Tecman, an advanced material engineering firm based in the West Midlands, UK, has developed a process which enables the high-volume continuous manufacture of Framed Anti-Thermal Propagation (ATP) Pads for the first time.
Tecman spent 18 months developing and patenting a single continuous production process that enables the company to manufacture Framed ATP Pads – a type of advanced cell barrier, which incorporates a physical built-in spacer that surrounds the insulation pad.
This built-in spacer provides optimal space between battery cells and helps to prevent thermal propagation by allowing the cells space to expand and contract. It also provides a degree of mechanical resistance to the cell wall.
The process Tecman has developed, and the resulting solution, is a significant innovation for the automotive and battery storage industries. OEMs will now be able to take advantage of advanced features in a more cost-effective way, and at a significantly higher volume, than previously possible.
To date, this type of thermal cell barrier with built-in spacers has been complex to manufacture because they require multiple components. Tecman’s streamlined production process eliminates the need for third party pre-conversion and reduces costs by unlocking manufacturing speeds of up to 120 parts per minute, per machine.
“I’m really excited to be launching our industry leading manufacturing system at Battery Cells and Systems Expo this month,” said Kevin Porter, Technical Director at Tecman. “This is a major innovation for the industry and will give OEMs access to an optimised cell barrier solution. It enables all the benefits of the optimised cell barrier at a cost-effective level and with the assurance of meeting capacity requirements. This is made possible through the high efficiency design which maximises OEE and material utilisation. Framed ATP Pads have been so complicated to manufacture that it has prohibited the development of this design to date, so we are delighted to be the first to bring this innovation to market.”
The resulting Framed ATP Pads will be suitable for multiple prismatic and pouch cell solutions and be customisable so that customers have the option to use their own specified materials as well.
