NETZSCH Pumps USA will showcase its complex fluid pumping solutions for lithium battery manufacturing at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (AABC), to be held later this month in San Diego. Both the NEMO Progressing Cavity pumps and PERIPRO Peristaltic pumps have the ability to transfer complex slurry fluids and provide accurate metered flows of viscous, shear sensitive, and high solids laden materials which makes them well suited for lithium battery production.
Progressing cavity pumps belong to the group of positive displacement pumps. The main components are a rotating rotor and a stationary stator. The rotor, hinged or elastically attached on one side, is a round-threaded screw. On the output side, the axial position oscillates. The hollow stator is elastic and has the same pitch length as the rotor. This leaves conveying spaces between the stator and the rotor, which move continuously from the inlet to the outlet side. The size of the cavities and the associated delivery rate depends on the size of the construction. Except for the rotor and stator, all other components are identical.
NETZSCH NEMO Progressing Cavity pumps can convey the battery industry’s wide range of abrasive slurries and harsh fluids without pulsation and meter them with extremely high precision. No metal-to-metal contact of the pump’s wetted parts and lubrication-free flexible shaft options ensure no contamination of the products. These powerful pumps can also operate at slow speeds supplying very steady, low flows.
NEMO pumps can be provided with many different materials of construction including abrasion resistant hardened steel, ceramic rotors, and one of more than 30 stator elastomers. NETZSCH formulates the elastomer compounds in-house to best withstand all of the harsh chemicals and solvents in the liquids.
NEMO Progressing Cavity Pumps particularly excel in the very demanding electrode coating and slurry mixing applications, the company says. For coating applications, these pumps continuously feed even highly viscous slurries with high concentrations of solids in a pulsation-free manner to the coating system achieving the critical thin and uniform coating thickness.
The mixing pumps accurately meter the raw materials for a perfect mix to ensure consistent and optimum battery performance. NEMO pumps also precisely meter or transfer ceramic slurries, electrolytes, adhesives, resins, and many other battery process fluids including those with aggressive solvents.
Peristaltic pumps belong to the group of rotating positive displacement pumps. They only have one wearing part, the hose. The product to be conveyed is forced through the hose by external mechanical deformation of the hose. The hose is supported by the housing of the pump head and is clamped by rollers. The rollers rotate on a rotor. The rotation causes the pinch-off point to move along the hose, thus propelling the pumped product. The elasticity of the hose material generates the suction vacuum. Due to their design, peristaltic pumps are insensitive to dry running.
PERIPRO Peristaltic Pumps have a heavy duty construction for demanding applications, with heavy duty, precision machined elastomer hoses for +/-1% flow accuracy and large, easy-to-maintain rollers for longer service life. These pumps are suited for complex slurry fluids, such as abrasive, corrosive, viscous, and shear-sensitive, delicate products, which only come in contact with the elastomer hose.
Ultimately, this pump design provides energy savings up to 30%, and requires 90% less lubricant when compared to other peristaltic pumps using sliding shoe design technology.
Among the particular features of PERIPRO Peristaltic Pumps that make them ideal for lithium battery manufacturing includes the fact that it is a seal-less design, so no hazardous vapors or emissions can escape. Additionally, slurries up to 70% solids are easily conveyed with no exotic, hard alloys required for abrasion resistance. The hose materials have excellent chemical resistance and are available in several elastomeric choices to permit pumping a wide range of fluids containing aggressive chemicals.