Instruments for checking physical characteristics

Description

Equipment for AMCF Facility at Eden Campus, University of St Andrews. Requirement comprising of the following lots: Lot 1: Battery Electrode Coater; Lot 2: Slurry Processing Equipment; Lot 3: Pouch Cell Production; Lot 4: Battery Cycling and Formation. Slurry processing equipment We wish to acquire several pieces of equipment required for the processing of battery electrodes. Required components: — mixers, — calendar, — vacuum ovens. A small and large volume mixer would be desirable, where one mixer should handle up to 1 L of slurry, and another up to 20 L of slurry. These should both be capable of 3-in-1 operation, with high torque, high dispersion, and scraper heads available for use. The high torque and high dispersion heads of the mixer must be of high quality, and their placement in the mixer must not allow them to touch the walls of the container. It is also essential that the mixer have a cooling jacket and temperature control function. The mixer must also have the capability to mix under both inert atmosphere and under vacuum. Furthermore, the mixer must have timer control to facilitate out-of-hours operation. The calendar should be reel-to-reel, capable of processing electrode-coated foils with widths up to 350 mm. It should be able to operate at a variety of different pressures, and at different thicknesses and be capable of operation at temperature (RT to 120 ºC). In-line thickness measurement would also be a significant benefit. All equipment must pass through access door with dimensions of 2 m x 2 m. Pouch cell production Ideally, a semi-autonomous system is requested, however costings for a manual setup (i.e. manual pouch forming, filling, sealing, etc.) will also be considered. The design of these cells will use an opposite-ended tab design, rather than the traditional single-ended tab design. We anticipate constructing cells in a semi-autonomous fashion, with produced pouch cells with stack sizes of up to 50 layers, depending upon the electrode size and customer requirements. An output starting at around 20 per day is desirable, but the capability to push this production up as necessary is also highly desired. Required components: — electrode cutter, — Z-fold stacker, — tab welding equipment, — pouch former, — electrolyte filling, degassing, and sealing. A versatile group of instruments, which could be adjusted (with expected additional costs, such as electrode cutting heads) to produce pouch cells of 150 mm x 100 mm and 300 x 100 mm would be advantageous, and any such capability should be made clear in bids. Battery cycling and formation We desire an instrument capable of forming and ageing lithium and sodium-ion batteries. Cells will be in the range 0.1 to 15 Ah. The instrument should have at least 60 channels, which are capable of formation cycling, rate studies, and cycle life ageing. The ability to perform hybrid-pulse power would be an advantage. A current range 4 mA to 15 A is essential (to 30A is desirable), with the ability to combine channels to increase current range, and a voltage window of 0 V to 5 V is preferable. The cycling and formation equipment also require an environmental test chamber, which can support at least five fully constructed pouch cells of up to 300 x 100 mm size. The environment should have a programmable temperature range from -20 to 60 ºC, with a tolerance of ±1 ºC. The chamber should conform to EUCAR Hazard Standard of ≤ 4. We require a roll-to-roll coating system, capable of producing single or double-sided coated foil electrodes with a high degree of control. The primary purposes of this instrument are: — electrode coating for lithium and sodium-ion battery anodes and cathodes. Required components: — roll-to-roll coating system; — drying oven of at least 3 m length; — coating and foil widths suitable for the manufacture of 300 mm and or 150 mm cell widths, with suitable edge guides; — intermittent coating capability; — multiple coating head solutions (slot die, comma bar); — flexible tension control for applying tension on different substrates (Al/Cu foils of different thicknesses); — web speed of up to 5 m min-1. A coater with excellent control and versatility is crucial in making precision battery electrodes. We require a system that facilitates the change between coating different electrode chemistries, and between cathodes and anode slurries. The coater should be easy to clean and maintain.