Energy and Environmental Impacts of Lithium Production for Automotive Batteries
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Energy and Environmental Impacts of
Lithium Production for Automotive Batteries
American Chemical Society
New Orleans, LA
April 7-11, 2013
Jennifer B. Dunn and Linda Gaines
Center for Transportation Research
Argonne National Laboratory
The submitted manuscript has been created by UChicago Argonne, LLC, Operator of Argonne
National Laboratory (“Argonne”). Argonne, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science
laboratory, is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The U.S. Government retains for
itself, and others acting on its behalf, a paid-up nonexclusive, irrevocable worldwide license in said
article to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly
and display publicly, by or on behalf of the Government.
Lifecycle analysis compares all process impacts
of a product's life cycle, from raw material acquisition through production,
use, end-of-life treatment, recycling, and final disposal if any.
2
Ideally, each unit process is characterized
3
Argonne life-cycle inventory covers
battery production and recycling
4
The bulk of battery materials are well characterized; we concentrated on the others
Most lithium comes from salars in the Andes
Rockwood
Salar del Hombre Muerto (Argentina)
[Used with permission of FMC Lithium]
The brine is extracted from under a crust of salt
Courtesy of Rockwood Lithium
And concentrated in a series of ponds
2008
Courtesy of Rockwood Lithium
Concentrated brine is transported for processing
Natural brines from
El Salar ~ 0.2% Li NaCl + CaSO4 * H2O
HALITE
NaCl + KCl
SYLVINITE
MgCl2 * KCl * 6H2O
CARNALLITE
MgCl2 * 6H2O
BISCHOFITE
MgCl2* LiCl *7H2O
Li CARNALLITE
9 x 4 km dimensions
END BRINE 6.0% Li
Li2CO3
LiCl
Further Purification, Processing, Crystallization
Courtesy of Rockwood Lithium 9
Impacts from this production are minimal
Extraction from brine is slow, not energy-intensive
The process energy comes primarily from sunlight
Other salts are co-produced
Boron and magnesium removed during Li2CO3 production
10Materials are consumed in the production of Li2CO3
Compound Quantity Energy intensity
(kg/kg Li2CO3) (MJ/kg)
Concentrated lithium brine (6%) 5.45 0.5
Soda ash (Na2CO3) 2.48 8.5
Lime (CaO) 0.09 5.1
Hydrochloric acid (HCl) 0.04 33
Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) 0.05 2.1
Alcohol 7.1 x 10-4 57
Dunn et al. 2012. ANL/ESD/12-3Long-distance transportation contributes to impacts
Material Distance traveled Notes
Brine 200 mi
Soda ash (Na2CO3) 4,433 nautical miles Soda ash from the Western U.S.
850 miles by road
Lime (CaO) 20 mi
Hydrochloric acid (HCl) 100 mi
Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) 750 mi Assumed to be a by-product from
CODELCO El Teniente mine in Chile
Alcohol Brazilian ethanol: 3,900 Ethanol from Port of Paranagua, BZ
nautical miles Methanol from Cabo Negro, Chile
Methanol: 2,000 nautical
miles
20 miles by road
Natural gas 900 mi by pipeline From northern Argentina
Diesel 2,000 nautical miles, 20 miles From refinery in Cabo Negro, Chile
by road
Li2CO3 4,136 nautical miles From Chile at Port of Antofagasta to
800 miles by road Port of NY Holland, Michigan
Sources: SQM 2001; RCCRMARA 2007; Dunn et al. 2012Obtaining Li2CO3 from the U.S.is twice as energy
intensive than obtaining it in Chile,
but cathode-production energy not impacted much
13Lithium can be produced from minerals
Many different minerals contain lithium
(Spodumene, Hectorite, Jadarite)
Lithium carbonate from spodument
Courtesy of Rockwood Lithium 14Production of electrode materials uses fossil fuels
•Cathode LiCoO2 produced from Li2CO3 and Co3O4
•Co3O4 comes from driving SO2 off the sulfate, or as byproduct of
electroplating
•Water needed for waste treatment, washing, filtration
•Sulfuric acid is generated
•Reaction requires 800-850˚C for 6 hours
•LiFePO4 is made from Li2CO3 and FePO4
• LiMn2O4 is made from Li2CO3 and MnO2
• Li (NixCoyMnz)O2 or spinel is from Li2CO3 and (NixCoyMnz)CO3
•Ammonia and sulfates must be separated from waste
•LiOH can also be used, but is harder to handle
•Anode carbon from pitch requires 2700˚C for full graphitizationLithium contributes minimally
to cathode material energy and SOx impacts
Cathode Energy Intensity % Energy from SOx Intensity % SOx from
(MJ/kg) (g/kg)
Li Co Ni Li Co Ni
LiMn₂O₄ (SS) 40 13 0 0 3 26 0 0
LiCoO₂ (SS) 170 10 88 0 30 9 87 0
LiCoO₂ (HT) 260 1.0 60 0 40 1 55 0
LiFePO₄ (HT) 30 16 0 0 30 3 0 0
LiFePO₄ (SS) 50 23 0 0 10 15 0 0
NMC (SS) 130 2 24 49 230 0.2 2 95
LMR-NMC (SS) 100 24 17 31 120 3 2 90
HT: Hydrothermal; SS: Solid State; NMC: LiNi0.4Co0.2Mn0.4O2; LMR-NMC: 0.5Li2MnO3∙0.5LiNi0.44Co0.25Mn0.31O2
16Air emissions during LiMn2O4 production minimal
compared to battery structural materials
17Battery manufacturing steps are not energy intensive
18Aluminum and cathode materials dominate
lithium-ion battery production energy
*
*synthetic graphite
Dunn, JB; Gaines, L; Sullivan, J; Wang, MQ,” The Impact of Recycling on Cradle-to-Gate Energy Consumption
and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Automotive Lithium-Ion Batteries, Env Sci Tech 46: 12704-12710 (2012)
19LiCoO2 may require almost as much energy as Al
LiCoO2
We are verifying the data and assumptions behind this preliminary result
20Batteries are small contributors
to life-cycle energy use and CO2 emissions
3.5
Battery
3 Car less Battery
Fuel Cycle
Total Energy (MJ/Km)
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
US Grid CA Grid US Grid CA Grid
BEV PHEVBut make significant contributions
to life-cycle SOx emissions,
especially if cathode contains cobalt or nickel
0.80
Battery
0.70
Car less Battery
0.60
Fuel Cycle
SOx (g/Km)
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
US Grid CA Grid US Grid CA Grid US Grid CA Grid US Grid CA Grid
BEV PHEV BEV PHEV
LMO Cathode LCO CathodeThank you!
Work sponsored by USDOE Office of Vehicle Technologies
Contact me: lgaines@anl.gov
http://www.transportation.anl.gov/technology_analysis/battery_recycling.html
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