Battery Recycling & Materials Recovery calculator
Battery Recycling Process Yield Loss Calculator
Yield loss in battery recycling can appear as unrecovered black mass, metal in residue, fines loss, filter cake loss, leach residue, off-spec material, or wastewater solids. This calculator helps process engineers and plant teams quantify loss against a maximum target.
What this calculator does
- Calculate process yield loss from lost or residue mass, incoming process mass, and the target maximum loss rate.
- a recycling or hydrometallurgy team needs to measure mass lost from a process step and decide whether recovery performance needs investigation
- Returns lost or residue mass as a percentage of incoming process mass.
Formula used
- Process yield loss = lost or residue mass รท incoming process mass
- Loss gap to limit = target maximum yield loss - calculated process yield loss
Inputs explained
- Lost or residue mass: Use unrecovered mass, residue, filter cake, fines, off-spec material, or metal-bearing loss from the step.
- Incoming process mass: Use the matching feed mass entering shredding, sieving, leaching, filtration, drying, or refining.
- Target maximum yield loss: Use the process control limit or expected loss allowance for this route and chemistry.
How to use the result
- Use it for mass-balance checks, recovery troubleshooting, route comparisons, and process improvement tracking.
- It does not identify which elements were lost; use assay data to evaluate lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, copper, aluminum, or graphite losses.
Common questions
- Should moisture be corrected? Use the same moisture basis for lost mass and incoming mass, or correct both to dry basis for process comparisons.
- Can this be used for leach residue? Yes, if the incoming process mass and leach residue mass are from the same batch or period.
- What does a negative gap mean? It means actual yield loss is above the target maximum and should be investigated.
- How can I use the result? Use it to adjust separation settings, leach conditions, filtration, drying, or residue handling controls.
Last reviewed 2026-05-12.