[Report] "Full Value Chain on the Size of 75 Soccer Fields" POSCO Gwangyang Secondary Battery Material Complex

Cathode Material-Lithium-Recycling Integrated on 1.6 Million Pyeong Site
Smart Factory Established in Cathode Material Plant to Enhance Efficiency

Panoramic view of POSCO Future M Gwangyang Cathode Material Plant. Image courtesy of POSCO Future M

On the 22nd, we visited the POSCO secondary battery material complex in the Yulchon Industrial Complex, Gwangyang, Jeonnam. Next to the POSCO Future M cathode material factory site, large pipes were being installed among red steel frames. This was the construction site of POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution's Plant 2, scheduled for completion within the year.

POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution, a joint venture between POSCO Holdings and Australian mining company Pilbara Minerals, completed Plant 1 last November and plans to finish Plant 2 within this year.

Once fully completed, POSCO Pilbara Lithium Solution will be able to produce a total of 43,000 tons of lithium hydroxide annually. This scale can internalize all the lithium (41,000 tons per year) required by the Gwangyang cathode material factory.

"Full Internalization of Lithium for Gwangyang Cathode Material Factory"

In the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Gwangyang, the POSCO HY Clean Metal factory, responsible for battery recycling, was completed in July last year and is currently operational. POSCO HY Clean Metal, jointly established by POSCO Holdings, China Huayou Cobalt, and GS Energy, has the capacity to extract 2,500 tons of nickel, 800 tons of cobalt, and 2,500 tons of lithium carbonate annually from 12,000 tons of black powder.

The raw materials extracted at POSCO HY Clean Metal are also sent to the POSCO Future M Gwangyang cathode material factory.

At the POSCO Future M Gwangyang factory, in addition to cathode materials, a plant capable of producing a total of 50,000 tons of precursors is under construction. The second phase of construction is currently underway, aiming for mass production by March next year. The first phase plant is already completed and produces 5,000 tons of precursors annually.

The secondary battery material complex that POSCO Group is establishing in the Yulchon Industrial Complex in Gwangyang is centered around POSCO Future M's cathode material factory, integrating a value chain from raw materials to materials to recycling. The total site area is 532,000 square meters (approximately 160,000 pyeong), equivalent to the size of 75 soccer fields combined.

Cathode materials placed on the calciner at POSCO Future M Gwangyang cathode materials plant. Image courtesy of POSCO Future M

At the heart of the POSCO Gwangyang secondary battery material complex is POSCO Future M's cathode material factory. POSCO Future M invested a total of 1.26 trillion KRW to complete the cathode material production plant in the Yulchon Industrial Complex, Gwangyang, Jeonnam, in November 2022.

Including Plant 1 (30,000 tons) and Plant 2 (60,000 tons), it has a total annual production capacity of 90,000 tons. Based on a 60-kilowatt-hour (kWh) capacity, this is enough to produce 1 million electric vehicles. It is the world's largest single cathode material production plant.

Here, high-nickel NCM (Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese), NCA (Nickel-Cobalt-Aluminum), and NCMA (Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese-Aluminum) cathode materials are produced and supplied to battery cell companies such as LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, and Ultium Cells. On the 22nd, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for a high-nickel NCA cathode material plant with an annual capacity of 52,500 tons.

"One Robot Arm Replaces 22 Workers"

The biggest feature of the Gwangyang cathode material factory is the implementation of a smart factory to reduce costs and increase productivity. Visitors to the cathode material factory must wear safety helmets, dust masks, and safety glasses, then put on shoe covers to prevent dust ingress and pass through an air washer.

Upon entering the first floor of Gwangyang Cathode Material Plant 2, equipment for the calcination process immediately caught the eye. No operators were visible operating the machines.

An automated robot is replacing ceramic containers (saga) at the POSCO Future M anode material factory in Gwangyang. Image provided by POSCO Future M

Cathode materials undergo several processes: the calcination process, which chemically mixes precursors (materials used for cathode active materials) and lithium using heat; the washing process to remove residual lithium; the coating process to suppress reactions with electrolytes; and the heat treatment process to combine active materials and coating agents.

On the first floor of the factory, active materials are placed in special ceramic containers called Saggars, arranged in three tiers and four rows, and then moved to the main calcination process. All these steps are performed automatically without human hands. Saggars that can no longer be used are replaced using robot arms.

Additionally, dehumidified air pipes are installed at the bottom of the passage where active materials move to maintain humidity and block foreign substances from entering.

POSCO Future M uses an automated logistics system to stack and transport raw materials and finished products. When a desired product is input at the production facility, a crane automatically locates the item and moves it to the conveyor belt. Then, AGVs (Automatic Guided Vehicles) and RGVs (Rail Guided Vehicles) deliver the products to each facility.

The automated warehouse of POSCO Future M Gwangyang cathode material plant. Image courtesy of POSCO Future M

The Gwangyang cathode material factory also applies a smart sample transfer system. Raw materials, semi-finished products, or finished products are placed in capsules and inserted into a device that uses air pressure to automatically deliver them to the desired location. Inside the factory, about 1 km of piping is connected, allowing samples to be sent to the desired location within one minute.

A POSCO Future M official explained, "There are 300 to 500 samples generated daily, and since they do not have to be moved manually, it greatly saves manpower and time."

A POSCO Future M employee sending a capsule to transfer samples in the quality analysis room at the Gwangyang cathode material plant. Image courtesy of POSCO Future M

Upon entering the quality analysis room, two robot arms were moving continuously. These robot arms fill glass bottles with specified amounts of raw material or finished product samples of cathode active materials, weigh them, and move them to the next process for physical property analysis.

A POSCO Future M official said, "Weighing is a task that requires a lot of human handling to improve accuracy. By introducing robot arms, we achieved a manpower reduction effect equivalent to 22 workers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.