Cold Isostatic Presses

Cold Isostatic Pressing (CIP) entails subjecting components or powder in moulds to extreme isostatic pressure, up to 600 MPa (87,022psi) and at ambient temperature. Common pressure media include water, emulsion or oil and in some cases components my be bagged.

Metals, soft magnetics and ceramic powders are typical materials. In some cases CIPed material may be further processed using Hot Isostatic Pressing.

Powder subjected to extreme pressure in a mould is compacted into a solid, with a density of up to 95% depending on the material.

That depends on the cells design for an in-situ (or anode-free) lithium metal anode concept Quintus proposes a densification step of whole pouch cells. This position would fit the isostatic press after stacking and pouching.

The batch characteristic is an important topic for discussion. Our simulation shows that automation of the loading, unloading and densification won’t be a challenge for the implementation of isostatic pressing in the overall process. Additionally, the speed of stacking/winding is limiting the process speed before densification.

From the two vessel technologies, mono-block and wire-wound, the wire-wound technology systems can be scaled up to a cylinder volume of 2000 L.