The 2024 High Tech Lithium Battery Annual Conference was held in Shenzhen from November 20th to 22nd, bringing together numerous domestic new energy enterprises on site.At the Battery Supply Chain Special Session on the 21st: Battery Innovation and Supply Chain Collaboration, Zhou Yu, founder and chairman of Yudian Automation, delivered a keynote speech titled "Energy saving, Efficiency increasing, and Cost reducing - Intelligent Temperature Controllers Supporting High quality Development of the New Energy Industry", elaborating on the industrial value of precision temperature control.
In the wave of rapid development of the new energy industry, the importance of energy conservation and consumption reduction in the industrial development process of lithium batteries as the core power source has been elevated. The industry consensus is that implementing energy conservation and consumption reduction in the production activities of lithium battery enterprises with larger manufacturing scales is a direct economic benefit and competitiveness.
Especially since the development of the domestic lithium battery industry, the pursuit of cost reduction and efficiency improvement has emerged during the industry downturn period from 2023 to the first half of 2024. Previously, with cost reduction as the core goal, the lithium battery industry has rapidly promoted the large-scale localization and penetration of production line equipment and core components.
At present, the space for lithium battery companies to further explore equipment procurement costs is very limited, and energy conservation and consumption reduction have become the main focus of cost reduction and efficiency improvement at this stage. It is understood that lithium battery companies have a very positive attitude towards energy conservation and consumption reduction transformation, even if it is one percent or one thousandth of the energy-saving and consumption reduction space, they are willing to try.Taking the review opinions of the Development and Reform Commission of Sichuan Province on the production project of 40000 tons of lithium manganese iron phosphate battery cathode materials annually in 2023 as an example, the project consumes 196.7609 million kilowatt hours of electricity, 15.0163 million cubic meters of natural gas, and 40000 tons of saturated steam at 0.8 megapascals per year when it reaches production capacity. The annual comprehensive energy consumption is equivalent to 46195.86 tons of standard coal equivalent value and 86551.52 tons of equivalent value.Preliminary estimates suggest that the annual energy consumption expenditure of the project has reached the level of billions of yuan, and the gap between the value of energy consumption and its equivalent also reflects that there is still room for improvement in the efficiency of energy conversion and utilization processes.In the production process of lithium batteries, the energy consumption of temperature control and dehumidification is relatively high. By applying new technologies, enterprises can significantly reduce energy consumption expenses while ensuring production quality. Previous cases have shown that relevant energy-saving and consumption reducing measures can save millions to tens of millions of yuan in electricity bills annually.As a domestic enterprise in the field of precision temperature control, Xiamen Yudian Automation Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Yudian Automation") has been deeply involved in intelligent temperature controllers for 33 years, achieving penetration in multiple emerging industries such as lithium batteries, photovoltaics, semiconductors, biotechnology, electromechanical equipment and materials, and solving the problem of component penetration in manufacturing.Regarding the new proposition of energy conservation and cost reduction in the large-scale manufacturing of lithium batteries, Zhou Yu, founder and chairman of Yudian Automation, believes that upgrading precision temperature control technology can leverage huge energy-saving and consumption reducing value. At present, Yudian Automation has developed a series of precision temperature controllers for the lithium battery industry, and has achieved energy saving and consumption reduction in the production of lithium battery materials and battery production lines.
Precision temperature control
The industrial value behind energy conservation, efficiency improvement, and cost reduction
Precision temperature control is the use of high-precision technology to accurately control and maintain the temperature of a specific environment or object, ensuring that it remains within the required range. This technology is widely used in industry, scientific research, and daily life.In the production of lithium batteries, temperature controllers are applied in various aspects such as electrode coating, baking, rolling, battery performance testing, and production environment control. For example, the precise temperature control required for the coating and drying processes directly affects the final performance and safety of the battery.The former relies on high-precision temperature measurement and stable control to form a more uniform coating; The drying process requires a large amount of electrical energy to remove moisture and solvents from the electrode material, ensuring stable performance of the electrode material. Accurate temperature control is crucial for the quality and production efficiency of the electrodes. A good temperature controller can accurately control the temperature inside the drying oven, ensuring that the electrodes are dried at the most suitable temperature and improving drying quality and efficiency.It is reported that top battery companies have a demand for temperature controllers ranging from tens of thousands to 100000 units, and the accuracy of the temperature controllers currently used is between 0.3 and 0.25 levels. But currently, aiming at the goals of reducing energy consumption and achieving high yield, the equipment used three to five years ago no longer meets the current development demands of the lithium battery industry.Compared to commonly used imported brand temperature controllers with precision ranging from 0.25 to 0.3, Yudian believes that the precision temperature control level of lithium batteries can be improved to at least 0.15 level without increasing the cost of temperature controllers, reducing additional energy consumption through higher precision temperature control. The four wire system technology introduced by Yudian can better avoid the influence of resistance, further improve the accuracy of temperature controllers, and ensure the quality and safety of battery cell products.Domestic manufacturing
The Way of Temperature Controller Technology
Today, the development of domestic temperature controllers has also gone through 30 years, and domestic temperature controller brands represented by Yudian Automation have taken the lead in technology, quality, service, and other aspects.But in the past, the concept of "domestic production only guarantees price, difficult to guarantee quality" has caused lithium battery companies that have long had energy-saving and consumption reducing concepts to hesitate about domestic thermostats, as thermostats directly affect production energy consumption and product yield.Yudian believes that in order for the manufacturing industry to recognize its reliability as a domestic brand, it is necessary to focus on improving its own technology and product quality management - because reliability means value in manufacturing.In terms of reliability, Yudian's temperature controller design has been comprehensively optimized for ultra-low power consumption. When the instrument has no output, the power consumption is only about 0.2W, and the energy consumption of the multi input isolation type is as low as about 0.4W. This helps reduce the temperature rise of the instrument itself, improve temperature measurement accuracy, equipment efficiency, and instrument reliability, and achieve an extremely low repair rate.In addition, Yudian has designed a 380VAC power supply misconnection protection function to further enhance the reliability of error prevention; The high-temperature aging test temperature for conventional product prototypes reaches 105 degrees, and the aging test temperature for high-temperature resistant board product prototypes reaches 155 degrees; The group pulse anti-interference test of the power supply reaches 6KV, and the input anti-interference test exceeds 3KV. All product quality indicators are in the field of temperature controllers.According to the repair statistics of a top customer of Yudian in the lithium battery industry, a certain model of four-way thermostat was shipped by the customer with a total of 57000 units between 2019 and 2023. By January October 2024, only 7 units of repaired instruments were received, and a total of only 40 units of repaired instruments were received in 5 years. The main reason for the repair is that the IC chip at the input end of the thermocouple was damaged due to excessive interference introduced by the input.According to the repair statistics of a top customer in the photovoltaic industry, the customer used a certain model of cascade thermostat, and shipped a total of 250000 units between 2022 and 2023. So far, only 34 units of repaired instruments have been received. A lower repair rate means that losses caused by temperature controller damage on the production site can be controlled at an extremely low level, helping customers achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvement.The Yudian thermostat has such a low repair rate in industrial sites with complex electrical interference, which is significantly better than most similar imported products on the market, and also breaks customers' previous prejudices about the poor quality of domestic thermostat products.
The picture shows that Yudian has launched a series of temperature control devices with different specifications for the lithium battery industry
Decoding precision temperature control
In the late 1980s, Zhou Yu, the founder of Yudian Automation who was still studying at Xiamen University at that time, discovered that precision temperature controllers were very scarce in China. At that time, imported brands such as Eurofins and Dao Dian's temperature controllers cost as much as five to six thousand yuan.
In order to break the monopoly situation of temperature controller import, Zhou Yu independently developed a single/four channel high-precision temperature controller to meet the requirements of universities and scientific research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, writing a blank in the domestic precision temperature control market. In addition to being used by domestic universities and research institutes such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, imported temperature controllers have also been replaced in the materials and heat treatment industries and applied in various industries of industrial production.
After years of market accumulation, Yudian's multiple technologies have gradually taken the lead and achieved excellence, establishing domestic temperature controllers, deeply participating in the formulation and revision of national standards, and leading the drafting of the national standard GB/T 20819.1-2015 for regulators. As of the end of 2023, Yudian has co hosted and participated in the drafting of dozens of national standards.
In terms of technology, Yudian has surpassed imported instruments in a series of advanced technologies such as high-performance AI intelligent cascade temperature control technology, high anti-interference 20ms high-speed sampling, multi-channel high-voltage isolation input, 0.001 degree high resolution, 25ppm low-temperature drift measurement, and programmable computing capability.In 2023, the global shipment of single and multi channel industrial temperature controllers from Yudian Automation reached 1.6 million units, surpassing the previous 1.44 million units from a Japanese brand. It can be said that in the field of precision temperature control, Yudian Automation is well deserved. Behind this is the product quality and excellent cost-effectiveness of Yudian, as well as the product reputation accumulated among old customers.At present, with the completion of the company's new factory building with a construction area of 54000 square meters, the planned annual production capacity of the company's intelligent temperature controllers can reach 10 million units, which can quickly and timely deliver large orders to customers.In the field of lithium batteries, in 2012, BYD, with the ambition of localizing its supply chain, approached Yudian Automation and successfully entered the lithium battery industry. For over a decade, Yudian has been providing stable quality products to customers in the lithium battery industry such as BYD. Up to now, with its small volume guide rail installation of multi-channel precision temperature controller series products, Yudian Automation has become a recognized domestic temperature controller brand in the lithium battery industry by CATL, BYD, and ATL.In the photovoltaic field, another manufacturing sector in the new energy industry, Yudian has made great achievements. In 2022, with the upgrading of the photovoltaic industry, Yudian launched a series of temperature controllers specifically for the photovoltaic industry, which successfully passed the production line verification of a domestic photovoltaic equipment enterprise. Since then, the company has opened up the photovoltaic market and achieved large-scale penetration of the photovoltaic temperature controller market.It is worth mentioning that in terms of cascade temperature control technology, Yudian's innovative research and development of intelligent calibration technology and cascade PID self-tuning technology have made the previously complex cascade control debugging simple. This technology has achieved comprehensive import substitution for cascade temperature controllers in photovoltaic and semiconductor equipment, and has achieved effective results and accumulated experience in shortening process time and improving production line yield for customers. It is widely recognized in the photovoltaic industry and has accumulated a large number of delivery cases.
The application requirements for temperature control technology in the photovoltaic field are higher than those in the lithium battery field. With its technical experience in the photovoltaic field, Yudian has full confidence in using temperature control technology to promote energy conservation and consumption reduction in lithium battery production.At present, Yudian has achieved 100% localization of key raw materials and cooperated with domestic chip manufacturers to independently develop temperature controller dedicated core chips, creating a safe supply chain while continuously improving product cost-effectiveness. Further achieve comprehensive substitution of imported chip products in terms of anti-interference, reliability, and energy consumption. This is also the confidence that Yudian will maintain stable supply to customers during the period of chip and other raw material supply shortage and skyrocketing prices in 2022, by ensuring that products do not increase in price or run out of stock.Through the application of precision temperature control technology, lithium battery companies can significantly reduce energy consumption expenses, improve production efficiency and product quality. In the future, with the continuous advancement of technology and the deepening promotion of applications, the energy-saving and consumption reducing of lithium battery production lines will usher in a broader development prospect.At the same time, aiming at the semiconductor field with higher requirements, Yudian is still making continuous technological breakthroughs. With the promotion of enterprises represented by Yudian Automation, domestic precision temperature control is expected to embrace a broader future.
The above article is from Gaogong Lithium BatteryAttention from the author's senior engineer!
