Ground-breaking new facility for high-risk research activities
Power & Energy
Laser Processing
Automation & Robotics
Process Innovation
MTC is providing the UK with the capability to both disassemble and assemble prototype battery modules and packs based on cutting edge, large format and high power/energy density cells.
Providing the High-tech Facility to Anchor UK Manufacturing Opportunities from Electrification
The Hazardous Operations Cell (HazOps) is a new facility designed to fill a significant UK gap in enabling high-risk R&D activities.
- The facility incorporates advanced robotics, machine vision and laser systems to provide a completely flexible and remote manufacturing facility for research into hazardous manufacturing processes.
- The facility fits long-term UK strategy in electrification by providing UK capability for prototyping battery module and pack designs based on cutting-edge, large format and high power/energy density cells (prismatic, large-format cylindrical).
- The facility will be used for research into highly-automated battery disassembly for recovery of critical raw materials, key to securing a circular supply chain to support a UK battery industry.
Critical National Infrastructure
- HazOps de-risks assembly of modules using the latest high-capacity cells and high-energy cells before transfer of the manufacturing processes to industry
- HazOps is a UK designed and built live working facility to anchor battery manufacturing and the equipment supply chain in the UK.
- It complements the recent £12M investment into the UK battery materials scale-up facility with the advanced front-end, high-throughput automation required to commercialise battery recycling in the UK.
Enabling Net-Zero
- Providing a prototype development capability for batteries in Automotive, Aerospace, Defence and Stationary Storage.
Digitalisation of Product Lifecycle
- Demonstration of digital-twins, AI-for-manufacture and end-to-end digital threads/part passports in battery manufacture.
Supply-chain Transformation
- The research undertaken enabled by this facility enables a UK circular battery materials supply chain, both reducing emissions and increasing resilience.
Why is the HazOps facility needed?
The UK Battery Strategy published in November 2023 highlighted that battery technology underpins the transformation of the automotive sector, worth £70 billion annually and employing 166,000 in the UK. Emerging markets for battery energy storage systems, aerospace, rail and marine make batteries critical to both net-zero and national-security.
A UK battery industry could provide 100,000 high-quality, geographically diverse, jobs by 2035, contributing to levelling up in the North East, Midlands and the South West. Without a circular supply chain for critical raw materials this will be at risk from rising costs and materials shortages.
The facility allows innovation in rapid and safe, test, triage, and disassembly of batteries, required for a UK critical materials supply-chain with significant sustainability and resilience benefits. Manual disassembly is too slow and costly to be competitive in developed nations. Investment to date has focused on hydro/pyro-metallurgical processing of black-mass however without high-throughput automation the supply of black mass will be too costly and won’t keep pace with demand.
Materials traceability is key in batteries, with complex rules of origin and EU directives on quantities of recycled content. The MTC has developed a digital battery passport concept for material traceability and to deal with the variation in pack design. This battery passport relies on priority technology (AI) and will be further developed using within HazOps.
