Material and Energy Flow Analysis of Hydrometallurgical Recycling for Lithium-Ion Battery Based on Aspen Plus

The exponential growth of global electric vehicle deployment has precipitated a critical need for the sustainable recycling of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), particularly nickel–cobalt–manganese (NCM) ternary cathodes, which dominate the retired battery stream. This study establishes an integrated Aspen Plus-based hydrometallurgical process model, focusing on “acid dissolution–LiOH precipitation–electrolysis” for closed-loop NCM recycling. Gibbs reactor-based dissolution kinetics is used for selective metal leaching (achieving > 99% efficiency at 185 kg/h acid flow), the thermodynamic prioritization of sequential hydroxide precipitation (Co → Ni → Mn at 10–60 kg/h LiOH), and the electrochemical regeneration of LiOH/H2SO4 from Li2SO4 (70.01 kg/h LiOH at 0.8 conversion). Material balance analysis confirms a net production of 10.01 kg LiOH per 100 kg of NCM feedstock with 41.87 kg of acid consumption, while the energy of electrolysis power is 452.96 kW at 6 V/1360 A/m2. This work provides a techno-economic framework for industrial-scale battery recycling.