KR-20260063274-A - ARTIFICIAL GRAPHITE PRODUCTION SYSTEM

KR20260063274AKR 20260063274 AKR20260063274 AKR 20260063274AKR-20260063274-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to an artificial graphite production system comprising a conveying unit including a sagger containing artificial graphite as a raw material, a calcining unit calcining the sagger containing the artificial graphite, an artificial graphite hardness measuring unit measuring the hardness of the artificial graphite in the sagger, and a disintegrating unit disintegrating the artificial graphite recovered from the artificial graphite hardness measuring unit, wherein the artificial graphite hardness measuring unit determines whether the hardness of the artificial graphite satisfies a predetermined range and transfers the artificial graphite satisfying the predetermined range to the disintegrating unit.

Inventors

김가은
김대식
강수희
안수현
최태선
장영훈
최현기

Assignees

(주)포스코퓨처엠

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20241030

Claims (11)

A conveying unit comprising a sagger containing artificial graphite as a raw material; A firing section for firing a saga containing the above artificial graphite; An artificial graphite hardness measuring unit for measuring the hardness of the artificial graphite within the above-mentioned saga; and It includes a disintegration unit for disintegrating the artificial graphite recovered from the artificial graphite hardness measuring unit, and An artificial graphite production system in which the artificial graphite hardness measuring unit determines whether the hardness of the artificial graphite satisfies a predetermined range and transfers the artificial graphite satisfying the predetermined range to the disintegration unit.
In Article 1, The above artificial graphite hardness measuring unit measures the hardness of the artificial graphite fired within the above graphite, and Determining when the hardness of the above-mentioned calcined artificial graphite satisfies the above-mentioned predetermined range, and If the above predetermined range is satisfied, the above saga moves to the above disintegration unit, and An artificial graphite production system in which, if the above predetermined range is not satisfied, the slag containing the calcined artificial graphite is recovered to a recovery unit.
In Article 2, The above artificial graphite hardness measuring unit is an artificial graphite production system that is any one of a soil hardness tester, a Vickers hardness tester, a Rockwell hardness tester, and a nanoindenter.
In Paragraph 3, In the case where the above artificial graphite hardness measuring part is a soil hardness meter, An artificial graphite production system that measures by pressing the needle of the soil hardness meter to a certain depth from the surface of the artificial graphite powder placed within the above-mentioned saga.
In Article 1, The above-mentioned firing part is, An artificial graphite production system that mixes the above artificial graphite and a coating material and calcines them.
In Article 1, An artificial graphite production system comprising a post-processing unit for recovering the artificial graphite that has passed through the aforementioned crushing unit.
In Article 6, The above post-processing unit is, A dumping unit that dumps the above saga; and An artificial graphite production system comprising a roll mill section for roll-milling the artificial graphite that has passed through the dumping section.
In Article 7, The above post-processing unit is, An artificial graphite production system comprising a storage unit for recovering and storing the artificial graphite that has passed through the roll mill unit.
In Article 6, The above post-processing unit is, An inspection unit for inspecting hollow saga through the collection of the above artificial graphite; and An artificial graphite production system further comprising a raw material charging section for charging raw materials into the above-mentioned saga that has passed through the above-mentioned inspection section.
In Article 1, An artificial graphite production system further comprising a cooling unit for cooling the saga that has passed through the calcination unit.
In Article 1, The above artificial graphite hardness measuring unit includes a control unit, and An artificial graphite production system in which the control unit determines whether the hardness of the artificial graphite satisfies a predetermined range, delivers the artificial graphite that satisfies the predetermined range to a disintegration unit, and delivers the artificial graphite that does not satisfy the predetermined range to a recovery unit.

Description

Artificial Graphite Production System The present invention relates to a cathode active material production system, and more specifically, to an artificial graphite production system. A lithium secondary battery generally consists of a positive electrode containing a positive active material, a negative electrode containing a negative active material, a separator, and an electrolyte, and charging and discharging are performed through the intercalation and decalation of lithium ions. Since the lithium secondary battery possesses the advantages of high energy density, high electromotive force, and the ability to exhibit high capacity, it is being applied in various fields. Furthermore, improving high-temperature performance, such as high-temperature storage and cycling characteristics, in lithium secondary batteries is a critical challenge. For example, there is a significant problem where the high-temperature performance of the anode is likely to deteriorate if the total internal pore volume is high after the anode active material is coated onto a current collector and rolled. Therefore, it is necessary to improve high-temperature characteristics when developing anode active materials for lithium secondary batteries, such as rapid-charge batteries, by minimizing changes in electrode structure and total internal pore volume that occur during electrode rolling. Furthermore, as technology development and demand for mobile devices increase, the demand for secondary batteries as an energy source is rapidly rising. Among secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries, which exhibit high energy density and operating potential, long cycle life, and low self-discharge rate, have been commercialized and are widely used. Furthermore, as interest in environmental issues grows, there is increasing interest in electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles that can replace fossil fuel-using vehicles, such as gasoline and diesel vehicles, which are one of the major causes of air pollution; consequently, research is actively underway to use lithium-ion batteries as a power source for the aforementioned electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. As expectations for lithium secondary batteries grow, the role of the negative electrode active material responsible for storing lithium ions in the lithium secondary battery is becoming increasingly important. Materials such as metallic lithium negative electrode active materials, carbon-based negative electrode active materials, or silicon oxide (SiO₂ x₆ ) are used as the negative electrode active materials. The carbon-based negative electrode active materials exhibit excellent capacity retention characteristics and efficiency. Since the carbon-based negative electrode active material used as the negative electrode of a lithium secondary battery has a potential close to that of lithium metal, the change in crystal structure is small during the insertion and extraction processes of ionic lithium. Furthermore, the carbon-based negative electrode active material enables continuous and repetitive oxidation and reduction reactions at the electrode, allowing the lithium secondary battery to exhibit high capacity and excellent lifespan. Various types of materials are used as the carbon-based negative electrode active materials, such as crystalline carbon-based materials like natural graphite and artificial graphite, or amorphous carbon-based materials like hard carbon and soft carbon. Among the carbon-based negative electrode active materials, graphite-based negative electrode active materials are the most widely used because they have excellent reversibility and can improve the lifespan characteristics of lithium secondary batteries. Since the discharge voltage of the graphite-based negative electrode active material is low at -0.2 V compared to lithium, a battery using the graphite-based active material can exhibit a high discharge voltage of 3.6 V, which has an excellent advantage in terms of energy density of lithium secondary batteries. The artificial graphite, which is a crystalline carbon-based material, has a more stable crystal structure than the natural graphite because it is formed by applying high thermal energy of 2,700°C or higher. Since the change in the crystal structure is small even with repeated charging and discharging of lithium ions, the artificial graphite has the advantage of having a lifespan that is 2 to 3 times longer than that of the natural graphite, so there is growing interest in the method of producing artificial graphite. In the manufacturing process of the aforementioned artificial graphite, a mixture of the artificial graphite and pitch is heat-treated in a kiln to coat the surface with an amorphous carbon layer, thereby utilizing the coating material as a cathode material. However, in the process of manufacturing the coating material, there is a problem in which the hardness of the sintered product inside the kiln increases due to an excessive am