General information on the recycling of chemical power sources. Complex recycling of lead-acid batteries
The introduction of the article gives a general view concerning the production volumes of the main chemical power sources (CPS) and, accordingly, the potential volumes of environmentally hazardous flows associated with spent systems. The analysis of the main substances contained in CPS and the environmental risks associated with them has been carried out. The need for recycling of spent systems in order to extract valuable components has been shown.In the main part of the article, the general principles and methods of recycling waste lead-acid batteries are discussed. The recycling of lead, electrode paste, electrolyte, and polymer components of lead-acid batteries is considered. The presented literature allows evaluating the existing technologies and experimental developments in the recycling of solid lead-containing components of lead-acid batteries. It is shown that one of the most important issues in the recycling of solid lead-containing components is the development of a simple, reliable, and energetically advantageous method for paste desulfurizing.Analysis of information on the recycling of liquid waste scrap for lead-acid batteries reveals that the optimal way is recycling into an electrolyte ready for reuse in new batteries.The search for information on the recycling of polymeric materials of used lead-acid batteries has shown that the technology can be implemented relatively easily, however, the surface should be very thoroughly cleaned from contamination.