Ramping up energy transformation

The Fraunhofer FFB campus is a proof of the dynamic way in which the topic of industrial bat-tery production is moving politics, research, and industry. The pilot plant is located in the FFB’s Workspace, where the Fraunhofer FFB carries out research using the continuous mixing technology provided by Bühler’s Grinding & Dispersing business. “The Fraunhofer FFB has been taking its first steps since June 2021 on this line, gaining experience in continuous mixing together with OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and other partners. Throughputs of around 100 liters of electrode slurry per hour are possible with the 30-millimeter extruder, including the corresponding peripherals. This plant is the ideal basis for pilot trials, as it combines an industry-relevant production capacity with simple operation. Thanks to its modular design, a very large number of process parameters can be run down within a very short time and thus the mixing process can be efficiently optimized,” explains Philipp Stössel, Team Manager Process Technology Grinding & Dispersing at Bühler.

Ten kilometers further south, in the Hansa Business Park Münster, the complete outer shell of the FFB PreFab, the next milestone of the Fraunhofer FFB, is already in place. Eckstein can hardly wait to move in with his team and integrate the equipment from the Workspace into the PreFab. “When the interior construction is completed in 2024, we will conduct experimental research here with customers and universities on 6,000 square meters. In our innovation modules, we can take advantage of the shorter changeover and cleaning times. This allows us to improve existing processes, apply new technologies, and extrapolate the knowledge gained to industrial applications,” he says.

One interesting new technology is dry battery electrode (DBE) technology. Currently, components are mixed into a liquid slurry that is applied to a film and dried – a process that is not only time- and energy-consuming, but also requires toxic solvents that cost money and interfere with battery recycling.

“Dry blending eliminates the solvents, providing sustainability and cost-saving benefits. There is even the possibility of increasing key properties such as the energy density of a battery cell, as thicker electrode layers can be processed. The DBE process route also opens doors in the solid-state battery field. We are actively researching DBE technology, but scientific collaboration with institutions such as the Fraunhofer FFB is fundamental to build up new knowledge within a useful period of time and to enable the leap to industry,” explains Stössel. For the time being, however, classic wet blending will continue to be the standard. “If we want to achieve an energy transition – be it with the switch to electric cars, or the storage capacities needed for solar and wind energy – industrial battery production is the game-changing move,” explains Stössel. To test this on a one-to-one basis, nothing less than a giga-factory is needed. And this is precisely what will be built in the coming years a stone’s throw away from the PreFab – logically dubbed the FFB Fab.
 

The facility is also designed to eliminate hurdles – hurdles that, today, stand in the way of many potential entrants into the battery business; hurdles that are stalling Germany’s and Europe’s great race to catch up. “If a medium-sized company wants to get into cell production, they lack the equipment to produce pilot series. We need to remove this obstacle quickly to put Germany on the map as a location for battery production,” says Eckstein.

“A lot of research is already happening, especially by the OEMs, but it’s often carried out within their own four walls. The knowledge of how to build and operate such factories is something we have to generate together. We need to share it so that Europe is able to make good battery cells to meet its sustainability and climate goals independently,” he adds.

In addition to generating and sharing knowledge, building a skilled workforce is fundamental. According to the National Platform Future of Mobility (NPM), up to 65,000 skilled workers, many of them highly specialized, will be needed every year in Europe by 2030.
 

The political goals and guardrails are clearly set. The societal consensus to move away from fossil fuels and toward sustainable forms of mobility and energy has accelerated with the Russian war against Ukraine and the accompanying energy supply crisis. What remains is to look ahead at the further development of battery cell manufacturing in Europe. “The goal in Europe has to be, first of all, for all OEMs and battery cell manufacturers to build up as much mass as possible. Once we have a decent number of gigawatt hours installed, we have to think about how to get more quality into the cells. Issues such as rejects or recyclability of materials will become even more important in about 5 years, when a basic capacity for battery cell production is available,” Eckstein explains.

How quickly and how efficiently Europe can catch up will also depend on the work of the Fraunhofer FFB. It could well be that industrial battery production will be established in its neighborhood in Münster in the near future – there is certainly no shortage of expertise and bright minds with vision.