At this year's "The Battery Show Europe" trade fair in Stuttgart, mechanical engineering companies Dürr and Grob are presenting their concept factory and its technical foundations. Key technologies include dry coating of the electrodes, which does not require a drying process, and high-performance Z-folding technology for cell assembly with integrated notching.
Efficient and sustainable dry coating
Instead of the conventional slurry used in dry coating, a dry-mixed active material is used in the Activated Dry Electrode process. This powder mixture is pressed into a free-standing film using calendering machines, which is then laminated onto both sides of the collector foil. In contrast to wet coating, the drying process and the recovery and processing of solvents are eliminated. Excess film material can be completely returned to the production process before lamination onto the collector foil.
After calendering, the basis weight can be measured directly, allowing better control of the coating thickness. Less force is required for the subsequent lamination onto the collector foil than for calendering in the wet coating process. This means that the film is not deformed, which improves processability for downstream notching and stacking.
High-speed cell assembly
With the new generation of the Z-fold, which integrates the notching process, Grob achieves higher performance with a smaller footprint. For particularly stable and reliable system technology, the separator is guided over a small number of deflection rollers with a very uniform and low web tension. Thanks to high-quality electrode magazine technology, the system achieves an availability of 95 percent.
Digitalized throughout
Dürr and Grob's system technology is complemented by end-to-end digital mapping of the production process. Even in the planning phase before the start of production, a digital twin enables the simulation of the entire factory and accelerates implementation on site.
Dürr and Grob will be presenting their concept factory at the Battery Show Europe 2025 from June 3 to 5 at their joint stand E50 in hall 10.