The Growing Demand for Black Mass Recycling

With the rapid expansion of electric vehicles and energy storage systems, the recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries has become a strategic industry worldwide. Black Mass, the valuable powder obtained after battery dismantling and mechanical processing, contains lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, and graphite.

Compared with traditional mining, Black Mass recycling offers a more sustainable source of critical battery metals. As battery recycling projects continue to increase across Europe, North America, India, and Southeast Asia, efficient hydrometallurgical recovery technologies are becoming increasingly important.

However, successful industrial-scale recovery is not simply a matter of following a standard process flow. Many projects encounter significant challenges during scale-up, separation, and purification.



Challenges in Traditional Battery Recycling Processes

Although many companies have established laboratory processes, moving from laboratory testing to commercial production often reveals several difficulties.

1. Feed Material Variability

Black Mass composition can vary significantly depending on:

• NMC batteries
• NCA batteries
• LFP batteries
• Mixed battery waste streams

Differences in metal content and impurities can directly affect leaching efficiency and downstream separation performance.

2. Emulsification During Solvent Extraction

One of the most common challenges in solvent extraction is phase separation instability.Problems often include:

• Emulsification
• Slow phase disengagement
• Organic losses
• Increased reagent consumption

Without proper pilot-scale verification, these issues can become major obstacles during industrial operation.

3. Difficulty in Process Scale-Up

Many processes perform well in laboratory beakers but fail to deliver expected results in continuous operation. Common problems include:

• Lower metal recovery rates
• Product purity fluctuations
• Increased operating costs
• Unstable process control

For this reason, pilot-scale testing is essential before commercial investment decisions are made.

Why Hydrometallurgical Recycling Is Becoming the Preferred Route？

Compared with conventional pyrometallurgical recycling, hydrometallurgical processes offer several advantages:

✅ Higher Metal Recovery
Hydrometallurgical systems can selectively recover lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese with high efficiency.

✅ Better Product Purity
Through solvent extraction and purification, battery-grade products can be produced with lower impurity levels.

✅ Lower Energy Consumption
Wet processing typically requires significantly less energy than high-temperature smelting operations.

✅ Greater Process Flexibility
Hydrometallurgical flowsheets can be adjusted according to feed composition and target products.

These advantages have made hydrometallurgy the preferred technology for many new battery recycling projects.

Typical Black Mass Recycling Process

Step 1 – Leaching
The first stage involves dissolving valuable metals from Black Mass into solution.

Typical equipment:

• Glass Reactors
• Stainless Steel Reactors
• Pilot Reaction Systems

Leaching conditions are optimized according to battery chemistry and recovery objectives.

Step 2 – Solid-Liquid Separation

Following leaching, insoluble graphite and residue must be removed.
Efficient filtration improves downstream solvent extraction performance and minimizes operational issues.

Step 3 – Solvent Extraction (SX)

Solvent extraction is the core separation technology used to selectively recover metal values.
Through multi-stage extraction, scrubbing, and stripping operations, valuable metals can be separated and concentrated.
Typical separation targets include:

• Copper
• Manganese
• Cobalt
• Nickel
• Lithium

Step 4 – Purification

Additional impurity removal is performed to eliminate iron, aluminum, calcium, magnesium, and other contaminants.

Step 5 – Evaporation and Crystallization

Purified metal solutions are concentrated and crystallized to produce marketable products such as:

• Nickel Sulfate
• Cobalt Sulfate
• Lithium Carbonate
• Lithium Hydroxide

Step 6 – Drying

Final drying converts products into stable powders suitable for transportation and downstream battery material production.

Why Pilot Testing Is Critical Before Commercial Production?

Pilot-scale testing serves as the bridge between laboratory research and industrial implementation.

A properly designed pilot plant allows operators to:

• Validate extraction efficiency
• Optimize reagent consumption
• Evaluate phase separation behavior
• Reduce scale-up risks
• Improve investment confidence

Most importantly, pilot testing helps identify potential process bottlenecks before significant capital investment is made.

KAIMINA Pilot Solvent Extraction Solutions

Based on more than ten years of experience in solvent extraction equipment development and international project support, KAIMINA provides complete laboratory and pilot-scale solutions for hydrometallurgical process development.

Our equipment includes:

Key equipment 1-----Mixer Settler 

Mixer settler is widely used in the separation and purification of metals in hydrometallurgical solvent extraction processes. It consists of a mixing chamber that continuously feeds and stirs, and a clarification chamber that relies on gravity to separate liquid phases.

Common Lab scale as follows, optional material of PP, PMMA, PTFE, PVC, PPH, SS304, SS316L etc.

Model	Mixer volume (ml)	Settler volume (ml)	Mixing flux      (L/h)	Motor Power(W)	Diameter of Inlet/outlet (mm)	Single Dimension (L*W*H,mm)
KM-MS-300	300	900~1200	1~5	20	Ø10	325*80*100
KM-MS-500	500	1500~2000	3~10	20	Ø12	434*96*116
KM-MS-1000	1000	3000~4000	5~20	20	Ø12	580*116*149
KM-MS-2000	2000	6000~8000	10~40	60	Ø16	715*145*176
KM-MS-5000	5000	15000~20000	20~100	90	DN15	936*194*240
KM-MS-10000	10000	30000~40000	40~200	120	DN20	1380*250*300

Key equipment 2-----Liquid liquid centrifugal extractor

A Lab Liquid Liquid Centrifugal Extractor is a high-efficiency separation device used for rapid extraction and phase separation of immiscible liquids. By combining mixing and centrifugal separation in one compact unit, it significantly improves extraction efficiency compared with traditional mixer settlers.

Common Lab scale,Optional materials of Fluorine, SS304, SS316L etc.

Model	Drum Diameter  (mm)	Mixing Flux（L/h）	Rotary speed（rpm）	Motor power (KW)	Pipe diameter of inlet and outlet (mm)	Dimension      L*W*H (mm)
LC-20	20	1~10	5000~8000	0.09	Ø10	220×220×600
LC-25	25	1~10	5000~8000	0.09	Ø10	220×220×600
LC-36	36	1~50	2500~3500	0.18	DN15	400×350×800
LC-50	50	1~50	2072~2840	0.25	DN20	350×300×850
LC-60	60	1~70	2072~2840	0.25	DN20	385×300×850
LC-80	80	1~80	2072~2840	0.37	DN20	500×350×1250
LC-100	100	1~100	2072~2840	0.75	DN25	600×600×1350

Advantages of liquid liquid centrifugal extractor

• Rapid phase separation
• Small footprint
• Lower organic inventory
• Continuous operation capability

Key equipment 3-----Glass reactor

Jacketed glass reactor is a kind of laboratory and pilot-scale production equipment featuring a double-walled, high-borosilicate glass design. It can achieves precise temperature control by circulating heating or cooling fluids through its jacketed interlayer, and is widely used in fields such as biopharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, and new material synthesis. It can perform reactions—including concentration, distillation, reflux, separation, and purification—under conditions of constant speed, constant force, and constant temperature, it serves as an ideal instrument for educational instruction, laboratory experimentation, pilot-scale trials, and industrial production. This product can be seamlessly integrated with a range of auxiliary equipment, such as circulating water vacuum pumps, diaphragm vacuum pumps, low-temperature circulating pumps, circulating coolers, high-temperature constant-temperature circulators, low-temperature coolant circulation pumps, and integrated high/low-temperature circulation units.We can offer 1L-100L and customization.It is suitable For:

• Leaching
• Purification
• pH Adjustment
• Precipitation Reactions

Key equipment 4-----Rotary evaporator

Laboratory evaporation system designed for efficient solvent evaporation, concentration, distillation, and recovery. Equipped with a motorized lifting mechanism, the evaporating flask can be automatically raised or lowered with one-touch control, ensuring safe and convenient operation during experiments.

Key equipment 5-----Spray dryer

Lab Spray dryer machine is primarily used to transform solutions, emulsions, suspensions, and paste-like materials into dry powders via spray drying. They offer numerous advantages, including rapid drying speeds, high efficiency, and a streamlined processing workflow. For heat-sensitive materials, the process effectively preserves their original color, aroma, and flavor

Why Choose KAIMINA？

More Than 10 Years of Technical Experience
Our engineering team has extensive experience in solvent extraction, hydrometallurgy, rare earth separation, and battery recycling applications.

Laboratory to Pilot Scale Support
We help customers move efficiently from: Laboratory Testing → Pilot Validation → Commercial Production

Customized Solutions
Every Black Mass feedstock is different.
We provide customized equipment configurations based on process requirements, metal recovery targets, and project objectives.

Global Export Experience
Our equipment has been supplied to customers across Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, India, South America, and many other regions.

Professional, Reliable, and Solution-Oriented
We focus not only on equipment manufacturing, but also on helping customers solve real process challenges and reduce scale-up risks.

Conclusion

As global demand for battery metals continues to grow, Black Mass recycling will play a crucial role in building a sustainable supply chain.
Successful projects require more than equipment alone—they require reliable process development, pilot-scale validation, and scalable separation technologies.
With comprehensive pilot-scale mixer settlers, centrifugal extractors, reactors, and evaporation systems, KAIMINA helps customers transform laboratory concepts into commercially successful battery recycling operations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Why is pilot-scale solvent extraction important for Black Mass recycling?
Pilot testing helps validate metal recovery efficiency, optimize reagent consumption, and reduce scale-up risks before commercial production.

Q2: What equipment is required for a Black Mass recycling pilot plant?
Typical equipment includes reactors, filtration systems, mixer settlers, centrifugal extractors, evaporators, and crystallization units.

Q3: Which metals can be recovered from Black Mass?
Depending on battery chemistry, valuable metals may include lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper.

For more information about Black Mass Recycling, please contact us for technical support and quotation.