Design and Manufacturing Approaches for the Next Generation of Sustainable Materials: The 2021 Student-led Symposium: Materials for Energy Production and Storage
Sponsored by: TMS Extraction and Processing Division, TMS Light Metals Division, TMS: Recycling and Environmental Technologies Committee
Program Organizers: Mary Dougherty, Colorado School of Mines; Christopher Finfrock, Sandia National Laboratories; Brady McBride, Colorado School of Mines; Jaden Zymbaluk, Colorado School of Mines; Desmond Mills, Colorado School of Mines; Casey Gilliams, Colorado School Of Mines

Monday 2:00 PM
March 15, 2021
Room: RM 5
Location: TMS2021 Virtual

Session Chair: Christopher Finfrock, Colorado School of Mines; Casey Gilliams, Colorado School of Mines; Brady McBride, Colorado School of Mines; Desmond Mills, Colorado School of Mines; Jaden Zymbaluk, Colorado School of Mines


2:00 PM  Invited
III-V Photovoltaic Substrate Reuse and Recycle Strategies for Reduced Cost and Improved Materials Utilization: Corinne Packard1; 1Colorado School of Mines
    Gallium-arsenide-based (III-V) photovoltaics boast the highest efficiencies of all solar technologies, but these efficiencies are only achieved in devices grown epitaxially on single crystal substrates that make up ~80% of the total cost of producing the devices. Typically <10% (but as little as 0%!) of the substrate thickness contributes to the device efficiency, thus excess substrate is chemically etched off or carried around as extra weight. This talk discusses strategies to reuse or recycle excess Ge and GaAs substrates, creating thin, flexible devices in the process. Device release through chemical and mechanical means are detailed, along with device performance data, reuse demonstrations, and cost estimates.

2:20 PM  Invited
Reducing CO2 Emissions Through Improvements in the Materials Science of Fossil Fuels: Jonah Erlebacher1; Shashank Lakshman1; Gina Greenidge1; 1Johns Hopkins University
    Of the mix of fossil fuels we use, natural gas has been growing rapidly, significantly displacing coal. However, the current use-model for natural gas is simply to burn it for heat, creating large CO2 emissions. We have been exploring a different scientific and economic concept for the use of natural gas. The proposition is that natural gas – primarily methane – can be chemically decomposed into solid carbon and hydrogen with no carbon dioxide produced at all. The hydrogen can be burned as fuel instead of natural gas, producing only water and heat, and the carbon sold for other uses. Solid carbon is quite valuable, and with the right processing can be turned into lightweight structural composites. This approach is much more profitable than just burning natural gas, all without CO2 emissions. Here, we will discuss here some novel strategies we are using to make this vision a reality.

2:40 PM  Invited
Lithium-ion Battery Recycling Research at the ReCell Center: Linda Gaines1; Bryant Polzin1; Jeffrey Spangenberger1; 1Argonne National Laboratory
     The U.S. Department of Energy announced its Advanced Battery Recycling R&D Center in January 2019 to develop an economical recycling process by the time large volumes of batteries from electric vehicles and other uses reach end of life. The ReCell Center is based at lead-lab Argonne, and includes partner labs Oak Ridge and NREL, and several universities.Even batteries that find second use will eventually need to be recycled. However, by then the material could be a 20 year-old formulation with little residual value from its structure or contained elements. In particular, cathodes are evolving towards formulations containing less cobalt, reducing the incentive for recycling with standard pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical methods. Many R&D questions focus on recovering usable cathode, as well as recovery of other materials. This presentation describes progress to address these questions during the ReCell Center’s first 2 years of operation.

3:00 PM  Invited
Stepwise Approach to Improving Lead Furnace Operation Through Pilot Scale Studies and Computational Modeling: Alexandra Anderson1; Joseph Grogan1; John Wagner2; Sandeep Alavandi3; David Cygan3; 1Gopher Resource; 2Gas Technology Institute ; 3Gas Technology Institute
    Lead batteries have a recycling rate of 99+% in North America, embodying the circular economy. In 2019, 1.2 million tons of recycled lead alloys were produced in the U.S., with domestic demand projected to increase by 4% over the next five years. The R&D group at Gopher Resource is leading initiatives aimed at optimizing furnace operation to responsibly meet the growing demand for lead. These initiatives include efforts to maximize furnace energy utilization through CFD modeling validated by pilot-scale experiments and in-plant trials. This paper details a stepwise approach, wherein burner characterization measurements were obtained in a controlled pilot-scale setting. The gathered data and pilot furnace geometry were used to construct combustion validation models that were integrated into a model of the full-scale furnace, providing insight into daily operation. Going forward, this model will be employed to inform operational changes in the production environment, thereby completing the experiment-modeling-improvement stepwise approach.