Simulation-based planning of process chains and production environments for solid-state batteries

Global digitalization and electrification require economical and environmentally sustainable battery cell factories on a gigawatt scale. Upscaling the production of solid-state batteries poses new challenges for factory planning. As compared to conventional lithium ion batteries (LIB), solid-state batteries require additional production processes under defined environment (e.g. dry rooms with controlled due point) to fulfill product requirements. The efficient provision of these production environments results in significant capital and energy costs, and influences the design and planning of giga factories for solid-state batteries. The design of these production environments is primarily determined by the interactions between the employees, the processes, and the battery materials used. To account for these interactions, the planning of solid-state battery factories requires a holistic, simulation-based factory design. In this research, a modular factory simulation framework for the assessment of scalable solid-state battery cell production (from pilot to industry scale) is introduced. Parameterizable machine and production environments enable a step-by-step design of the specific process chains, for which the technical, economic and environmental aspects can be assessed. The functionality of the simulation is presented based on a comparison of two models for the anode procurement (internally made or externally purchased) whereby key figures are determined and discussed.