BIOLEACHING OF LITHIUM MANGANESE OXIDE (LMO) BATTERY WASTE USING BACTERIA COMAMONAS THIOOXYDANS STRAIN SKC/SAA-1

• Main Author: Puteh, Alamsyah
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/84446
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The significant growth in the use of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) has has lead to environmental issues due to uncontrolled disposal of waste batteries. In addition, the limited resource of metals contained in batteries should be concern. Therefore, the development of environmentally friendly and efficient LIB waste recycling methods is necessary. One promising method is bioleaching, which is a metal extraction process using microorganisms. In this study, bioleaching of lithium manganese oxide (LMO) battery waste was conducted using Comamonas thiooxydans strain SKC/SAA-1 bacteria with variations in pulp density and medium composition to achieve the best percent extraction of aluminium (Al), lithium (Li), and manganese (Mn). A series of bioleaching experiments of LMO battery waste were conducted to study the effect of variation in pulp density and medium composition on the percent extraction of Al, Li, and Mn metals. The experiments were performed using pretreated battery waste (blackmass) of -200# at 25oC, medium pH of 1, 10% (v/v) bacterial inoculum, and rotary shaker speed of 180 rpm for 10 days. Bioleaching was performed by varying the pulp density at 5%, 10%, and 20%. The medium composition was also varied by adding 3 g/L molasses and 6.67 g/L pyrite, 3 g/L molasses and 5 g/L sulphur, and 3 g/L molasses with 3.33 g/L pyrite and 2.5 g/L sulphur. Percent extraction of dissolved Al, Li, and Mn as a function of time at various bioleaching conditions was periodically determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) analysis. Experimental results show that the increased pulp density will reduce the percent of metal extraction due to the increased content of heavy metals that are toxic to bacteria. The addition of molasses, sulfur, and pyrite in the variation of medium composition indicated an increase in the efficiency of the bioleaching process caused by the increase in bacterial nutrients that accelerate the bioleaching process. Based on the results of experiments and discussions, the optimal conditions for bioleaching LMO batteries using Comamonas thiooxydans strain SKC/SAA-1 bacteria were obtained at a pulp density variation of 10% with a cumulative extraction percent value of 30.99% Al, 31.51% Li, and 76.44% Mn and medium composition in the form of molasses 3 g/L and pyrite 6.67 g/L with a cumulative extraction percent value of 57.32% Al, 37.23% Li, and 85.85% Mn.