By Ryan Ouderkirk, director of Process Technology
Fluor’s process technology group works side-by-side with clients in the chemical industry to develop and expand technologies that touch and improve nearly every aspect of modern-day living. One of those areas is the advanced battery market, where key advancements in battery chemicals are changing the electric vehicle landscape.
Fluor works across every link of the battery value chain, from mining critical raw materials, like lithium, to manufacturing/assembly and ultimately recycling.
Chemically processing materials to create the individual battery components is a key part of that value chain. Clients are connecting this chemical processing across the battery value chain to deliver cost-competitive battery components with enhanced performance. Here are three examples of how Fluor is using its chemical expertise to advance global battery production:
- Developing standardized, repeatable designs
For one global battery chemicals leader, Fluor is currently supporting seven projects and initiatives across the U.S., South America and Asia. For projects that span from mining raw materials to creating materials used in
cathode active material production, Fluor is providing engineering, procurement, and project and construction
management.
Designing and building one cathode material precursor facility in Asia, Fluor leveraged mining and chemicals experts from four countries to develop a
standardized, capital-efficient design that is now being replicated on a U.S. project. This standardized design approach
can shorten project delivery schedules and enable the facility to enter production more quickly, which is critical with
the rapid pace of technology improvements in this market.
- Designing efficient, cost-competitive facilities
Another client that produces cathode active materials is partnering with a battery assembler to create surety and
cost competitiveness in the battery supply chain. Fluor provided front-end engineering and design for one of the
client’s European cathode active material production facilities, minimizing building requirements and delivering
significant savings in one of the most capital-intensive phases of battery manufacturing.
- Supporting technology scale-up and commercialization
An additional client has developed a cutting-edge technology to strengthen the separator component’s heat resistance
– improving battery charging speed, safety and longevity. Fluor is helping to scale the client’s facility to a
higher commercialization capacity and adapt the core design to a new location. Fluor’s experience, working with a
wide range of technologies, has enabled the company to contribute solutions and alternate views to scale-up
challenges, while still safeguarding the client’s intellectual property. This collaboration is yielding a
fit-for-purpose and constructable design to enable the client to produce a cutting-edge technology at scale in the
targeted market.
The technology landscape for battery chemicals is constantly evolving, and new technologies are beginning to enter
the commercial phase, such as silicon anodes and battery chemical recycling. Leveraging its strong project execution
and technical expertise, Fluor stands ready to partner with clients across technologies to solve tough technical and
execution challenges and bring these projects to fruition.