Abstract:

The battery is a key component of electric vehicles. Lithium-Ion batteries (LIBs) are the most competitive ones in terms of costs and performances for the near and mid future. To reach the needed voltage and capacity, single Lithium-Ion cells are assembled into modules, then assembled into the pack. Their disassembly, which unlocks both remanufacturing or recycling and which nowadays is made mainly manually, has high electric hazards. Decision tools have not yet been developed to minimize these risks. This work presents a mathematical model to determine the disassembly sequence with the minimal exposure of the operator to hazardous voltages. The model considers the mechanical and electrical architecture of the battery and the tasks needed to reach the desired disassembly level.  The aim is to guarantee both the operator safety and the preservation of battery residual functionality, identifying the optimal tasks sequence from the pack to the module level. The model should now be applied to a wider set of commercial products to exploit its potential. Even more important, this work should not provide a standalone contribution to the industrial topic but should be seen as part of a wider set of studies able to create the backbone of a knowledge driven process chain for the value recovery of LIBs.