Spent nickel‐metal hydride (NiMH) batteries contained some valuable metals which are worthy of recovery. This study focuses on the reclamation of spent NiMH batteries using an alternative approach, thermal separation process (TSP). Spent NiMH batteries were mixed with cullet, limestone, and dolomite. The mixture was heated to 1,450°C and cooled to room temperature without forced convection. During the TSP, the output‐materials were divided into slag, ingot, and flue gas according to the boiling points and densities of metals. Results show that metals having a relatively low boiling points, such as Cd, Hg, Pb, and Zn, were mostly vaporized into flue gas. Among the metals retained in molten materials, Co, Cu, Fe, and Ni predominately went into the bottom layer and formed the ingot; on the contrary, Al, Ca, Mg, and Si stayed in the upper layer and formed slag. Therefore, the main components of slag were Si (316,000 mg/kg), Ca (289,000 mg/kg), and Mg (32,400 mg/kg) and the major crystalline phases were CaSiO₃, CaMgSi₂O₆, and Ca₂MgSi₂O₇. The slag was pended as non‐hazardous materials and could be reused as road pavement or building materials. The ingot had high levels of Ni (408,000 mg/kg), Fe (349,000 mg/kg), and Co (55,400 mg/kg) and could act as an additive in stainless steel manufacturing process.

中文翻译：

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回收废旧镍氢电池的另一种方法

废镍氢（NiMH）电池包含一些有价值的金属，值得回收。这项研究着眼于使用替代方法热分离工艺（TSP）回收废NiMH电池。用完的NiMH电池与碎玻璃，石灰石和白云石混合。将该混合物加热至1450℃并冷却至室温，而无需强制对流。在TSP期间，根据金属的沸点和密度，将输出物料分为炉渣，铸锭和烟气。结果表明，沸点相对较低的金属（例如Cd，Hg，Pb和Zn）大部分被蒸发成烟道气。在残留在熔融材料中的金属中，Co，Cu，Fe和Ni主要进入底层并形成铸锭。相反，铝，钙，镁，Si留在上层而形成炉渣。因此，炉渣的主要成分是Si（316,000 mg / kg），Ca（289,000 mg / kg）和Mg（32,400 mg / kg），主要的结晶相是CaSiO参照图₃，CaMgSi ₂ O ₆和Ca ₂ MgSi ₂ O ₇。炉渣用作非危险材料，可作为路面或建筑材料重复使用。该铸锭具有高含量的镍（408,000 mg / kg），铁（349,000 mg / kg）和钴（55,400 mg / kg），并且可以在不锈钢制造过程中充当添加剂。