FBICRC steps ahead with Cathode Precursor Production Pilot Plant

22 Oct, 2021

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Cathode Precursor Production Pilot Plant

The Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC) has signed contracts with a consortium of companies, the WA Government, contractors and academic institutions to design and commission its flagship Cathode Precursor Production Pilot Plant in Western Australia which will provide technical capability towards the production of advanced battery materials on an industrial scale.

The FBICRC and its partners will make an investment valued at over $18 million ($9.2 cash and $9.2 in-kind including the repurposing of BHP’s existing nickel sulfate pilot plant) to produce the present generation of cathode chemistries used in electric vehicles from locally sourced materials.

The pilot plant will extend the work of several Australian research institutions and companies which can currently produce battery materials in pilot sized batches. The pilot plant will produce precursors suitable for material qualification in EV value chains and build on the downstream opportunities created by the battery grade chemical refineries being commissioned or constructed in WA.

It will have state-of-the-art automation and controls to enable 24/7 remote operation. The modular nature of the pilot plant allows simultaneous independent operating conditions for the four reactors, four reactors to operate under identical conditions for increased throughput, and continuous and batch reactor conditions to simulate industrial precursor plants in Asia and Europe.

The plant will initially be commissioned with smaller reactors to facilitate fast throughput in numerous operating conditions before switching to larger reactors for scaled up throughput at optimal processing conditions.

Australia could harness substantial benefits from expanding its presence in the battery value chain with investment in refining of battery chemicals and the manufacture of active materials, potentially delivering $1.9 billion to the economy and supporting 9,300 jobs in 2030.

Stedman Ellis, CEO of the FBICRC said Australia currently exports the main commodities (lithium, nickel, manganese and cobalt) in the form of mineral concentrates with little value added from the manufacturing of lithium-ion battery materials retained in Australia.

“The construction and commissioning of refining plants at Kwinana and Kemerton is changing this picture, putting WA on the cusp of being able to meet the supply chain requirements for local manufacture of the nickel-rich NCM (nickel cobalt manganese) used in the booming global electric vehicle market,” Stedman said.

Curtin University is leading the first step to cathode precursor production at CSIRO’s Waterford facilities in Perth with the further step to convert to cathode active materials being led by the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, and the University of Technology Sydney will provide expertise on advanced materials development.

To make battery material companies a reality of the future, they will need high-level technical skills to match the technologies. This project will contribute to the development of the skill sets required to run modern manufacturing industries and invest in research higher degrees to provide this pipeline. Battery chemistry skills need broad and deep capabilities and the graduates will be key people from which this broader skills base can be grown over time.

Curtin University Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Chris Moran said:

“This facility is instrumental to the creation of an Australian battery materials industry, with the capability to continuously produce a broad range of battery cathode chemistries utilising Australia’s nickel, lithium, cobalt, manganese and aluminium resources for qualification, and will serve as the design -basis for industrial scale operation.”

Installation and commissioning of the Cathode Precursor Production Pilot Plant is due to take place in the first quarter of 2022 which will be followed by an 18-month pilot campaign period.

Project participants: