Global recycling specialist SungEel HiTech is constructing a secondary battery recycling infrastructure to actively support the realization of a circular economy in the electric vehicle era and the transition to an eco-friendly industry.
In response to evolving domestic and international environmental policies and market shifts, the company plays a pivotal role in the global battery recycling sector and is dedicated to developing technology and expanding its business for a more sustainable future.
Recent international environmental regulations, such as the strengthened EU Battery Directive, mandate higher recovery rates for valuable metals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt, and require the adoption of environmentally sound processes.
SungEel HiTech is proactively addressing these changes by advancing technological upgrades and expanding its production infrastructure. Its primary process involves recycling lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, mobile phones, and Energy Storage Systems (ESS) to extract valuable metals.
Manager Kim Taekyung of SungEel HiTech stated, "Previously, individual unit processes like discharging, disassembly, crushing, smelting, and hydrometallurgical refining were managed by separate systems, leading to complex operation and maintenance, and making it difficult to guarantee process efficiency. Therefore, SungEel HiTech recognized an urgent need to introduce a stable, high-efficiency solution capable of managing all processes on a unified platform."
To achieve integrated control and optimization of these processes, SungEel HiTech has adopted the PlantPAx® Distributed Control System (DCS) from Rockwell Automation. The PlantPAx DCS solution enables unified control of the entire battery recycling process on a single platform, thereby standardizing engineering and maintenance platforms, providing high availability and performance, while ensuring long-term technical support.
Taekyung said, "The ability to manage complex processes on an integrated platform has not only significantly enhanced the efficiency of process operations but also improved maintenance efficiency. Furthermore, by collecting and analyzing data from the entire process in real-time, we have achieved operations based on a smart factory, leading to improved productivity, quality control, and the ability for early detection of equipment anomalies."
Through the implementation of the PlantPAx DCS, SungEel HiTech has automated processes based on real-time operational data, significantly boosting production efficiency and quality stability, reducing quality fluctuations, and achieving product quality consistency.
By gaining comprehensive visibility into all process and equipment conditions, the company can respond swiftly to abnormalities. An automated safety management system enhances workplace safety and lowers accident risks. Simultaneously, environmental monitoring capabilities ensure effective compliance with increasingly stringent domestic and international environmental regulations.
The predictive maintenance functionality of the PlantPAx DCS helps preempt equipment failures, maximizing uptime, lowering maintenance costs, and substantially increasing operational efficiency. Additionally, this system deployment accelerates SungEel HiTech's transformation into a smart factory and lays the infrastructure foundation for future adoption of advanced technologies like AI and big data.