05/07/2019 13:13:00 CEST With the newly developed production platform of the BLA series, Manz offers manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries a highly efficient solution for producing safe Hard Case or Pouch battery cells.
- Modular production solution BLA for laminated and stacked cells presented in May 2019 at the Battery Show Europe and at next week's Intersolar/EES
- Production technology of the high-tech equipment manufacturer facilitates particularly safe battery cells
- BLA series with high productivity for high-performance Hard Case and Pouch batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles or stationary energy storage systems
Both cell types are preferred by many manufacturers of high performance electric and hybrid vehicles or stationary energy storage systems: together the two formats have a higher market share than cylindrical battery cells, which currently dominate consumer electronics.
With the BLA production system, individual modules can be combined for different production steps in the manufacturing. This includes, for example, unwinding of previously notched raw material for anodes and cathodes, cutting these electrodes and placing them between the separator, thermal and press lamination, all testing steps or stacking on a workpiece carrier. The BLA system can be freely configured and can be used both as a pilot system and in automated mass production: This makes cell production very flexible for battery manufacturers. Battery sizes and configurations can be varied easily using the equipment from Manz. For example, mono-cells or even bi-cells can be manufactured both in an axial and a radial cell configuration.
Fastest laminating and stacking process on the market, currently unique
"With the BLA method from Manz, the separator is not folded in a Z-shape, but instead the anode and cathode are placed from above and from below on to the separator inserted in the middle. The mono-cell or bi-cell manufactured in this way is then laminated, cut and stacked shrink-stable. Our production method is currently unique in the market, the lithium-ion batteries produced with it offer a significantly higher level of safety than non-laminated cells, especially against voltage flashovers," says Tamara Sonatore, Head of Sales Energy Storage at high-tech equipment manufacturer Manz.
With a material speed of up to four hundred millimeters per second, the BLA series from Manz is at least twice as fast as alternative stacking systems. Alongside the high process speed, a very high positioning accuracy for the electrodes and integrated optical and electrical test systems after the individual production steps ensure high equipment productivity and maximum quality of the finished battery cells. As a result, defective material is rejected directly from the production process and is not processed further.
Manz already has more than 20 years' experience with laminating technology for battery cells: Europe's leading manufacturer of production equipment for lithium-ion batteries introduced the first laminating machine for lithium-polymer batteries back in 1996. The newly developed BLA series now serves the growing demand for high-performance mobile and stationary energy storage solutions, above all from battery manufacturers in Europe and Asia.
