On May 16-18, 2023, the largest exhibition event in the international battery industry— CIBF was held in Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center. More than 1,300 exhibitors displayed solutions for global power batteries, energy storage batteries, 3C batteries, various battery materials, manufacturing equipment, power and energy storage system. Festo exhibited its latest solution for cell production automation at this Fair.
Application: The helium testing process for secondary batteries in the new energy industry is used to detect metal shell leakage of square power batteries.
Highlights: Two sets of gantries with two drives that can operate simultaneously and cover each other's working range can accommodate more helium detection chambers within the working range, while meeting the basic functions of material collection and discharge, improving the production efficiency of the helium detection machine per unit area.
Key products and technologies:
1. Custom solutions:
2. Standard products
Application: The secondary battery charging and discharging in the new energy industry activates the positive and negative electrode materials inside the battery, and forms a good SEI film on the anode surface.
Highlights: This model machine mainly reflects Festo's strong customized product development capabilities, especially the vacuum proportional valve VPPEO, which is the first integrated product in the industry. The application of piezoelectric technology has improved the accuracy and response time of pressure regulation; The launch of DSBG-CS large piston cylinders not only reflects Festo's deep technological accumulation in pneumatic products, but also marks Festo's rapid progress in the L4L field with its price advantage.
Key products and technologies:
1. Custom products
2. Standard products:
Rodless cylinder DLGF: Compact flat design, used for opening and closing cabinets.
This application demonstrates Festo's special servo press kit with high force. When the Festo standard servo press kit can not output forces above 17KN, a customized solution will be adopted. We developed a localized user interface to better meet the requirements of customers for additional functions such as pressure curves, threshold judgment, data storage analysis, import and export in actual on-site applications. Due to the existence of customized elements, every aspect from software to hardware will become more flexible. After adding customized requirements for specific customers, a large number of redundant functions that these customers are not concerned about can be removed, making the overall solution more cost-effective.
Highlights:
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During the battery production process, liquid and raw material particles are fed using pneumatic process valves. These materials typically feature extremely strong abrasiveness and corrosiveness. To ensure the reliability of the process, the required automation components need to be very robust. Festo's high-quality process valve units (consisting of ball/butterfly valves, quarter turn actuators, pilot valves, and sensor boxes) and angle seat valves can meet this requirement. These units have also been fully pre-assembled and tested, and commissioning is fast and effective. The pneumatic solution adopts the Festo high-performance valve terminal MPA-FB-VI with integrated multifunctional characteristic diagnostic system, which can diagnose single valves (wire breakage, short circuit, load voltage, and valve status monitoring) through the field bus, accelerating fault handling and reducing downtime.
In order to keep the electrode dry, it is necessary to continuously extract air from the process chamber to remove moisture. To achieve this, a vacuum needs to be formed in the dryer, which is controlled by the complete set of process valves described in the previous process steps. Use a butterfly valve or ball valve to exhaust moist air from the device. Festo provides both devices. The installation method is determined by the customer. If a proportional controller is required, the positioner CMSX is the ideal choice.
After drying, then cool the electrode, compress it with a rotating roller, and homogenize it. During this process, the electrode foil is transported to different guide wheels and precisely tensioned and relaxed by adjusting rollers. To ensure uniform feeding, the electrode foil must also be temporarily stored in the adjustment roller. Here, pneumatic muscle DMSP combined with proportional valve VPPE or new VPPI can be used to achieve this. In addition, DMSP has no friction, which means it can operate with absolute accuracy, achieving maximum repetitive accuracy.
After the forming of the electrode lug is completed, then store the existing electrode pieces in a storage library or directly transfer them to the next process step, depending on the factory settings. In order to ensure safe transmission, vacuum is used to fix the electrode plate on the porous transmission belt. A single vacuum pipeline is regulated by a pinch valve VZQA, which is driven by a proportional pressure regulator VEAB. This step helps precisely adjust the required vacuum level and also optimizes energy consumption.
When producing soft pack batteries, a laminating process is used, which involves the repeated cycling of electrode plates (positive electrode plates, separators, negative electrode plates, separators, etc.). The vacuum generator OVEM quickly breaks the vacuum and safely places the workpiece through an integrated solenoid valve used to control the injection pulse. In the process of moving the workpiece, the cost can be saved by integrating the solar term function. OVEM can be equipped with I/O Link communication to connect the IO Link master station and upper computer, enabling remote monitoring of the vacuum generator and online parameter modification, reducing installation and debugging time.
There are a large number of pneumatic components on the winding equipment, requiring a relatively large number of valve plates, and there are problems with a large number of wiring and complex electrical layout. The VTUG valve terminal with I/O LINK communication has been assembled and tested separately during supply, minimizing assembly and installation time, simplifying electrical layout, and accelerating equipment installation, debugging, and troubleshooting time, further improving productivity.
After inserting the battery stack or cell into the battery pack, the battery can be immediately injected with electrolyte. The electrolyte is measured by using a process valve. This valve is driven by the VTUG valve terminal (connection located at the front or bottom) used for control cabinet installation. The distributed remote I/O system CPX-AP-I can integrate high-performance I/O modules and existing valve terminal connections into the most important host system, making it easy for mechanical and electrical design, with stable performance, and fault and self-diagnostic capabilities.
The extreme environmental conditions during the liquid injection process require the material to have corrosion resistance and high temperature resistance. The tubing PFAN and stainless steel fitting NPQR are ideal options for this application.
Due to the reaction between the electrolyte and water to form hydrofluoric acid, it is necessary to ensure that the ambient air is very dry when filling the battery. To achieve this, air should be continuously discharged from the machine unit. The vacuum required for this process is centrally generated by a vacuum pump. The regulation function is performed by a system consisting of a process valve, valve terminal VTUG, and pressure sensor SPAN.
The software supports setting parameters for intelligent sensor SPAN through the I/O Link master, making it very easy to set and reassign parameters. Not only does it allow you to download parameter data from the control system to sensors or drivers, but it also allows you to feedback diagnostic data from sensors or drivers to the control system.
The battery undergoes different processes at different workstations through a transmission system. The electric stop cylinder EFSD quickly and conveniently builds a transmission system without the need for compressed air, making it easy to install on the transmission system. Complete buffering and stopping, output sensor signals, and receive commands directly through PLC.
Formation refers to the initial process of charging/discharging a battery. The battery is stored on the formation tray in the tray system and is repeatedly charged and discharged during the formation period. This process takes several hours. During the aging process, the battery will release corrosive gas, so a vacuum gas source is needed to remove the gas.
Festo's vacuum proportional valve VPPEO achieves infinite adjustment of vacuum in the air circuit system through electrical proportional signals, improving the flexibility of the vacuum system, reducing manual adjustment errors, and improving accuracy. The valve body and core in contact with the medium are made of stainless steel and high corrosion resistant aluminum alloy, supplemented by a corrosion resistant coating to further enhance their corrosion resistance. They are suitable for situations where they come into direct contact with electrolytes.