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Lithium-Ion Battery Pack Unit

EIRI Team,

Introduction

A lithium-ion battery or Li-ion battery (abbreviated as LIB) is a type of rechargeable battery in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during discharge and back when charging.

Working

As their name suggests, lithium-ion batteries are all about the movement of lithium ions: the ions move one way when the battery charges (when it’s absorbing power); they move the opposite way when the battery discharges (when it’s supplying power):

  • During charging, lithium ions (yellow circles) flow from the positive electrode (red) to the negative electrode (blue) through the electrolyte (gray). Electrons also flow from the positive electrode to the negative electrode, but take the longer path around the outer circuit. The electrons and ions combine at the negative electrode and deposit lithium there.
  • When no more ions will flow, the battery is fully charged and ready to use.
  • During discharging, the ions flow back through the electrolyte from the negative electrode to the positive electrode. Electrons flow from the negative electrode to the positive electrode through the outer circuit, powering your laptop. When the ions and electrons combine at the positive electrode, lithium is deposited there.

A battery is made up of an anode, cathode, separator, electrolyte, and two current collectors (positive and negative). The anode and cathode store the lithium. The electrolyte carries positively charged lithium ions from the anode to the cathode and vice versa through the separator. The movement of the lithium ions creates free electrons in the anode which creates a charge at the positive current collector.  The electrical current then flows from the current collector through a device being powered (cell phone, computer, etc.) to the negative current collector. The separator blocks the flow of electrons inside the battery.

Lithium Ion Battery Advantages

There are many advantages to using a li-ion cell of battery. These li-ion battery advantages include:

  • High energy density: The much greater energy density is one of the chief advantages of a lithium ion battery or cell. With electronic equipment such as mobile phones needing to operate longer between charges while still consuming more power, there is always a need to batteries with a much higher energy density. In addition to this, there are many power applications from power tools to electric vehicles. The much higher power density offered by lithium ion batteries is a distinct advantage.
  • Self-discharge: One issue with batteries and ells is that they lose their charge over time. This self-discharge can be a major issue. One advantage of lithium ion cells is that their rate of self-discharge is much lower than that of other rechargeable cells such as Ni-Cad and NiMH forms.
  • No requirement for priming: Some rechargeable cells need to be primed when they receive their first charge. There is no requirement for this with lithium ion cells and batteries.
  • Low maintenance: One major lithium ion battery advantage is that they do not require and maintenance to ensure their performance. Ni-Cad cells required a periodic discharge to ensure that they did not exhibit the memory effect. As this does not affect lithium ion cells, this process or other similar maintenance procedures are not required.
  • Variety of types available: There are several types of lithium ion cell available. This advantage of lithium ion batteries can mean that the right technology can be used for the particular application needed. Some forms of lithium ion battery provide a high current density and are ideal for consumer mobile electronic equipment. Others are able to provide much higher current levels and are ideal for power tools and electric vehicles.

Lithium Ion Battery Disadvantages

Like the use of any technology, there are some disadvantages that need to be balanced against the benefits. The li-ion battery disadvantages include:

  • Protection required: Lithium ion cells and batteries are not as robust as some other rechargeable technologies. They require protection from being over charged and discharged too far. In addition to this, they need to have the current maintained within safe limits. Accordingly one lithium ion battery disadvantage is that they require protection circuitry incorporated to ensure they are kept within their safe operating limits. Fortunately with modern integrated circuit technology, this can be relatively easily incorporated into the battery or within the equipment if the battery is not interchangeable.
  • Ageing: One of the major lithium ion battery disadvantages for consumer electronics is that lithium ion batteries suffer from ageing. Not only is this time or calendar dependent, but it is also dependent upon the number of charge discharge cycles that the battery has undergone. When a typical consumer lithium cobalt oxide, LCO battery or cell needs to be stored it should be partially charged – around 40% to 50% and kept in a cool storage area. Storage under these conditions will help increase the life.
  • Transportation: Another disadvantage of lithium ion batteries is that there can be certain restrictions placed on their transportation, especially by air. Although the batteries that could be taken in aircraft carry-on luggage are unlikely to be affected, care should be taken not to carry any more lithium ion batteries than are needed. Any carried separately must be protected against short circuits by protective covers, etc.
  • Cost: A major lithium ion battery disadvantage is their cost. Typically they are around 40% more costly to manufacture than Nickel cadmium cells. This is a major factor when considering their use in mass produced consumer items where any additional costs are a major issue. Checkout project report on lithium ion manufacturing plant and assembling plant.
  • Immature technology: Lithium ion battery technology is a developing area. This can be a disadvantage in terms of the fact that the technology does not remain constant. However as new lithium ion technologies are being developed all the time, it can also be an advantage as better solutions are coming available.

All technologies have their advantages and disadvantages. Lithium ion technology is no different. By understanding the various positive and negative issues, it is possible to be able to work around them and utilise the correct technology for the particular application.

We can also prepare project report on lithium ion battery manufacturing and assembling unit as per your requirement (we can modify the project capacity and project cost as per your requirement).

Construction Material

Cathode Materials

State-of-the-art cathode materials include lithium-metal oxides [such as LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, and Li(NixMnyCoz)O2], vanadium oxides, olivines (such as LiFePO4), and rechargeable lithium oxides.11,12 Layered oxides containing cobalt and nickel are the most studied materials for lithium-ion batteries. They show a high stability in the high-voltage range but cobalt has limited availability in nature and is toxic, which is a tremendous drawback for mass manufacturing.

Manganese offers a low-cost substitution with a high thermal threshold and excellent rate capabilities but limited cycling behavior. Therefore, mixtures of cobalt, nickel, and manganese are often used to combine the best properties and minimize the drawbacks. Vanadium oxides have a large capacity and excellent kinetics. However, due to lithium insertion and extraction, the material tends to become amorphous, which limits the cycling behavior. Olivines are nontoxic and have a moderate capacity with low fade due to cycling, but their conductivity is low.

Methods of coating the material have been introduced that make up for the poor conductivity, but it adds some processing costs to the battery.

Anode Materials

Anode materials are lithium, graphite, lithium-alloying materials, intermetallics, or silicon.11 Lithium seems to be the most straight forward material but shows problems with cycling behavior and dendritic growth, which creates short circuits. Carbonaceous anodes are the most utilized anodic material due to their low cost and availability. However, the theoretical capacity (372 mAh/g) is poor compared with the charge density of lithium (3,862 mAh/g). Some efforts with novel graphite varieties and carbon nanotubes have tried to increase the capacity but have come with the price of high processing costs.

Alloy anodes and intermetallic compounds have high capacities but also show a dramatic volume change, resulting in poor cycling behavior. Efforts have been made to overcome the volume change by using nanocrystalline materials and by having the alloy phase (with Al, Bi, Mg, Sb, Sn, Zn, and others) in a nonalloying stabilization matrix (with Co, Cu, Fe, or Ni). Silicon has an extremely high capacity of 4,199 mAh/g, corresponding with a composition of Si5Li22. However, cycling behavior is poor, and capacity fading not yet understood.

Electrolytes

A safe and long-lasting battery needs a robust electrolyte that can withstand existing voltage and high temperatures and that has a long shelf life while offering a high mobility for lithium ions. Types include liquid, polymer, and solid-state electrolytes.11 Liquid electrolytes are mostly organic, solventbased electrolytes containing LiBC4O8 (LiBOB), LiPF6, Li[PF3(C2F5)3], or similar. The most important consideration is their flammability; the bestperforming solvents have low boiling points and have flash points around 30°C. Therefore, venting or explosion of the cell and subsequently the battery pose a danger. Electrolyte decomposition and highly exothermic side reactions in lithium-ion batteries can create an effect known as “thermal runaway.” Thus, selection of an electrolyte often involves a tradeoff between flammability and electrochemical performance.

Separators have built-in thermal shutdown mechanisms, and additional external sophisticated thermal management systems are added to the modules and battery packs. Ionic liquids are under consideration due to their thermal stability but have major drawbacks, such as lithium dissolution out of the anode.

Polymer electrolytes are ionically conductive polymers. They are often mixed in composites with ceramic nanoparticles, resulting in higher conductivities and resistance to higher voltages. In addition, due to their high viscosity and quasi-solid behavior, polymer electrolytes could inhibit lithium dendrites from growing13 and could therefore be used with lithium metal anodes.

Solid electrolytes are lithium-ion conductive crystals and ceramic glasses. They show a very poor low-temperature performance because the lithium mobility in the solid is greatly reduced at low temperatures. In addition, solid electrolytes need special deposition conditions and temperature treatments to obtain acceptable behavior, making them extremely expensive in use, although they eliminate the need for separators and the risk of thermal runaway.

Separators

A good review of separator materials and needs is provided by P. Arora and Z. Zhang.14 As its name suggests, the battery separator separates the two electrodes physically from each other, thus avoiding a short circuit. In the case of a liquid electrolyte, the separator is a foam material that is soaked with the electrolyte and holds it in place. It needs to be an electronic insulator while having minimal electrolyte resistance, maximum mechanical stability, and chemical resistance to degradation in the highly electrochemically active environment. In addition, the separator often has a safety feature, called “thermal shutdown;” at elevated temperatures, it melts or closes its pores to shut down the lithium-ion transport without losing its mechanical stability. Separators are either synthesized in sheets and assembled with the electrodes or deposited onto one electrode in situ. Costwise, the latter is the preferable method but poses some other synthesis, handling, and mechanical problems. Solid-state electrolytes and some polymer electrolytes need no separator.

The negative electrode of the Li-Ion battery is made up of carbon and the positive electrode is a metal oxide. The most commonly used material in the negative electrode is Graphite while that in the positive electrode may be Lithium cobalt oxide, Lithium ion phosphate or Lithium manganese oxide. Lithium salt in an organic solvent is used as the electrolyte. The electrolyte is typically a mixture of organic carbonates like Ethylene carbonate or Diethyl carbonate containing lithium ions. The electrolyte uses anion salts like Lithium hexa fluoro phosphate, Lithium hexa fluoro arsenate monohydrate, Lithium per chlorate, Lithium hexa fluoro borate etc. Depending upon the salt used, the voltage, capacity and life of the battery varies. Pure lithium reacts with water vigorously to form lithium hydroxide and hydrogen ions. So the electrolyte used is non aqueous organic solvent. The electrochemical role of the electrodes charge between anode and cathode depends on the direction of current flow.

There are two types of lithium-based batteries available.

1. Lithium batteries

2. Lithium-ion batteries

1. Lithium batteries

Lithium batteries are disposable (primary) batteries that have lithium metal or lithium compounds as an anode. Depending on the design and chemical compounds used, lithium cells can produce voltages from 1.5 V to about 3.7 V, over twice the voltage of an ordinary zinc-carbon battery or alkaline cell battery In lithium batteries, a pure lithium metallic element is used as anode. These types of batteries are not    rechargeable.

2. Lithium-ion batteries

Lithium-ion batteries are a type of rechargeable battery in which lithium ions move from the negative electrode (anode) to the positive electrode (cathode) during discharge and from the cathode to the anode during charge. Lithium-ion batteries are common in portable consumer electronics because of their high energy-to-weight ratios, lack of memory effect, and slow self-discharge when not in use.

The three primary functional components of a lithium-ion battery are the anode, cathode, and electrolyte, for which a variety of materials may be used.

Commercially, the most popular material for the anode is graphite. The cathode is generally one of three materials: a layered oxide (such as lithium cobalt oxide), one based on a polyanion (such as lithium iron phosphate), or a spinel (such as lithium manganese oxide), although materials such as TiS2 (titanium disulfide) originally were also used.

Lithium-Ion Battery Demand in India: Projections for 2030

At present, the demand for LIB in India’s clean energy sector is modest. However, this is expected to increase several folds in the coming years because of the ambitious EV and RE targets. The likely demand for LIBs in EV and grid applications by 2030. It is projected that 6-7 million electric vehicles will run on Indian roads by 2020, and 30% of India’s entire fleet will be electric by 2030. This is based on the following approach and assumptions:

  1. In the transportation sector, the number of vehicles on the road by 2030 is expected to be: 200 million two wheelers; 40 million four wheelers (according to LBNL report: 39 million); and 3 million buses. Battery requirement estimation has been done assuming 30% EV penetration.
  1. In grid-scale applications, the energy storage demand has been determined such that it provides 1– 3 hours of back-up (morning and evening peak hours). NITI Aayog’s IESS 2047 tool has been used, considering a Level 2 scenario. This scenario assumes that Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technologies would mature to enable a large fleet of EVs to operate as virtual power plants.
  1. It has been assumed that LIBs will be the only electro-chemical storage system.

Based on the above-mentioned assumptions, an estimated storage demand of 900 – 2300 GWh in the EV sector and around 22 GWh in the grid sector will be required

Top 10 Lithium-ion Battery Manufacturers in the World

Samsung SDI

A complete subsidiary of Samsung electronics, Samsung SDI is dedicated to fuel research and innovation in lithium ion technology, both for in-house use and for potential clients elsewhere. Currently, the firm is engaged in the production of lithium ion batteries, solar energy panels, and energy storage systems among other things. Samsung SDI has a presence in some of biggest markets of the world including the likes of Germany, Malaysia, and the USA.

Panasonic

Panasonic’s tryst with lithium ion began with the boom in electric automotive. Panasonic is currently manufacturing batteries for tech and automotive giants Tesla, whose cars are well-renowned in the world for their efficiency and performance. Apart from that, the firm is also involved in manufacturing communication systems and security systems.

Toshiba

Toshiba has made a huge investment in its R&D department for lithium technology. The firm is currently engaged in manufacture and sales of lithium ion batteries and related storage solutions for the automotive and telecommunication sectors. As part of its diversification process, the firm has engaged itself in the production of general logic ICs, and flash storages as well.

LG Chem

LG Chem is one of the world leaders in making lithium ion batteries as it caters to a wide variety of industries. From providing energy solutions to the petrochemical industry to the aviation industry, LG Chem has made deep inroads spread across a myriad of different sectors. The company also makes heavy duty batteries for consumer goods like smartphones and laptops.

Tesla

Ever since launching its Model S and Model X, Tesla has constantly found itself in the pinnacles of automotive excellence. All that is due to the long lasting batteries that their cars come equipped with. While Tesla is currently purchasing the batteries from Panasonic, it is going to open a Gigafactory in Australia and the US, along with Panasonic that will take care of all its automotive needs. When the Gigafactory starts production, it will be the largest facility in the world dedicated to the production of lithium ion batteries.

A123 Systems

This American firm is dedicated to manufacturing nano phosphate lithium ion batteries. Among its various lithium ion battery offerings include energy modules, and other power management systems. A123 Systems boast of a special phosphate Li-ion battery technology called LiFePO4 that delivers high energy density to enhance the life cycle of the battery.

eCobalt Solutions

Based in Canada, eCobalt Solutions has positioned its lithium ion technology towards the growing renewable energy sector. The renewable energy industry seems to be a great place in terms of an investment especially for lithium ion battery manufacturers as the sector has huge potential and also a lot of demand.

BYD

Joining the ranks is a Chinese firm that offers its lithium ion battery technology to the automobile industry. The firm makes both lithium ion batteries along with electric cars that makes it one of the very few carmakers with an in-house battery manufacturing department. Recently, BYD won multiple bids to supply electric cars for the US market, despite the ongoing trade war between the US and China.

Contemporary Amperex Technology

This is another Chinese firm that is rapidly gaining traction in the lithium ion space. In fact, China is the biggest market for EVs today, and most of the electric vehicles are powered by Li-ion batteries made by Contemporary Amperex. As of now, the firm is planning to expand its business beyond the APAC region and get a stronghold in the European and American market.

Johnson Controls

Rounding off the list is Johnson Controls which is one of the biggest Lithium-ion Battery manufacturers in the world. In fact, it is so big that nearly 35 per cent of lithium ion batteries in the global EV market are made by Johnson Controls. The firm offers Li-ion batteries for automobiles from all classes, including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, and recreational vehicles.

ASSEMBLING PROCESS OF LITHIUM ION BATTERY

Battery Pack Fabrication Personnel assembling battery packs should comply with the following recommendations:

  • Avoid cutting or piercing the insulating shrink wrap from the cells; all jewelry should be removed. Cells received from the factory should remain in their original containers until they are to be assembled into battery packs.
  • Cells should not be placed on electrically conductive surfaces. All work surfaces should be constructed with non conductive materials.
  • Do not solder directly to the cell case. Only solder to the solder tabs welded to the case.
  • Solder tabs that extend from the case and terminal cap should be insulated.
  • Loose wires should not be stripped until it is time to install a connector. If no connector is used, wire ends should be insulated.
  • Should wire trimming be necessary, only cut one wire at a time.
  • All battery packs should be labeled with the appropriate warnings as they appear on the cell label.
  • Certain potting compounds are exothermic (release heat) when they set. It is important that the maximum temperature of the cell is not exceeded during the potting process.

First Steps Toward Industry Startup

Before you start any new business or manufacturing unit, you need to identify your skills and what kind of businesses you can start and then you need to calculate investments related to land and building (rented or owned), Cost of Plant and Machinery, Labor Cost, Raw Material and at-least 2-3 Months Working Capital.

BANKABLE PROJECT REPORT

Before you start any industry, you need to get project report prepared. Readers who do not know about project report, let me explain – A Project Report is a document which provides details on the overall picture of the proposed business. The project report gives an account of the project proposal to ascertain the prospects of the proposed plan/activity. Project Report is a written document relating to any investment. It contains data on the basis of which the project has been appraised and found feasible. It consists of information on economic, technical, financial, managerial and production aspects. It enables the entrepreneur to know the inputs and helps him to obtain loans from banks or financial Institutions. The project report contains detailed information about Land and buildings required, Manufacturing Capacity per annum, Manufacturing Process, Machinery & equipment along with their prices and specifications, Requirements of raw materials, Requirements of Power & Water, Manpower needs, Marketing Cost of the project, production, financial analyses and economic viability of the project. 

Below are few mandatory details you should include in your project report:

  1. Present Market Position and Expected Future Demand,
  2. Market Size,
  3. Statistics,
  4. Trends,
  5. SWOT Analysis and
  6. Forecasts.

Report provides a comprehensive analysis from industry covering detailed reporting and evaluates the position of the industry by providing insights to the SWOT analysis of the industry. 

Report should include:

  1. Plant Capacity,
  2. requirement of Land & Building,
  3. Plant & Machinery,
  4. Flow Sheet Diagram,
  5. Raw Materials detail with suppliers list,
  6. Total Capital Investment along with detailed calculation on Rate of Return,
  7. Break-Even Analysis and
  8. Profitability Analysis.

The report should also provides a bird’s eye view of the global industry with details on projected market size and then progresses to evaluate the industry in detail. 

I hope this help, please keep me posted if you have any query related to industry startup or need any suggestions. 

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