“With such high demand, being able to source all of these technologies from one company helps manufacturers eliminate the time consumed searching for each component individually,” says David Noble, SPX Flow Global Sales Director for Industrial Pumps.
SPX Flow process solutions play an integral part in producing electric vehicles and the lithium batteries that power them.
SPX Flow industrial pumps are used along the production line. Johnson Pump centrifugal pumps, for example, help drive slurry blends through process lines, while Bran+Luebbe dosing pumps feed-in the appropriate chemical ratios to activate the circuit motherboard during semiconductor etching.
Lightnin, Philadelphia and Uutechnic mixers agitate raw materials extracted from the earth through a variety of hydrometallurgical processes during the production cycle. Along with lithium, some common raw materials include nickel, cobalt and copper. SPX Flow mixers can also return mid-stream to help blend the solution for the cathode, one of three vital battery components.
APV homogenizers are used to disperse and ensure consistent mixtures of relevant elements which are used within lithium-ion batteries, while Anhydro spray dryers support cathode activation, spray drying active materials to remove solvent and form dry powder that is then used to coat conductive substrate.
SPX Flow also offers additional support products used along the EV assembly line. PowerTeam hydraulic pumps help producers service and replace battery packs by lifting them in and out of the vehicle body to upgrade and reinstall packs at a controlled rate for safety and efficiency.
The Johnson Pump CM100HP generates high flow, at a high back-pressure, for demanding applications like the cooling of electric circuits and batteries used on hybrid and full-electric buses, trains and other commercial vehicles. They are used in a Battery Thermal Management System (BTMS) that circulates liquid that holds the battery at its desired temperature.
"Once the cars are off the assembly line, our involvement with electric vehicles doesn't end. When electric vehicles reach the end of their lifecycles, our equipment is reintroduced to recycle salvageable raw material to include in new batteries," says Noble.
