The Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) of RWTH Aachen University, Fraunhofer FFB, and mixing technology specialist HS Tumbler have started the “KOOP” research project. Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, the three-year initiative aims to accelerate the transfer of innovative production and battery technologies from laboratory scale to industrial applications. A sodium-ion battery with a hard carbon anode manufactured by trajectory mixing will serve as a use case.
New method to shorten time to market
The project focuses on the “Highly Cooperative Scaling” approach, which was developed jointly by PEM and Fraunhofer FFB. This method is intended to reduce the usual delays associated with medium technology readiness levels. These delays are often caused by insufficiently coordinated financing and scaling strategies as well as by difficulties with data and knowledge transfer. The new approach allows for the close exchange of personnel, data, and management between innovators and Fraunhofer FFB. This exchange is intended to prevent knowledge loss and to enable direct access to product and process data. To this end, a management group is developing an adaptable strategy to prepare capacities and facilities at an early stage.
50 percent less energy consumption
According to the project partners, KOOP will serve as a template for further applications of “Highly Cooperative Scaling.” Additionally, KOOP is said to provide impetus for the industrialization of sodium-ion battery technology and trajectory mixing. The partners claim this could reduce energy consumption by at least half compared to conventional processes.
