials.
Using professional discharge equipment to conduct uniform, stable and controllable pre-discharge can quickly reduce the battery voltage to a safe range, minimizing the risk of thermal runaway and fire from the source. After standardized pre-discharge, the internal state of the battery becomes more stable, facilitating uniform crushing and precise sorting. This not only improves production line efficiency but also ensures the purity of recycled materials, achieving a win-win situation for safety and economic benefits.
In the resource recycling of waste lithium batteries, the sequence of discharge first, then crush, and sort later is a widely recognized scientific process in the industry. Attaching importance to pre-discharge is not only a basic requirement for safe production, but also an important guarantee for improving resource utilization and promoting the development of green circular economy.
