- E-Mobility
- Battery cell | Electrode production
- Coating and drying
Coating and drying
The electrode paste is applied to the carrier foil by means of slotted nozzles, usually on both sides. Then the coated carrier foils are supplied continuously into a downstream floatation dryer. The carrier foil moves along a sinusoidal path through various temperature zones. The toxic solvent released by evaporation must without exception be collected by means of extraction. Then it can be recovered and recycled. After drying, the electrodes must cool off. Then they are rolled up again.
Measuring the diameter of the carrier foil
Exchanging the mother roll without interruption
The carrier foil is supplied to the processing sequence by means of a roller. If an empty roll is detected too late, the replacement cannot be prepared and must be made on short notice. This brings production to a stop. An accurate measurement of the mother roller diameter prevents this interruption. The diameter measurement in real time makes it possible to replace the roll outside of production times. In case of continuous coating, the coil is changed on the fly and the position of the adhesive foil must be detected. The overall effect is to increase system availability.
Ensuring system availability
Enhancing performance
Solution
Ultrasonic sensors from ifm provide contact-free detection regardless of the colour, transparency or surface qualities of the object. That makes them ideally suited for carrier foils that may be reflective. The OGD product family, which features laser protection class 1, can also detect the distance to shiny metal surfaces reliably and precisely. In combination with IO-Link, this also makes it possible to detect the degree of reflexivity, thus ensuring that the position of the adhesive foil can be reliably detected.
Recommended products
Quality of copper foil
Ensuring the quality of copper foil continuously
Small scratches or damage to the carrier foil can lead to serious errors in the finished cell, ultimately resulting in expensive rejects.
Quality assurance
Solution
Damage can be detected at an early stage with ifm image processing technology. Precise object detection and BLOB analysis can be implemented easily with the O2D vision sensor in combination with the free ifm Vision Assistant software.
Recommended products
Web edge control
Minimizing rejected coating material on the web edge
Efficient coating on both sides requires precise control of the web edge so that the offset between the two layers is as slight as possible, preferably with none at all. The web edge is continuously scanned optically for this purpose. Precise control reduces rejects and lowers your costs.
Enhancing performance
Quality assurance
Solution
To control the web edge, ifm offers optical object detection sensors and profile sensors. The O2D in combination with the matching software ensures especially precise measurements.
Recommended products
Level monitoring of the supply tank
Reliably monitoring the level of the supply tank
Maintaining the tank fill level is critically important in production operation to ensure that the process runs smoothly and there are no rejects due to lack of material.
Ensuring system availability
Enhancing performance
Quality assurance
Solution
ifm limit level and level sensors are based on measurement technologies that require no mechanically movable parts.
For example, mechanical float switches can stick or be blocked, leading to an incorrect level display, then to an unexpected lack of media and thus an unplanned production stoppage.
Recommended products
Condition monitoring of exhaust air fans
Continuously monitoring the ventilation systems in production
Asymmetrical fan blades and a rising bearing temperature may indicate that the fan has mechanical problems. These problems must be rectified promptly to prevent a failure, which could involve a costly production stoppage .
Ensuring system availability
Solution
Thanks to continuous vibration monitoring by means of a sensor system, the health status of a fan can be kept in view seamlessly. Maintenance can be condition-based and determined by actual needs, which lowers costs. Early detection by means of vibration diagnostics and channel speed monitoring on rolling bearings detects motor damage promptly. This makes it possible to prevent unplanned downtimes.
Recommended products
Measuring relative humidity and temperature
Protecting the electronics in the control cabinet against high relative humidity
The concentration of air-borne particles is kept very low in a clean room. To do this, the climate of the room is controlled with a reference level of up to 70 percent. To prevent unsafe operation resulting from malfunctions due to humidity as well as down times due to short circuits in the control cabinet, the relative humidity in the control cabinet must be monitored.
Ensuring system availability
Solution
Conventional relative humidity sensors can be adversely affected by rapid temperature changes in your manufacturing process. ifm relative humidity sensors are able to measure both the relative humidity and the temperature, thus protecting the sensitive electronics from high humidity and also from overheating.
Recommended products
Door switches
Safeguarding access to sensitive or hazardous processes
Drying ovens require a continuous process in an environment that is potentially harmful to people. The protection of zone doors with safety products allows for risk-free operation. Prevent downtimes and quality loss including loss of margin while cutting costs.
Enhancing performance
Solution
Non-contact magnetic sensor from ifm can monitor the status of doors. * PL e to ISO 13849-1 and SILCL 3 to IEC 62061 can be achieved when used with suitable evaluation units. Concealed installation behind stainless steel allows enhanced tamper prevention.
Recommended Products
Monitoring temperature zones
Ensuring the correct temperature zones in the drying process
To ensure continuous drying of the coated electrodes on both sides, the temperature in the different zones must be measured and controlled. Unnoticed deviations can lead to reduced quality and even the loss of margins, resulting in significant costs.
Enhancing performance
Quality assurance
Solution
Conventional temperature sensors can drift over the course of time, which leads to quality problems. ifm temperature sensors use PT1000 sensor elements for exact and consistent temperature measurements in aggressive environments.
Recommended products
Measuring the air flow rate
Ensuring a sufficient air supply in the drying process
To ensure continuous drying of the coated electrodes on both sides, a uniform air flow and a homogeneous temperature distribution are required. Unnoticed deviations can lead to reduced quality and even the loss of margins, resulting in significant costs.
Enhancing performance
Quality assurance
Solution
Conventional electromechanical airflow sensors may fail or drift after repeated cycles, leading to downtimes. SL electronic flow meters from ifm work without mechanical movements and are able to measure airflow and temperature reliably and consistently. The ifm SD flow meter monitors the flow rate, pressure and temperature of the compressed air and returns application data that can prevent unplanned failure situations.
