Battery & Electrification Technology - May/June 2024 - 12

Control Valves:
Essential Components for
EV Battery Manufacturing
and Recycling
Knowing the ins and outs of control valves is vital to understanding the processing steps
in EV battery production.
T
12
he electric vehicle (EV)
battery life cycle - manufacture
to recycling -
appears at first glance to
involve discrete manufacturing
from start to
finish. There are, however, two important
steps in battery manufacture and recycling
that are reliant on batch processing.
The first batch process combines
powders and liquids in a mixer to produce
battery slurry. The second mixes
acids with post-use shredded batteries
in a vessel to precipitate out and recapture
precious materials.
EV batch processes would be impossible
at the volume required without control
valves, which are valve bodies - ball,
butterfly, angle seat, gate, or solenoid -
combined with automated actuation controlled
via PLCs. Control valves are also
essential in the electrolyte filling process.
Among the many steps in EV battery
lifecycle, three rely on control valves:
battery slurry production, filling, and battery
recycling.
Understanding the vital nature of batch
processing and the role control valves
play provides a deeper understanding of
the complex EV battery manufacturing
process. This knowledge gives a deeper
appreciation of the marvel of EV battery
production.
The Complexities of Battery
Slurry Formulation
In every EV battery, the aluminum-foil
cathode and the copper-foil anode are
coated with a thin film made of a
three-component battery slurry. The
battery slurry-film layer is essential to
battery performance, and its manufacture
is a complicated and precise operation.
Cathode and anode slurries represent
different formulations and are
Battery & Electrification Technology, May/June 2024
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Battery & Electrification Technology - May/June 2024

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