The first automated production line for DIAvent HighFlow has gone into operation In Reichelsheim, Germany. Another will follow this summer. The reason: There is huge demand for the premium pressure equalization element.
Anticipation and excitement are in the air at Reichelsheim. And some pride as well. The DIAvent team recently gathered for a photo, and “their” brand-new flagship of production technology was sparkling in the background. It is the first completely automated high-tech production cell for DIAvent HighFlow. This highly efficient process technology is replacing a manual production line that had supplied customers with DIAvent HighFlow prototypes and pre-series parts.
Named a finalist in the Pace Award in 2022, the component from Freudenberg Sealing Technologies is one of most valuable pearls in the company’s collection of innovations for electric mobility. Some background is in order: The patented pressure equalization element DIAvent combines two functions into a single component for lithium-ion batteries in electric cars.
Technically, DIAvent provides ventilation during normal operation. The experts describe it as bidirectional pressure equalization in the battery housing. In the event of thermal runaway in the battery cells, however, DIAvent conducts overpressure away at high degassing rates – and does it at an early stage. This happens especially quickly with the premium member of the product family, DIAvent HighFlow. Thanks to technical tweaks and the optimized design of the component geometry, the DIAvent team was able to quadruple the degassing volume stream for its HighFlow model compared to the previous version.
So it’s no surprise that many new projects, especially for the high-performance sibling in the DIAvent family, are emerging. After all, the power density of modern batteries is steadily rising. There is no shortage of these new projects. “So many great nominations from customers in such a short time … the demand from automakers around the world is huge. The market is developing very dynamically at extraordinary scales,” said Daniel Uhl, Marketing Manager, Lead Center Diaphragms in Reichelsheim.
The plant, which located in the Odenwald, is DIAvent’s birthplace. This is where an interdisciplinary team of experts from different departments came together to tackle product development, marketing and process technology. Within a few years, the team opened up a completely new chapter for Reichelsheim and FST. It’s now starting to reap the benefits. “We made it into the big leagues. With DIAvent, we are supplying the major automakers, the OEMs, directly – and not with separate rubber components but with complete, fully assembled high-tech parts,” Uhl said.
Top quality in series production
Thanks to its high level of automation, the new production cell is one of the keys to DIAvent HighFlow’s success. It is helping FST meets OEMs’ rigorous quality standards even in high volumes. Without human intervention, the installation assembles a finished component out of separate individual components in seconds. In the same breath, it inspects each individual component for flawless functioning. Is it watertight? Does it “breathe” in normal operation as intended? Does the emergency degassing work? All the critical functions are tested at lightning speed. At the end, each part receives a laser engraving as a seal of quality. It also guarantees that the part will be clearly traceable even years later.
The new DIAvent product line also represents a milestone in digitalization at Reichelsheim. It is linked to a database that stores process parameters, batch information and the measured values from the product inspections and classifies each part with a laser code on a one-to-one basis, ensuring that another important customer requirement – individual component traceability – is met. In addition, a camera-based inspection technology with high, depth-of-fi eld capability makes it possible to detect production flaws at the various stations. This technology makes it possible to give the parts 360-degree all-around inspections and dimensional checks.
“The installation’s capacity is already sold out,” Uhl said. But at midyear, its twin will be going into operation. The space for it has already been laid out in the same room just a few meters away. “Even for this installation, a large portion of the parts that we can still manufacture this year are already scheduled.”
This efficient production technology offers advantages: It not only provides FST with top quality thanks to high process reliability. “The large volumes give us economies of scale. That means we are producing very efficiently, which makes us highly competitive,” Uhl explained. It’s important to keep another aspect in mind: the flexibility that the facility offers for customized solutions, for example, when it comes to the different ways to attach the pressure equalization element to the battery housing. Some customers want flange plates for screw attachments while others prefer bayonet connections. This can all be carried out automatically in the new production cell.
The new production line in Reichelsheim certainly won’t be the last, Uhl predicted. Given the demand, the third HighFlow facility is just a matter of time. “One of the future tasks is to internationalize our DIAvent production,” he said.
For the Sake of Completeness
DIAvent Light has become the third member of the product family, joining the original DIAvent and the HighFlow version. It is limited to pressure equalization during the normal operation of batteries, inverters and electric motors. Series production of DIAvent Light began in 2022 with a similarly modern production technology from the same manufacturer that built the DIAvent HighFlow installation.
