LIFE+ GLEE Plant

Expected Outputs

The demonstration process will use a single multi-purpose off-the-shelf automated apparatus. The pilot plant shall be scaled to produce approximately 1kg of CAM per batch and to operate at standard capacity of one batch per day. This is roughly enough material for 50 small phone batteries per day at standard operating capacity. This volume, approximately 200 times smaller than a modest battery production facility, will be produced using real equipment and processes and will be scalable to hundreds of times the size by replicating the process with larger equipment and/or multiple lines.

The Plant Design 

The LIFE+ GLEE pilot plant is located in the Solvay Specialty Polymers HQ of Bollate (Milan), one of the most advanced research & innovation centers in the Solvay group. The site, which hosts more than 300 employees, includes laboratories specialized in the development of innovative solutions for sustainable technologies in the photovoltaic, Li-Ion battery and hydrogen markets. The GLEE plant covers an area of nearly 300sqm and includes two cisterns which contain the solution needed by the process, a reactor where the chemical reaction occurs, and a filter which divides the powder from the liquid phase, allowing for treatment in the drier at the end of the process. All this equipment is protected by the Glove Box, a structure which prevents the operators’ contact with any of the agents used during the process. The whole plant is monitored by an automated system which simplifies the activities while granting improved safety.