Air Recirculation System for Electrolyte Filling Room : A CFD study of VOCs Distribution in Clean & Dry room

Abstract: Energy storage development is an important step for the energy transition, meanwhile Lithium-ion battery is the most common core component of electric vehicles. Over the past decade, investment has been poured into lithium-ion battery production, as a result, the production environment (Clean & Dry room) used for some processes such as Stacking, Electrolyte filling and so on and the energy consumption to maintain this special environment which precise control of air humidity and air cleanliness have become major concerns. In this study, only one production process is concerned: electrolyte filling. During this process, Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs) are the substance that affects air quality, also it is the reason that no air recovery in this Clean&Dry room before investigating the air quality, which leads to huge energy consumption for treating 100% fresh air.  The main purpose of this thesis is studying the Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs) distribution in the Clean&Dry room with electrolyte filling activity to check whether the air quality is good enough to be recycled. This part of the study was approached by combining ANSYS FLUENT and the onsite measurement. A secondary objective is studying the energy-saving of dehumidification system with air recirculation system, meanwhile do the environmental analysis and cost analysis. In the end, in order to safely recycle the air in the Clean&Dry room, the Building Automation System should be installed solve the worst case scenario. The conclusions drawn in this study include the Electrolyte Filling machine forms a ”negative pressure room” which means the Volatile Organic Compounds(VOCs) generated from the machine is not likely spreading to the room, and the energy-saving, carbon footprint decreasing, energy cost and the cost of Building Automation System were provided.