Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries

Transcription

1 Bühler Battery Solutions Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt 2016 Annual Meeting & Conference /03/01

2 Bühler at a glance. Global market leader with strong roots in local markets. Group turnover (sales) 2015: CHF million. Since 1860 Over employees and about 600 apprentices worldwide. Present in over 140 countries. More than 90 own local sales and service stations. Production sites in all regions. High innovation rate (4-5% of sales for research and development). Consistently high quality standard worldwide. 100% family-owned. 2 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

3 Every day, billions of people come into contact with Bühler to satisfy their basic needs for food, mobility, or communications. 3 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

4 Buhler activities along the value chain for LIB manufacturing. LIB precursor and raw materials milling LIB electrode slurry mixing Small to production scale 2 nd generation Filmix process large production scale 3 rd generation Continuous process precursor formation chemical conversion precursor electrode slurry preparation electrode manufacturing cell assembly 4 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

5 Bühler laboratories & technology centers for LIB applications. Mahwah, USA Uzwil, Switzerland Yokohama, Japan Wuxi, China 5 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

6 Bühler Fully Continuous Electrode Slurry Production System

7 Maximize Li-battery production Buhler has the cutting edge solution! -70% -60% -50% Lower investment & operation costs More consistent product quality Significantly lower investment costs of >70% for LIB electrode slurry production. 60 % less energy consumption 50 % less labor cost QuaLiB TM guarantees consistent product quality due to process automation and in-line quality control Better performance Enhanced electrochemical performance of final product A trustworthy partner Since over 150 years innovating for a better world Healthy, family-owned 2.4 bio. CHF Swiss company 7 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

8 Key challenges for increasing LIB electrode slurry production Bühler has the answers to support the growth driver. Reduced costs, improved performance, higher durability and reliability and outstanding safety are the key features for LIBs Today s methods for LIB electrode slurry production are based on batch or quasi continuous processes However, for the expected growth created by electric vehicles and stationary applications, these methods will no longer fulfil the requirements for large production capacities of the respective industry Therefore, Bühler has developed a novel approach for fully continuous electrode slurry production Batch mixer Buhler fully continuous process 8 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

9 Bühler solution for next generation fully continuous electrode slurry production. Co-rotating twin screw mixer based on proven Buhler technology which combines the basic operations of continuous raw material dosing, premixing, kneading, fine dispersing and degassing in a single device Very quick, accurate and constant dosing of solid and liquid components performs a major part of the mixing work and therefore, reduces the process time to less than 1 minute powder dosing (active materials, conductive additives) atmospheric degassing vacuum degassing dosing of binder solution dilution with binder solution and/or solvent 9 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

10 Conti-mixing compared to traditional batch mixing approach. Liquid volume elements Batch mixing Solid volume elements Liquid volume elements hours Conti-mixing constant dosing of all components [t] comparable to a zipper Solid volume elements immediate continuous mixing after dosing Accurate and constant dosing of the solid and liquid components performs a major part of the mixing work seconds [t] 10 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

11 Superior product quality and significant time and energy savings with constant dosing of components and continuous mixing. Continuous-mixing process: Powder dosing by lossin-weight feeders for: Active materials Conductive additives Liquid dosing by flow meter for: Binder solutions Solvent comparable to a zipper Coating line Constant dosing of liquid components Constant dosing of powder components Immediate continuous mixing after dosing seconds [t] 11 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

12 Economies of scale. Mixing technology Batch mixing process Bühler contimixer 62 mm Bühler contimixer 93 mm Bühler contimixer 125 mm Production capacity* 500 l/h 500 l/h l/h l/h Required space per system: l x w x h Required area per production capacity Dry room power consumption per production capacity** 7m x 9m x 10m 9m x 5m x 10m 13m x 6m x 11m 15m x 6m x 11m 0.13 m 2 per l/h 0.09 m 2 per l/h 0.07 m 2 per l/h 0.04 m 2 per l/h 252 W per l/h 180 W per l/h 143 W per l/h 83 W per l/h Labor 3-4 FTE per line 1-2 FTE per line 1-2 FTE per line 1-2 FTE per line Price per line 2.5 MCHF 2 MCHF 2.5 MCHF 3.0 MCHF Price per production capacity 5.0 kchf per l/h 4.0 kchf per l/h 2.1 kchf per l/h 1.3 kchf per l/h Increase in profitability due to Bühler innovation: Economies of scale by reduction of CAPEX and OPEX *for anode and cathode slurries (depends on formulation), **dry room power consumption: 200 W/m 3 12 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

13 Lower investment costs due to economies of scale. Investment per production capacity (kchf per l/h) -74% Batch mixing process Conti-mixer 500 l/h Conti-mixer l/h Conti-mixer l/h Significant lower investment cost, more than 70% less compared to conventional batch mixing! 13 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

14 Lower operation costs due to energy savings. Example for annual Equipment energy consumption: Energy consumption - Batch mixing process: 75 Wh/l - Bühler conti-mixer: 25 Wh/l Assumptions: - 70 Ml electrode slurry per year (35 GWh) hours per year 5.3 GWh -66% 1.8 GWh Batch mixing process Bühler conti-mixer Example for annual Dry room energy consumption: Space requirements per line - Batch mixing process: 630 m 3 - Conti-mixer 62mm: 450 m 3 - Conti-mixer 93mm: 858 m 3 - Conti-mixer 125mm: 990 m 3 Assumptions: - 70 Ml electrode slurry per year (35 GWh) - Dry room power consumption: 200 W/m hours per year 18.1 GWh Batch mixing process (24 lines) 13.0 GWh Conti-mixer 62mm (24 lines) 10.3 GWh Conti-mixer 93mm (10 lines) -61% Conti-mixer 125mm (6 lines) 14 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

15 Lower operating costs due to high degree of automation and less required man power. Operators per line (including powder handling) Cleaning* Batch mixing process Time: 5 hours -Solvent consumption: l -Large surface area to be cleaned Buhler Conti-mixer -Time: 2 hours -Solvent consumption: l -Small surface area to be cleaned -Self cleaning effect of screws *assumption production capacity: 500 l/h 15 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

16 More consistent product quality with QuaLiB TM a Bühler innovation: Process automation and in-line quality control. Fully automated operation of raw material dosing (powders and liquids), mixing, dispersing and degassing higher recipe accuracy and enhanced process control Continuous inline monitoring of critical process parameters (flow rates, temperatures, pressure) traceability and enhanced process control Intelligent inline monitoring and control of product parameters by quality control expert system QuaLiB TM Feedback on product parameters Process data Feedback QuaLiB TM out of range OK QuaLiB TM Coating line Re-work 16 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

17 Customer benefits - Enhanced electrochemical performance of final product. Better controllability and reproducibility of dispersion degree of conductive additive and therefore - higher electrode conductivity - higher cell discharge capacity - more consistent battery performance Less metal contamination compared to conventional planetary mixing process 17 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

18 Better controllability of dispersion degree of conductive additive. Effect of kneading concentration. kneading solid content: 73.5 wt.-% resistivity: 150 Ohm*cm kneading solid content 48.7 wt.-% resistivity: 9.7 Ohm*cm Solid concentrations slurry: LFP: 91.0 wt.-%, SC65: 4.5 wt.-%, PVDF: 4.5 wt.-% 18 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

19 Better controllability of dispersion degree of conductive additive. Effect of screw speed. Solid concentrations slurry: LFP: 89.1 wt.-%, SC65: 6.5 wt.-%, PVDF: 4.4 wt.-% Cycling parameters: C/20, C/10, C/2, 1C 19 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

20 Better controllability of dispersion degree of conductive additive. Effect of screw speed rpm resistivity: 4.2 Ohm*cm 150 rpm resistivity: 4.8 Ohm*cm Solid concentrations: LFP: 89.1 wt.-%, SC65: 6.5 wt.-%, PVDF: 4.4 wt.-% 20 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

21 Buhler battery lab in Wuxi/CN. Process development and customer trials for continuous process. Lab conti-mixing system (up to 100 l/h) 21 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

22 First production scale pilot plant in operation. Production capacity 500 l/h 22 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016

23 23 Bühler Fully Continuous Mixing of LIB Electrode Slurries NAATBatt Bernhard Stalder 2016