Process to Increase the Output of Z-Folded Separators for the Manufacturing of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

The electrification of drives is an enormous challenge as well as an opportunity for the automobile industry and its suppliers to provide competitive and affordable technologies to participate within this change. The high costs of battery systems, the range limitations of electric vehicles and the insufficient charging network are three of the main reasons, this change is still troublesome in its realization. To realize a cost-efficient production of battery systems, a high degree of automation and an increased production throughput is necessary. This paper focuses on the pouch cell with its high energy density and presents a solution, of how to significantly increase the production throughput in the z-folding of separators. The approach pursued is the assessment of shifting from discrete pick-and-place operations to a continuous process flow, enabling a cost-efficient production of electrode-separator compounds and ultimately lithium-ion batteries.

Trends in Automotive Battery Cell Design: A Statistical Analysis of Empirical Data

“…Apart from the selected active materials, the electrode properties, and the chosen cell format, assembling the electrodes into the housing is crucial for the overall cell performance [14,125]. Two principal techniques exist: (1) winding of continuous electrodes and (2) stacking of pre-cut electrodes (cf.…”

Disassembly Automation for Recycling End-of-Life Lithium-Ion Pouch Cells

“…The single-sheet stacking style is commonly used in laboratory cell assembly, while the winding style has proved to be the most productive design in industrial applications due to its continuous electrode and separator feeding strategy. In recent years, efforts to decrease the cycle time of the Z-folding process utilizing robots and customized mechanisms have been made, 15,16 which resulted in a rapid technology transition to the mass production scale. Meanwhile, Z-folded ESCs with discrete electrodes and continuous separators require more complicated mechanisms to disassemble than the other two types.…”

Model‐Based Optimization of Web Tension Control for the Flexible Cell Stack Assembly of Lithium‐Ion Battery Cells

“…In the Z‐folding assembly process, the cell stack is produced by alternately stacking the singulated electrode sheets and overfolding a separator web. [ 14 ] Precise web tension control is, therefore, indispensable for stack assembly, especially when separating sheets from the electrode web and handling separator webs without damage. [ 15 ] Web tension describes the tensile force that is applied to the web material to be processed and in practice, various systems and web tension control methods have become established.…”