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With the introduction of specific policies by the country, there have been more topics related to the cascading utilization of power lithium batteries recently. I saw a question online: Which type of battery is more suitable for cascading utilization, including ternary lithium-ion batteries, lithium iron phosphate batteries, and other positive electrode materials?

We do not care about the official, the responsible recycling manufacturers, or the public, but only view this issue from the perspective of practitioners who hope to enter this industry. Which field should I invest my time and energy into to be most worthwhile. The value here includes both the possibility of stable returns and the time dimension. In the long run, at least my field will still exist.

It is not easy to answer this question directly, as the benefits of cascading utilization do not entirely depend on ternary or iron lithium. Let's take a turn here and discuss what characteristics of batteries are suitable for further development and cascading utilization?

1. Differences in battery cell performance due to different positive electrode materials

The safety, energy density, and power density of positive electrode materials are the basic criteria for different vehicle models to make choices about lithium-ion battery types. However, as can be seen later, the characteristics of power lithium-ion batteries themselves cannot fully determine the quality of cascading utilization performance.

1) Lithium manganese oxide

Lithium manganese oxide, as a lithium-ion battery material with a long history of use, has high safety, especially strong resistance to overcharging, which is a prominent advantage. Due to the good structural stability of lithium manganese oxide, the amount of positive electrode material used in cell design does not need to exceed that of the negative electrode too much. In this way, the number of active lithium ions in the entire system is minimized, and after the negative electrode is fully charged, there will not be too many lithium ions stored in the positive electrode. Even if overcharging occurs, there will not be a situation where a large number of lithium ions deposit and form crystals on the negative electrode. Therefore, lithium manganese oxide has the best overcharge resistance among commonly used materials.

In addition, the material price is low and the production process requirements are relatively low, making it an early and widely used positive electrode material.

2) Lithium iron phosphate

The advantages of lithium iron phosphate are mainly reflected in its safety and cycle life. The important determining factor comes from the olivine structure of lithium iron phosphate. This structure, on the one hand, results in lower ion diffusion ability of lithium iron phosphate, and on the other hand, it also gives it good high-temperature stability and good cycling performance.

The disadvantages of lithium iron phosphate are also quite obvious, such as low energy density, poor consistency, and poor low-temperature performance.

The low energy density is determined by the chemical properties of the material itself, and a large molecule of lithium iron phosphate can only accommodate one lithium ion.

3) Ternary lithium

The ternary lithium cathode material combines the advantages of LiCoO2, LiNiO2, and LiMnO2, forming a synergistic effect within the same battery cell. It takes into account the stability, activity, and lower cost requirements of the material structure, and is the highest energy density among the three important cathode materials. Its low-temperature effect is also significantly better than that of lithium iron phosphate batteries.

The higher the content of Ni among the three elements, the higher the energy density of the battery cell, and at the same time, the lower the safety of the battery cell. In practical applications, the proportion relationship of the three materials in the battery cell is constantly changing over time. People's pursuit of energy density is increasing, and therefore the proportion of Ni is also increasing. The improvement of the safety performance of the battery itself and the improvement of the system's ability to monitor and handle accidents will also promote the expansion of the ternary lithium-ion battery market

2. The important benchmark for retired power lithium batteries is lead-acid batteries

Many scenarios where lead-acid batteries are currently being used are price sensitive, space insensitive, and performance insensitive, which is why lead-acid batteries are chosen. When retired power lithium batteries solve the price problem, it is highly likely to replace some applications of lead-acid.

There is a literature specifically comparing the characteristics of lead-acid batteries and inference power lithium-ion batteries. According to the recommendations of most car manufacturers and battery manufacturers, the remaining 7080% capacity of the EV lithium-ion battery pack should be replaced, otherwise unexpected driving malfunctions and safety issues may occur. At present, this process usually occurs after 35 years of vehicle operation, and it is necessary to consider replacing the lithium-ion battery pack for electric vehicles.

Although some performance parameters of retired lithium-ion batteries have decreased, they still have advantages compared to lead-acid batteries. From the data table in Table 1, it can be seen that the cycle life and energy density of retired batteries are much higher than lead-acid batteries, and the price advantage of lead-acid batteries is relatively weak.

3. Important factors affecting cascade utilization

1) Testing, screening, and reprocessing costs

The living space for the reuse of retired power lithium batteries may gradually be squeezed as the cost of new batteries decreases. In the short term, it will not be affected by other types of power sources, including the impact of new battery cells after price reductions. This is the first factor to consider when choosing to subdivide battery cell categories for hierarchical utilization.

According to GGII data, the price of power lithium batteries decreased by 20% to 25% at the end of 2017 compared to the beginning of 2017. The price of lithium iron phosphate battery packs has decreased from 1.8-1.9 yuan/Wh at the beginning of the year to 1.45-1.55 yuan/Wh at the end of the year. The price of ternary power lithium battery packs has decreased from 1.7-1.8 yuan/Wh at the beginning of the year to 1.4-1.5 yuan/Wh at the end of the year.

According to news reports, in mid-2017, the specific energy of power lithium batteries in China was 180Wh/kg. By 2020, the specific energy of power lithium batteries will continue to increase, reaching 300Wh/kg. By 2020, the average price per kilowatt hour of global battery systems will be around 1000 RMB, 100 USD, and 100 EUR.

When the price difference between new and old batteries approaches the comprehensive cost of secondary utilization batteries such as testing, reprocessing, equipment replacement, and maintenance, it may lead to the situation where old batteries have no reuse value. If historical data can be utilized, it will save some detection costs and this time will come later.

After the impulse to reuse, power lithium batteries can only be centrally processed by dismantling and recycling raw materials. Battery disassembly should be a longer life cycle method for handling battery cells. Of course, the secondary treatment of battery cells, as well as the unified specifications, module design, battery pack operation mode, etc., all have an impact on the secondary utilization of battery cells at the cell level. It is also necessary to observe the development of related technologies and the trend of reducing processing costs.

2) There is room for cost reduction and efficiency improvement in processing technology

This perspective is actually an extension of 1). What kind of battery cells can achieve a small amount of research and development support for mass production applications?

Specification consistency

In the early stage of the electric vehicle industry, there were many types of battery cells with small quantities, and the detection of battery cells had strong parameter personalization for different types of battery cells. Therefore, it can be said that up to now, battery cells with universal specifications such as 18650 have more research value.

Cells with historical data

With historical data, the abuse of power lithium batteries, overall changes in charging and discharging capacity, voltage, and so on are all recorded. With the help of research results on the relationship between the external characteristics and internal structure of battery cells, preliminary consistency evaluation, residual value evaluation, and safety evaluation can be conducted without obtaining the battery.

According to official documents, new energy vehicle products registered after 2017 are not required to be purchased by individuals

Commercial vehicles and specialized vehicles purchased by individuals shall upload relevant data in accordance with the national standard "Technical Specification for Remote Service and Management System of Electric Vehicles" (GB/T32960). Personal purchases of new energy passenger vehicles shall upload relevant data when the vehicle's status, charging status, and operating mode change, but not including positioning data. Prior to this, the data recording of different vehicle battery cells may have been uneven.

3) Scenarios of secondary utilization of power lithium batteries

At present, the well-known ones are electric energy storage power stations, new energy power stations, household energy storage, electric power supply vehicles, low-speed electric vehicles, communication base stations, new energy street lights, and so on. Regarding each application scenario, there is no specific data on the performance requirements of batteries and their sensitivity to price. It is not advisable to draw further conclusions. After mastering the specific data, we will start a new topic for further discussion. But their different needs inevitably affect the performance of the battery when users choose, which is an objective linkage relationship.

4. A typical retired lithium-ion battery application scenario as an example for communication base stations

ChunboZHU published a paper in IEEE in 2017, titled "Effect of retaining cycle life one common to free electric vehicle lithium ion battery second use battery backup power for communication base station". The article has a publication period and the data is for reference only. It is not difficult to see from this case that the detailed information of the application scenario is very important for evaluating the suitability of a battery cell application. Therefore, it is unscientific to evaluate it too broadly as appropriate or inappropriate.

1) Working conditions and application scenarios

In our country, there are a very large number of communication base stations with a wide distribution range. More and more base stations have been built in remote suburbs, on both sides of roads, and on mountaintops. With the advancement of technology, renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power have become widely available to power base stations in remote areas that cannot be reached by the power grid.

At present, the market price and post-treatment cost for purchasing lead-acid batteries are 0.6 yuan/Wh and 0.2 yuan/Wh, respectively. The test standard developed by China Tower Co., Ltd. requires that the cycle life of lead-acid batteries exceed 200 times. According to the research of the communication base station management unit, the working conditions, application scenarios, and related detailed parameters of the backup power supply for the communication base station are listed in Table 2.

2) Cost calculation model

Regardless of the working conditions of the backup power supply, the parameters to be analyzed when comparing the working conditions of backup lithium-ion batteries and lead-acid batteries are the same. These parameters include: battery capacity, purchase price, installation and replacement costs, electricity, waste disposal costs of battery packs, different operating strategies determined based on working conditions, battery power requirements, and battery discharge time.

The following are the formula expressions for various cost estimation related parameters. In cost analysis, the most important indicator is the average annual cost savings of retired lithium-ion batteries compared to lead-acid batteries. This indicator directly reflects the economic viability of retired lithium-ion batteries and can be calculated using formula (1).

Among them:

R: Annual cost savings rate,%;

Pbaac: Annual average cost of lead-acid batteries, in RMB 10000;

LiAAC: The average annual cost of retired lithium-ion batteries, in 10000 RMB.

According to formula (2), evaluate the annual cost,

Among them:

AAC: Annual average cost, 10000 RMB/year;

Cost: The total cost of estimating or operating the cycle, in 10000 RMB;

Topr: Estimating or operating cycle, year.

Estimate the total cost of operating cycle (COST)

Important includes the total cost of backup battery packs; Post maintenance costs, initial installation and replacement costs of battery packs, and residual value of discarded battery packs. When calculating the operation cycle, consider both calendar lifespan and cycle lifespan.

Among them:

Topr: Estimating or operating cycle, year;

Pb_ Tperl: Cycle life duration of lead-acid battery pack, in years;

Pb_ Tcal: Calendar lifespan time of lead-acid battery pack, in years;

Li_ Tperl: Retired lithium-ion battery pack cycle life time, one year;

Li_ Tcal: The usage time of retired lithium-ion battery packaging calendar, in years.

The duration of battery cycle life (Tperl) is determined by the battery's cycle life (Ncl) and operating strategy (Noc). The operating strategy refers to the number of charges and the daily discharge cycle completed by the battery pack based on working conditions and application scenarios. This parameter can be calculated by using (4).

3) Analysis of estimated results

At present, in China, the price of new power lithium batteries is about 2.2 yuan/Wh, the average price of retired lithium-ion batteries is about 0.73 yuan/Wh, and the cost of screening and restructuring components is about 0.60 yuan/Wh. Considering that retired lithium-ion batteries are currently in the trial operation stage and there is still price space after mass production, the price of the retired lithium-ion battery system available for the base station is set at 1.1 yuan/Wh. The price of lithium-ion batteries determined in China's 13th Five Year Plan is 0.8 yuan/hour. Based on the current proportion of new and old batteries, the estimated amount of retired lithium-ion batteries should reach 0.265 yuan/Wh after the completion of the 13th Five Year Plan. Considering the proportion of available batteries (some batteries cannot be reused due to various reasons, tentatively set at 50%) and the capacity degradation of retired lithium-ion batteries (tentatively set at 70%), and based on the current battery screening and grouping methods, the estimated price of retired batteries after re adjustment is 0.265/50%/70%=0.757. Therefore, a comparative analysis is conducted using a purchase price with a target unit price of 0.7 yuan/Wh.

In the field of new energy, when the remaining cycle life of retired lithium-ion batteries is 443 times (purchase price 1.1 yuan/hour) and 286 times (purchase price 0.7 yuan/hour), the total cost of retired lithium-ion batteries is the same as lead-acid batteries. With the increase of remaining cycle life, the economic benefits of retired lithium-ion batteries have significantly increased. This is important because in this scenario, the operating condition of the battery pack is that the battery pack needs to complete one charge and discharge cycle every day, so the remaining cycle life of the battery pack is the most important factor affecting economy; The economic benefits belong to the remaining cycle life sensitive type.

In the other three application scenarios, even if the purchase price is different, when the remaining cycle life of retired lithium is 219 times (high-temperature scenario) and 214 times (one or two types of electricity), the savings rate reaches a fixed value of 274 times (three or four types of electricity), and as the remaining cycle life increases, the cost savings rate will not increase. For example, in a high-temperature scenario, the operation of the battery pack in this scenario involves a charging and discharging cycle of approximately 4.5 times per month. Therefore, the calendar life of the battery pack is an important factor affecting the economy, and the cost savings rate is sensitive to the calendar life. The actual calculation for this scenario is that when the cycle life of lead-acid batteries is 200 times and the remaining cycle life of retired lithium-ion batteries is 400 times, the cycle life time in this scenario can reach 3.65 years and 7.31 years, respectively, which is much longer than the corresponding calendar life time (2.5 years (approximately 137 cycle life for lead-acid batteries) and 4 years (approximately 219 cycle life for retired lithium-ion batteries). According to the economic calculation model, the useful parameter in the calculation is the calendar life of the battery, and the addition of the remaining cycle life cannot improve cost savings. The situation in the other two scenarios is similar and will not be repeated here.

1) Cells with clear historical data that can be analyzed to obtain basic safety and residual value evaluation results have the advantage of secondary utilization;

2) The specifications are unified, including appearance, performance parameters, etc., and the overall quantity of battery cells is large, such as the mainstream capacity specification of 18650. With the implementation of official battery standards and the gradual enrichment of market operation experience, I believe that the unity of battery cells and battery packs will become better and more conducive to secondary utilization.

3) Regarding the overly complex specification parameters and the small quantity of battery cells in a single category (in the early stages of the power lithium battery market, the types of battery cells were relatively complex), it is probably more reasonable to recycle and dispose of raw materials in a centralized manner.

4) Considering specific application scenarios and evaluating the economic viability of retired batteries based on benchmarking products is a good way to develop secondary utilization products for power lithium batteries, rather than making direct judgments.

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