Techno-economic assessment of the manufacturing of NMC811 cathode active material

The manufacturing of cathode active materials (CAM) remains a focal point to improve the cost of Li-ion battery packs. A flexible process-level model has been developed and applied to determine key performance indicators of the manufacturing process of NMC811, via co-precipitation. The model predicts that nickel sulphate has the highest rate of consumption at 3.06 kg/kg CAM, followed by manganese sulphate at 0.41 kg/kg CAM, cobalt sulphate and lithium hydroxide at 0.25 kg/kg CAM, however, results carry a level of uncertainty associated with kinetic data used to model the precipitation reaction. The cost of CAM is determined to be $25.6 per kg CAM for the base case and can vary in the range $16.1–$48.4 per kg CAM, similarly, the minimum selling price of goods was determined at $32.3 per kg CAM and can fluctuate in the range $16.3 – $60.9 per kg CAM. The strength of the approach presented here lies in the capability of the model to incorporate detailed data regarding the chemistry of the system, allowing for further expansion of the model to conduct optimization studies.