Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum to supply vacuum pump systems to Korea

A well-known Korean group producing lithium-ion batteries has awarded a contract for the supply of vacuum systems to Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum.

The company will equip several production lines with vacuum pump systems for electrode drying by summer 2016.

With a system combination of the dry compressing screw vacuum pump Dryvac DV 450C and the Roots Ruvac WH2500, the customer will optimise its production lines.

Decisive factors for awarding the contract were in particular process capability at low operating costs and the services offered.

In the manufacture of battery cells, vacuum technology is used for several production steps and has a high importance for the efficiency of production.

During their entire life cycle, batteries need to maintain a high quality, therefore high-performance vacuum systems are necessary in order to provide the conditions for high-quality batteries, e.g. in specified drying processes.

Especially with Li cells for electric vehicles, these quality requirements are increasingly important, as the demands for volumetric storage capacity, lightweight, and safety are growing.

Apart from electrode drying, the vacuum-assisted manufacturing steps comprise cell assembly and leak detection testing.