Advancements in Cost-Efficient and Sustainable Li-Ion Battery Manufacturing: Insights from the BatWoMan Project

B. Eschelmueller*a, K. Froehlicha, M. Jahna
a Battery Technologies, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Giefinggasse 2, Vienna, Austria
* E-Mail: [email protected]
Abstract
The overall goal of BatWoMan is to develop innovative, cost-efficient, and sustainable Lithium-Ion battery manufacturing concepts. This presentation provides insights into new approaches and technologies pursued by the BatWoMan project, highlighting their potential to contribute significantly to the European Union’s ambitious goal of achieving a carbon-neutral energy storage system production, while fostering economic viability and environmental sustainability.
BatWoMan focuses on three main technology efforts. Firstly, the development of energy-efficient processes for electrode manufacturing, eliminating volatile organic compounds and preparing highly dry mass containing slurries up to 70% and 80wt% for anode and cathode, respectively.
Secondly, the project is implementing innovative dry room-reducing concepts that lead to much lower cell production costs, and drastically reduce the carbon footprint of the whole battery manufacturing process, since the dry room operation is a massive cost driver considering the whole battery production value chain. Depending on the production line the costs for the dry room operation can reach 30% of the total production line costs [1]. A battery data space, providing relevant information of the materials and the carbon footprint of the individual production steps, is created to ensure the traceability and state determination of the produced battery cells for costumers and second life users.
Lastly, the BatWoMan project establishes low-cost and energy-efficient cell conditioning methods including wetting, formation, and aging processes. New three-dimensional electrode designs improve the cell conditioning steps and ensure the optimal performance and extensive lifetime of lithium-ion cells. By developing these approaches, the project enhances the overall sustainability and economic viability of future greener batteries at cell level.
This way, BatWoMan will lead to an estimated cell production cost reduction of 63.5% and cell production energy consumption reduction by 52.6% and therefore enable a European leadership position in sustainable battery production.
Acknowledgments
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement no. 101069705.
References
[1] VDMA, Roadmap “Battery Production Equipment 2030”, Update 2020.