Commercial production of the first lithium-metal-polymer (LMP) batteries began Sept. 19 with the dedication of AVESTOR's new manufacturing plant in Boucher-ville, Quebec, Canada. The first of five planned production lines centers on two extrusion-coating systems supplied by Maschinenfabrik Max Kroenert GmbH (Hamburg, Germany.) AVESTOR is a 50/50 joint venture of Hydro-Quebec and Kerr-McGee Chemical LLC.

As the only American media present at the AVESTOR open house, Converting gained special insight into this high-tech coating operation.

Commercial sales of the alternate-energy storage batteries are now targeted at the telecommunications industry. The first model, branded SE 48S70, provides power backup for telecom relay equipment to ensure that wired and wireless networks remain operational when regular power fails.

"Our first batteries are designed to answer the needs of the telecom industry, where we've been testing our product in real applications since 1999," says Tadek Borys, president and CEO of AVESTOR. Automotive is a major potential market, especially for hybrid/electric and all-electric vehicles, he adds, as the LMP batteries are typically 50 percent lighter and 33 percent smaller than traditional lead-acid batteries.

The heart of the AVESTOR LMP battery are electrochemical cells (a 100-micron, 4-layer lamination) manufactured in several steps via Kroenert extrusion coaters. A 26-in.-wide system first coats, then UV-cures a 13-micron foil with a proprietary electrolyte material on both sides, creating the basis for the battery's bi-face cathode. A second 3-roll stack system, employing a Leistritz (Somerville, NJ) extruder and Cloeren (Orange, TX) die, coats both sides of the foil with 20 microns of solid polymer electrolyte, finishing the cathode. Drives and controls for the coaters were supplied by EMA Inc. (St. Paul, MN).

For the battery's anode, a lithium ingot is extruded into a 200-micron web, which is further rolled down to 40 microns. The completed cathode and anode are then laminated together, stacked, cut and crimped into final electrochemical cells. All production is done under humidity-controlled conditions.

Currently, the LMP battery's raw foil is carbon-coated in Germany using Kroenert's R&D coating line. With the commissioning of a second R&D line, the first will move to CoFlex (Chambly, Quebec) next year to supply AVESTOR with a local source of foil. CoFlex is a subsidiary of De Luxe Paper Products (Montreal), a major flexible-packaging and foodservice-wrapping converter.