Flexible Air Damper Control for Battery Electrode Overdrying
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Secondary battery electrode plates are prone to overdrying during the initial stages of the drying process, leading to defects such as cracking and increased electrode resistance due to concentration-based drying, which existing methods like external fluid introduction, water spraying, and temperature adjustments fail to address effectively without causing safety hazards or quality deterioration.
Innovation Solution
A flexible air supply damper system that includes a fluid supply unit, a heating unit, a drying unit, a damper unit to control the air flow, and a discharge unit, which reintroduces and recirculates fluid to stabilize solvent saturation and maintain consistent fluid flow rates, preventing overdrying by adjusting the air supply in a stepwise manner.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If constant temperature and air volume are maintained during drying, then the drying process is simple to control, but the electrode plate becomes overdried causing cracks and increased electrode resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the air supply system adjustable rather than fixed. The air supply damper can be rotated to different angles (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°) to dynamically control the air supply amount during different drying stages, allowing the system to adapt to changing drying requirements and prevent overdrying while maintaining operational simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of air supply volume during the drying process. By adjusting the air supply damper position, the system varies the amount of hot air entering the drying chamber at different stages, transforming from constant parameter control to variable parameter control to optimize drying quality
2Temperature
If external fluid is introduced to resolve overheating, then temperature control is improved, but flammable/toxic gas (NMP) is released causing safety hazards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the air supply damper component from the conventional drying system. This damper is positioned to control the intake of external air, preventing the introduction of external oxygen that would otherwise support combustion and cause NMP gas to escape. By taking out this control mechanism, the system can maintain temperature control without introducing safety hazards
3Productivity
If water is sprayed to increase solvent saturation, then drying effectiveness is improved, but NMP gas concentration increases rapidly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the potential harm of rapid solvent saturation into a benefit by controlling the air supply rate. Instead of spraying water to force saturation (which causes rapid NMP release), the system uses the adjustable air damper to gradually increase air flow, allowing solvent saturation to occur naturally at a controlled rate that prevents hazardous gas concentration buildup while maintaining drying efficiency
4Use of energy by stationary object
If temperature is lowered and adjusted simultaneously with production, then energy consumption is reduced, but drying time becomes non-constant and quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the drying process into distinct stages with different air supply rates. The air supply damper is adjusted to different positions for different drying phases, allowing the system to optimize both energy consumption and drying time by controlling air flow in stages rather than using a single temperature adjustment approach
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively prevents overdrying by controlling the air flow into the drying unit, stabilizing the solvent saturation, and maintaining consistent fluid flow rates, thereby reducing defects and energy consumption while ensuring consistent temperature control.
Implementation Method 1
a heating unit 200 heating the fluid supplied through the fluid supply unit 100
Implementation Method 2
a drying unit 300 drying an electrode plate while receiving the fluid heated through the heating unit 200
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
Provided is a flexible air supply damper system (1000) for preventing an overdrying-caused defect of a secondary battery electrode plate, the flexible air supply damper system including: a fluid supply unit (100) supplying a fluid; a heating unit (200) heating the fluid supplied through the fluid supply unit (100); a drying unit (300) drying the electrode plate while receiving the fluid heated through the heating unit (200); a damper unit (400) splitting the fluid passing through the heating unit (200) to control an amount of the fluid to be introduced into the drying unit (300); and a discharge unit (500) through which the fluid used in the drying unit (300) and the fluid split out of the damper unit (400) are discharged. By controlling the amount of the fluid to be introduced into the drying unit (300), the electrode plate is prevented from being overdried.