German mechanical and plant engineering firm Dürr has announced expansion into calendering systems and dry coating. This follows the acquisition of French mechanical engineering company Ingecal and partnership with US coating company LiCAP Technologies.
Dürr said calendering systems play a major role in the coating of electrode foils for lithium-ion batteries.
The company now offers both wet and dry coating technology. Dry coating is cheaper, uses up to 40% less energy, 20% less process time and results in fewer CO2 emissions. That is generally approximately one ton per 10 KWh of electrode capacity produced, according to the firm. It can also be used in the production of solid-state batteries.
Ingecal specialises in calendering and its systems are suitable for both wet and dry coating.
The LiCAP partnership is aimed specifically at dry coating. Dürr said from around 2030, 30–40% of battery electrodes manufactured in Europe and North America are expected to be produced using dry coating.
The expansion of Dürr’s range also benefits its cooperation with mechanical engineering companies Grob and Manz, which is primarily aimed at delivering turnkey equipment for complete gigafactories.
