Laser Drying in Battery Production: PEM Achieves Breakthrough
After three years of research, the Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) of RWTH Aachen University has successfully completed the IDEEL project with numerous partners from science and industry. In the project, which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the consortium developed a laser-based drying process for battery production.
PEM Director Professor Achim Kampker, says:
Electrode drying using the roll-to-roll process has been one of the most energy-, cost- and CO2-intensive processes in the production of lithium-ion batteries to date,
The process developed in the IDEEL project aims to change this in future by combining conventional convection drying with laser drying based on high-power diode lasers and reducing drying times by more than 60 percent while maintaining the same quality of results. The project began with the design of new anode and cathode coatings with aqueous formulations based on graphite, lithium iron phosphate, and silicon graphite. The hybrid drying process developed later was designed in such a way that the advantages of the new process could also be used in existing systems by retrofitting them with laser modules.
Operating costs drop by 20 to 30 percent
The hybrid system has been scaled up to a web speed of 30 meters per minute for the first time.
PEM Management Member Professor Heiner Heimes, says:
The laser booster at the start of the process cuts the required furnace length in half, saving valuable process space, significantly reducing the need for energy-intensive drying rooms, and lowering operating costs by 20 to 30 percent overall,
The new approach allows for more economical and climate-friendly processes, thus significantly improving the overall economic and ecological balance of battery production.
”The suitability for industrial use has been fully demonstrated.”
According to experiments, the new process is not expected to have any disadvantages in terms of process results either.
Kampker, says:
Despite the increased throughput rate, the quality is at least equivalent in terms of adhesion, residual moisture, electrical conductivity, and electrochemical properties,
”The suitability for industrial use has therefore been fully demonstrated.”
The process developed as part of the IDEEL project will now be incorporated into the work of the Fraunhofer FFB in Münster, which is currently being expanded into a development center for modern battery cell production for Germany and its European partners.
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Laser Drying in Battery Production: PEM Achieves Breakthrough, source
