The importance for electrical drives in the automotive industry is increasing rapidly and, associated therewith, we see technological development and innovations through different products and applications. As processes in the eMobility industry often generate extremely harmful emissions, the manufacturers are facing challenges to create a safe and clean work environment but also to reduce energy costs in the production and extraction process.
The electrification of the global transport sector and in particular the lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing processes are characterised by a high demand for clean air. Several stages of the production processes are performed in clean and dry rooms according to the generated airborne contaminants that can affect the health of operators and compromise the quality of the products. To ensure good indoor air quality and a safe working environment, it is crucial that these airborne contaminants are captured, contained and removed from the airstream before entering the ambient air.
Manufactures in the eMobility industry are facing three major concerns when handling emissons from those processes:
Production processes of electrical batteries such as anode and cathode coating, slitting, stacking, battery cell assembly and electrolyte filling are performed in clean and dry rooms. Indeed humidity and contaminants may compromise the chemical balance of batteries compromising their charging and discharging performance. Above mentioned processes generate particles due to material handling, friction, cutting or smoke generated by laser technologies. These contaminants need to be removed by means of air filtration or dust extraction. Camfil can offer both solutions and what is best really depends on the concentration and on the properties of the dust.
As a simple rule of thumb, if the concentration is at or above 0.05 mg/m³, a dust collection system with pulse-cleaned filter elements will probably the best option to handle the process dust, providing a reasonable filter life.
During the production of lithium-ion battery processes like raw material handling & drying, slurry mixing, anode & cathode slitting, stacking, battery cell assembly particulates are generated which cause a risk to both, the people within the factory and the environment. Two main concerns are critical: Personnel exposure to toxic dusts and the explosion properties of the dusts.
Evaluation:
To determine the best filtration solution for your eMobility applications it is recommended to set-up a design evaluation process right from the beginning. It´s crucial to understand the working principle and the generated emissions of the machinery which is often specifically developed for this relatively new industry. Considering this information together with the performance characteristics of Camfil´s clean air solutions, it is possible to validate if the entire process fulfills or better outperforms the local requirements and legislation for health, safety and environment.
Process monitoring:
Equally important to the validation beforehand, is a continuous monitoring of the ongoing production process. Only when the machinery of the production lines as well as the extraction and ventilation systems work properly, it can be ensured, that the workplace exposure limits are not exceeded.
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