Percorrer por autor "MARQUES, MARIA EDUARDA SAMPAIO FERNANDES SOUSA"
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- Avaliação do ciclo de vida da recuperação de black mass de baterias de iões de lítio em fim de vidaPublication . MARQUES, MARIA EDUARDA SAMPAIO FERNANDES SOUSA; Correia, Maria Manuela Barbosa; Mata, Teresa Margarida Correia de Poço; Martins, António Augusto AreosaThe growing adoption of Lithium-ion Batteries (LiBs) in electric vehicles, portable electronics, and energy storage systems has intensified concerns regarding the sustainable management of end-oflife batteries and the recovery of critical raw materials. In this context, recycling plays a key role in supporting resource security, reducing environmental impacts, and promoting circular economy strategies. This master’s thesis presents a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of black mass production from spent lithium-ion batteries at the Eneris B&R recycling facility (Żarki, Poland). The study focused on the mechanical pretreatment process and the generation of black mass, a secondary material rich in valuable metals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper, and aluminum. The assessment was conducted using primary industrial data collected from the facility and complemented with background datasets from the Ecoinvent v3.12 database. The methodology followed the requirements established by ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards and was implemented using SimaPro software. The Environmental Footprint (EF 3.1) impact assessment method was applied to evaluate thirteen environmental impact categories. The functional unit was defined as the production of 1 kg of dry black mass, and the system boundary was limited to the gate-to-gate recycling operations, including collection and sorting, battery discharge, dismantling, shredding, evaporation and drying, and mechanical separation. The environmental assessment identified electricity consumption as the dominant environmental hotspot, representing the largest contribution across most impact categories, including climate change, freshwater ecotoxicity, fossil resource use, acidification, photochemical ozone formation, particulate matter formation, and human toxicity. Mechanical separation was identified as the most environmentally intensive stage, followed by shredding, and evaporation and drying. Together, these three operations accounted for approximately 80–90% of the environmental impacts across most categories. In addition to energy consumption, the treatment of electrolyte-derived streams was identified as a relevant secondary hotspot. Electrolyte losses, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions, and condensed VOC streams contributed significantly to several impact categories, particularly climate change and freshwater ecotoxicity, highlighting the importance of effective electrolyte recovery and emission management systems. To evaluate potential improvement opportunities, a scenario analysis was performed comparing the existing Polish grid electricity mix with a photovoltaic (PV) electricity scenario. The results demonstrated substantial environmental improvements associated with renewable electricity use, including reductions of 91.0% in climate change impacts, 94.7% in freshwater eutrophication, 89.8% in acidification, and 89.3% in fossil resource use. However, the PV scenario resulted in higher impacts for mineral and metal resource use due to the material requirements associated with PV system manufacturing. Overall, the results demonstrate that the environmental performance of black mass production is primarily driven by energy-related inputs. Consequently, improvements in energy efficiency, optimization of compressed-air systems, enhanced electrolyte recovery, and the integration of renewable electricity sources represent the most promising strategies for reducing the environmental impacts of lithium-ion battery recycling. Furthermore, the study contributes to the development of environmental datasets for battery recycling processes and supports the implementation of sustainability reporting frameworks such as the Digital Battery Passport and broader European circular economy initiatives.