What we want to accomplish

Advance the technical and economical potential of a circular economy for batteries.

Who

CircuBAT connects the major stakeholders along the complete lifecycle of lithium-ion batteries. Among the are partners from Industry, Governement and NGOs along the complete value chain of a lithium-ion battery lifecycle.

Why

Extending the usable lifetime in first-use applications and increasing the amount of second-use and second-life opportunities allows to minimize the total CO2-footprint of lithium-ion battery systems during the lifetime.

How

Maximizing metal recovery and resource efficiency will provide materials for use in a future manufacturing process and avoid that the battery enters a landfill or other disposal facility with no recovery of any of its remaining value.

What for

A strong framework work package observing, analyzing, and communicating the impacts and opportunities across the life cycle will allow for a holistic view of the whole system and strong collaboration of all partners.

Working Packages during the CircuBAT Project

Overview of the subprojects

Step by step to the circular economy

A total of six technical subprojects are organized with strong linkage between them. CircuBAT additionally includes an all encompassing sustainable economic subproject, which interacts strongly with all the other subprojects.

Descriptions

Lithium-ion batteries must be disposed of at the end of their life cycle. Current methods for recycling batteries are energy-intensive and only recover a small amount of the materials inside the battery. Subproject 1 therefore aims to optimise and enhance a recycling process developed by KYBURZ Switzerland in which active battery materials are separated in a water bath. This allows materials such as copper, aluminium, lithium, manganese, nickel, graphite, and cobalt to be recovered – still in top quality – and then sold on or used to produce new batteries.

Research partners:
– Empa – Technology and Society Laboratory – Contact: nora.bartolome@empa.ch
– BFH – Institute for Intelligent Industrial Systems I3S – Contact: axel.fuerst@bfh.ch

Implementation partners:
– Imerys Graphite & Carbon Switzerland SA
– Kyburz Switzerland AG
– Leclanché SA

The process of drying battery electrodes after coating is by far the most energy-intensive step in producing a lithium-ion battery cell. A dry electrode coating would eliminate the need for this step, leading to substantial energy and cost savings. The objective of Subproject 2 is to develop a dry, solvent-free electrode coating process. The key here is developing an innovative polymer binder that is suitable for dry electrode coating and guarantees long-term charging/discharging cycle stability. The binder also needs to be water-soluble and biodegradable so that it is compatible with the recycling process developed in Subproject 01.

Research partners:
– Empa – Materials for Energy Conversion Laboratory – Contact: corsin.battaglia@empa.ch

Implementation partners:
– Bühler Group
– Leclanché SA

Subproject 03 focuses on developing data-based strategies and technologies with a view to maximising the life cycle of lithium-ion batteries during their first application. The aim is also to develop a standardised data model that can provide a swift, cost-based decision on whether and when a battery should be retired from its first use and moved to its second use or whether it should be recycled then and there. The models use data that the implementing partners have already been collecting for a number of years. These data are analysed and used to develop models for describing battery ageing based on big data and machine learning. During the project, the optimised strategies will be tested on Thömus e-bikes, cars from the Swiss car-sharing platform Mobility, and an e-lorry.

Research partners:
–BFH – Battery and Storage Systems Lab – Contact: andrea.vezzini@bfh.ch
–BFH – Automotive Electronics Lab – Contact: peter.affolter@bfh.ch

Implementation partners:
– E-Force ONE AG
– FPT Motorenforschung AG / CNH Industrial
– Green Cubes Technologies GmbH
– Kyburz Switzerland AG
– Lidl Schweiz AG
– Mobility Cooperative
– Die Schweizerische Post AG
– TCS – Touring Club Schweiz
– Thömus AG

Aged lithium-ion batteries that are no longer suitable for use as traction batteries in an electric vehicle can often still be used as stationary energy storage systems for buildings. Subproject 04 is centred around finding the best way to implement this concept, focusing on three key aspects that need to be considered. Firstly, since older batteries pose a bigger safety risk, steps must be taken to ensure that second-life applications will not endanger equipment, operating personnel or the environment. Secondly, suitable power converters will also be needed, some of which still need to be developed. And thirdly, since used batteries likely need to be replaced more frequently, the structure housing the energy storage system needs to be designed to facilitate this.

Research partners:
– OST – Power Electronics Laboratory – Contact: simon.nigsch@ost.ch
– OST – Electromobility & Battery Competence Center – Contact: gerhard.rizzo@ost.ch

Implementation partners:
– Green Cubes Technologies GmbH
– Indrivetec AG

Subproject 05 aims at supporting the second-life batteries market, by eliminating the costly and time-intensive need of each individual battery characterisation and sets two objectives. Firstly, it aims at developing a suitable modelling framework for determining the ageing mechanisms of used lithium-ion batteries reconditioned to provide power grid services. Secondly, it intends to use this framework to optimise the design and control of utility-scale second-life batteries.

Research partners:
– CSEM – Battery Systems Group – Contact: andreas.hutter@csem.ch
– EPFL – Distributed Electrical Systems Laboratory – Contact: mario.paolone@epfl.ch

Implementation partners:
– BKW Energie AG / Société La Goule
– sun2wheel AG
– Swiss Energypark

Batteries from electric vehicles age mechanically as well as chemically. In order for them or parts of them to be recycled, they have to be disassembled by hand, which is a laborious process. Since batteries are not designed to be disassembled further than at module level, repairs at module and cell level are hardly possible nowadays. When individual cells age at different rates, this leads to the traction battery being put out of service prematurely despite many cells still being in adequate condition. Subproject 06 therefore aims to develop methods for breaking down lithium-ion batteries to the cell level, thus enabling repairs and reuse. It also intends to develop guidelines on designing battery modules so that individual cells can be reused and batteries more easily recycled.

Research partners:
– SIPBB – Swiss Battery Technology Center – Contact: christian.ochsenbein@sipbb.ch

Implementation partners:
– LIBREC AG
– Stiftung Auto Recycling Schweiz
– upVolt GmbH

Subproject 07 looks at the general conditions underlying the successful implementation of a circular, sustainable business model for batteries used in e-mobility. To this end, business models for the entire value chain are being developed in close cooperation with the partners from the technical sub-projects, and sustainability hotspots and points of leverage are being identified. This promotes mutual exchange between the various project partners. Looking at the value chain as a whole, it also aims to identify suitable, sustainable and economically advantageous business modules for implementing these innovations and assesses and evaluates them using empirically supported simulation models.

Research partners:
– Empa – Technology and Society Laboratory – Contact: roland.hischier@empa.ch
– University of St. Gallen – Institute for Economy and the Environment (IWÖ) – Contact: rolf.wuestenhagen@unisg.ch

Implementation partners:
– Bern Economic Development Agency
– ESM – Entwicklungsfonds Seltene Metalle
– iBAT Association
– SNV – Schweizerische Normen-Vereinigung
– Société Mont-Soleil

Subprojects explained

Subproject 01: Material Recovery

Subproject 02: Cell Manufacturing

Subproject 03: First Life Use

Subproject 04: Second Life Use System

Subproject 05: Second Life Operation

Subproject 06: Disassembly and Recovery

Subproject 07: Sustainable Business Model

Pathways to zero emissions

Research Partners

Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH is the Leading House in the CircuBAT project. An additional six Swiss research institutions are involved: Empa, CSEM, the University of St. Gallen (HSG), the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (OST), the Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne (SIPBB) and the EPFL. Together, they coverall relevant academic and research institution levels in Switzerland.