AyraScrub® to deal with potentially hazardous solvents from battery production

To meet the increasingly pressing need for decarbonization and the diversification away from fossil fuels, the global market for batteries destined to electric vehicles and energy storage is expected to tremendously grow in the years to come. In total, more than 200 battery factories will open their doors in the next 5 years and nearly 30 in Europe alone.

Such a deployment can give confidence in the securing of the lithium-ion battery production sector to support the expected market growth. But it also raises the question of the effective treatment of solvents coming from these production chains. Often harmful, carcinogenic, and toxic, these solvents include NMP that is considered potentially dangerous and for which the EU has imposed strict conditions of use both for employee safety as well as environmental sustainability.

AyraScrub® air treatment units destined to effectively treat NMP from battery production

NMP is the most widely used solvent in the preparation process of lithium-ion batteries, commonly known as methyl – scientific name n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and molecular formula C5H9NO – for which manufacturers of Li-ion batteries need to implement effective solutions to limit its emissions.

Our French entity specializing in high-performance air pollution control solutions, has recently attracted the interest of several giants in the production of li-ion batteries to equip their factories, also called “gigafactories”, with our AyraScrub® air treatment units destined to effectively treat NMP from their battery production.

After having been tested and approved on the pilot plant of one of our clients for several months, our AyraScrub® solutions – consisting of the implementation in series of two customized gas scrubbers – were recently installed on their gigafactory. This translates into the supply of 3 similar AyraScrub® lines, comprising 6 scrubbers and 6 fans. Each line is treating 12,000 Nm3/h.

AyraScrub®’s offers considerable advantages

AyraScrub® is an innovative solution guaranteeing the highest performance in reducing gaseous pollutants all while being more advantageous in terms of OPEX. Compared to the activated carbon and/or zeolite solutions historically used, AyraScrub® excludes the need for regular replacements of consumables.

Eliminating hazardous solvents in the production of batteries and various other everyday product applications to allay health concerns and make product manufacturing less expensive and more environmentally friendly, is entirely in line with one of the major objectives of John Cockerill: support the ecological transition.