Bottleneck reduction strategies for energy efficiency in the battery manufacturing

Abstract

Regulative and social changes towards sustainability are promoting a significant growth of the electromobility sector. Lithium-ion batteries play a major role in this context; however its complex and energy-intensive process chain is responsible for a large part of cradle-to-gate impacts of electric vehicles. Therefore, this work discusses the influence of bottleneck reduction on the energy demand to foster energy efficiency in battery manufacturing. Based on data from the Battery LabFactory Braunschweig, a discrete event simulation is applied to identify bottlenecks and different scenarios for bottleneck reduction are analyzed. Next to improving existing process chain, the results may support the planning of new energy efficient installations.