Three Technologies Which Will Advance Battery Production

There's never been a greater need for expanded battery manufacturing than there is right now. From the demand created by our increasingly mobile technological lives to the rise of electric vehicles, battery producers are scrambling to meet the anticipated sharp rise in demand for batteries.

Battery production headlines are being stolen by newcomers like Tesla, whose so-called 'Gigafactory 1' due to produce 35 gigawatts of hours of battery packs a year in 2020, enough to supply around 500,000 Tesla cars a year, or more than the entire world produced in 2013. However, battery production is set to ramp up around the globe, from the UK to China via the Netherlands and more.

So what are the technologies that are poised to help boost battery production in the years ahead?

1) Advanced humidity control.

Lithium based batteries are, somewhat unsurprisingly, extremely complicated to build in bulk. It's a situation compounded by the fact that imperfections in lithium-ion batteries lead to early failure and in some cases, fires. We've seen the increased scrutiny of battery technology just these last few months thanks to the notoriously unpredictable Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco, and that's only set to continue.

Naturally then, condition control within battery production facilities is utterly crucial, which is where advanced humidity controls come into play. Extremely precise humidity levels are required for battery production, less than 1%RH. The creation of dry rooms and the development of specialist equipment by companies like ours is helping battery manufacturing firms to maintain the exacting conditions required for optimum production speed.

2) New battery technologies.

There's a reason why Lithium-Ion batteries has been the primary battery technology deployed over two decades - the technology has proven itself time and time again. Offering reasonably high capacities and solid cycle durability. However, it's slowly becoming clear that for the future of electronic cars and consumer technology, Li-ion batteries aren't going to cut it.

As such, huge investment is being put into alternative battery technologies. Solid-state batteries have seen much interest from auto manufacturers like Toyota and Wolkswagen thanks to their extended lifespan and fire resistant nature. We've also seen large-scale interest in aluminium-ion batteries, metal-air batteries and lithium-sulphur. In time, with standardised production techniques for these battery types, we will see dramatically reduced production times.

3) Increased automation.

Much of the worldwide battery production is already is already automated to a degree, but if it's ever going to keep pace with the predicted rise in worldwide battery demand, it's going to have to become faster and less expensive in order to hit target markets around the globe.

These savings, however, cannot come at the expense of the safety and quality of the batteries being produced, which is why the future of battery manufacturing exists in fully automating and integrating product lines. Advances in robotics technology are coming thick and fast, thanks to better machine learning algorithms and the arrival of so-called 'soft robots', capable of handling dangerous or fragile materials in a safer manner.

Dehum, or Sorption Wheel Services, are a leading UK manufacturer and supplier of humidity control and accelerated drying systems. Dehum have decades of experience providing elite clients like Coke, McLaren, Pfizer, Airbus and GSK with high-performance, reliable humidity control machines and tools.


 By Alec James


Article Source: Three Technologies Which Will Advance Battery Production