Waygate Technologies and its partners among winners of Faraday Battery Challenge funding competition in the United Kingdom
01/03/2023
Waygate Technologies, a Baker Hughes business, and its partners, the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) and PXL-ICE, are among the winners of the most recent round of the Faraday Battery Challenge funding competition led by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a public body sponsored by the British Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The consortium funding is for a feasibility study to look at ways to potentially increase the yield and productivity of UK gigafactories with data based on advanced industrial computed tomography (CT) systems. If successful, this could eventually lead to the development of a digital twin1 at UKBIC.
“We are very proud to have been granted this important funding and to contribute as a strategic partner in this pioneering and important project to the UK’s development of battery technology as we advance towards a net-zero future,” said Ben Linke, Vice President of Waygate Technologies.
“This funding announcement for a feasibility study is welcome news. The goal of creating a digital twin could help boost the yield and productivity of UK gigafactories considerably,” added Russ Burke, Head of Quality at UKBIC.
The Faraday Battery Challenge invests in research and innovation projects and facilities in the UK to drive the growth of a strong battery business.
Established in 2017, the recently extended programme aims to steer the development of battery technologies that have a longer range and are cost-effective, high performing, faster charging, long-lasting, safe and sustainable. The total amount of this latest funding round is £27.6 million allocated to 17 different projects.
One of the largest challenges for scaling up battery cell throughput production is the pace needed to achieve high-quality batteries to meet the demand for electric vehicles (EVs), as well as other applications such as marine, aerospace, off-highway vehicles and static energy storage. The other is the ability to increase the yield, while maintaining quality and limiting waste.
Last year, Waygate Technologies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UKBIC, the national battery industrialisation facility, to look at developing a solution that could significantly improve the yield and productivity of future battery gigafactories.
Waygate Technologies and UKBIC have also partnered on the availability and use of an open access and industrial X-ray CT digital solution, which should also contribute to significantly reducing battery waste in future battery gigafactories. According to UKRI, a 1% yield improvement in a 20 GWh battery gigafactory can already save over £21 million a year and reduce the waste of raw materials, including rare earth minerals.
The feasibility approach in the awarded project is intended to lead to the creation of a framework for a digital twin of UKBIC battery cell samples. It is also aimed at exploring and leveraging the effectiveness of CT scanning as an advanced analytical tool. Quality defects could, should the project get the go ahead, be identified, analysed and resolved much faster and more accurately through digital twinning. This approach will enable faster process development in the factory and will ensure greater quality.
Waygate Technologies’ ambition is to leverage the data from the inspection processes across the lifecycle of batteries, reduce waste and ensure greater safety.
One example of artificial intelligence (AI) is Waygate Technologies’ InspectionWorks, a platform built on machine learning that helps to characterise failures and quality issues without human intervention. This platform is agnostic to the inspection data and allows integration with factory planning systems to provide feedback in designing a better production of battery cells.
For Waygate Technologies, the agreement seals another milestone in the company’s strategy to strengthen its leading position in battery inspection and drive innovation that aims to enhance electric vehicle safety, productivity and competitiveness for its customers. As part of Baker Hughes, an energy technology company, the mission of Waygate Technologies’ inspection solutions is to
make electric mobility safer and more efficient for people and the planet by reducing resource waste.
1 Digital twin relates to the potential creation of a virtual replica of the facility connected to a physical asset, which could help develop, design and improve manufacturing and process efficiencies.
