TREATMENT OF H2SO4

from Lead Acid Battery

2016. 01. 07.

1. What is Used Lead Acid Battery

Lead-acid batteries are relatively simple electrochemical devices able to store

electrical energy.
Unlike common dry cell or alkaline batteries used in torches and other household
appliances, lead-acid batteries may be recharged after the stored energy has been
used.
This is why they are widely used in motor vehicle starting engines and running
appliances (e.g. air conditioning, headlights), and as backup energy storage devices
(e.g. for solar panels).
Lead-acid batteries are made up of sheets of lead immersed in a bath of sulfuric acid.

2. Why do we need to recycle Lead Acid Battery

Used lead-acid batteries are classified as hazardous waste under the Hazardous Waste Act
1989.
It should not be disposed of with the regular garbage.
Each lead-acid battery contains about 15% to 20% of sulfuric acid over the total weight of
battery.
Lead is a cumulative poison in our bodies and is also harmful to the environment, particularly
fish, animals and plants.
About more than 12,000mt of used lead-acid batteries are finished per year are generated in
Mongolia. Lead Acid battery is not supposed to be landfill itself as it is considered as a
hazardous materials.
Lead-acid batteries can be reconditioned or recycled into new products.
Recycling of this battery uses less energy than refining primary ore thanks to highly developed
technology of recycling for Lead Acid Battery.

3. How to Neutralize H2SO4

1. To put powder typed NaOH into diluted H2SO4 from used lead acid battery.
NaOH is well known base powder that we can easily purchase in the market.
2. To stir to help Na2SO4 to be precipitated in the form of white powder.
After reaction, there will happen distinct two layers which are water and Na2SO4.
Water can be directly discharged into nature. However, Na2SO4 will be landfilled.
3. The reaction process is as follows,
H2SO4 + 2NaOH -> Na2SO4 (odorless white powder)+ 2H2O

4. Recycling of Used Lead Acid Battery

The battery is broken apart in a hammermill, a machine that
hammers the battery into pieces.
The broken battery pieces go into a vat, where the lead and heavy
materials fall to the bottom while the plastic rises to the top. At this
point, the polypropylene pieces are scooped away and the liquids are
drawn off, leaving the lead and heavy metals. Each of the materials
goes into a different "stream." We'll begin with the plastic, or
polypropylene.
Plastic
The polypropylene (PP) pieces are washed, blown dry and sent to a
plastic recycler where the pieces are melted together into an almostliquid state. The molten plastic is put through an extruder that
produces small plastic pellets of a uniform size. Those pellets are sold
to the manufacturer of battery cases, and the process begins again.
Lead
The lead grids, lead oxide and other lead parts are cleaned and then
melted together in smelting furnaces.
The molten lead is poured into ingot molds. Large ingots, weighing
about 2,000 pounds are called hogs. Smaller ingots, weighing 65
pounds, are called pigs. After few minutes, the impurities, otherwise
known as dross, float to the top of the still-molten lead in the ingot
molds. The dross is scraped away and the ingots are left to cool.
When the ingots are cool, they are removed from the molds and sent
to battery manufacturers, where they are re-melted and used in the
production of new lead plates and other parts for new batteries.
Sulfuric Acid
To treat acid is to process it and convert it to sodium sulfate, an
odorless white powder that's used in laundry detergent, glass and
textile manufacturing. This takes a material that would be discarded
and turns it into a useful product. Acid can also be reclaimed and
reused in new battery products through innovative recycling
processes.