Coating/Dryer Equipment for Flexible Industrialisation Line (FIL)

Description

UKBIC has a requirement to purchase a range of equipment relating to the manufacture of battery electrodes to establish a Flexible Industrialisation Line (FIL) at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre. The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) is part of the UK Government’s Faraday Battery Challenge. UKBIC is a national battery manufacturing development facility helping to scale-up battery manufacturing and facilitate upskilling in the battery sector. We are a publicly funded, open access facility, funded by the Faraday Battery Challenge at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). This PIN lists the general requirements for anode and cathode coating and drying equipment to be housed in a clean and dry room for a battery electrode Flexible Industrialisation Line (FIL) at UKBIC. Lot 1: Vendors will be invited to submit a bid to provide a flexible coating and drying system to fit into a clean and dryroom. This system would need to be representative and scale-able to a larger system A mixed slurry for anode and for cathode must be coated onto metal foils through a changeover delivery system. • Machines in the range of 320mm to 640mm foil width will be considered • The carrier foil is coated with the slurry by an application tool, such as a slot die. The foil can be coated continuously and/or intermittent. • The foils are coated in a roll-to-roll process. The coating of the upper and lower side of the foil is realised sequentially by an additional run through the equipment unless double sided simultaneous coating is implemented as a desired option. • After coating, the foil is directly passed through the dryer. Any solvent is extracted by heat and is then recovered as required e.g., NMP. The dryer is divided into different temperature zones. After drying, the electrode coils are rewound at ambient temperature. • The coating machine will be installed in a dry and clean room down to -70°C dewpoint • The coater/dryer should fit in a room approximately 15m long by 3m high internally by 4.6m wide • Coating thickness per-side (wet) 50-300 µm and coat weight measured • Coating speed range 2-10 m/min • Heating range 30°C - 180°C (for all sections independently) • Dryer system will be designed to handle a range of solvents typically used in lithium-ion and sodium-ion electrodes eg Water, NMP, IPA and others • System will be designed to collect solvents in a condenser and entrapment system i.e., carbon bed external to the coating room This system would need to be representative and scale-able to a larger system. One coater/dryer machine must be procured – if budget allows, a second coater/dryer machine may be procured to separate anode and cathode coater process to avoid cross-contamination. The tenderer is encouraged to provide a quotation to suggest what savings could be made if a second coater/dryer was ordered at the same time as the first. The equipment must offer modular solution, so equipment can be easily reconfigured or decommissioned in the future. Bidders are encouraged to put forward next generation coating and drying technologies. All equipment to provide UKCA conformity.