Tag: Battery

Lithium ion battery production is driving major expansions in nickel and cobalt extraction, but lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery use is growing rapidly.

Metso Outotec’s annual general meeting (AGM) in early May approved the board of directors’ proposal to change the company name to Metso Corporation. “After the successful integration of Metso and Outotec, we will focus on growing a strong unified Metso company and brand,” says President and CEO of Metso, Pekka Vauramo. “We have combined two valuable companies into one strong Metso. Our focus is clear: we continue enabling sustainable modern life and transforming the industry with a clear strategy and strong culture, supported by a name that is short yet established and well recognized among all our stakeholders. Services are an extremely important part of our business, requiring a strong name.”

BHP is committed to investing $5.7 billion to complete the first stage of the Jansen project and bring it into operation by the end of 2026. This under-construction Saskatchewan mine will then ramp up to produce more than four million tonnes of potash annually before the end of the decade.

Incorporating sulphur into polymers is known to improve their properties. New research is looking into the varied world of sulphur co-polymers, unlocking new materials for batteries, structural applications and clean technology.

Potash production improvements are being made in areas such as ore extraction, cooling and froth flotation. We review technological developments from Sandvik, Eriez, Nouryon and Solex Thermal Science.

Lithium sulphur batteries have many advantages over conventional lithium ion batteries in terms of energy density, and they also avoid the use of costly cobalt, but they deteriorate rapidly and cannot be recharged as frequently. However, recent advances in Li-S batteries could overcome this problem and lead to widespread adoption.

Industrial end-markets and food manufacturing provide significant global demand for pure and high value phosphate products. The growth potential for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) used in vehicle batteries is also a major industry talking point currently, as Alberto Persona, Fertecon’s principal phosphates analyst, explains.

Topsoe has made a number of changes to its board. Kim Saaby Hedegaard has been appointed as the company’s new Executive Vice President, Power-to-X. Hedegaard has served as interim Head of Power-to-X since May 2022. Before that, he held the position as Chief Operations Officer (COO). He joined Topsoe in 1999 and has since held various leadership positions within engineering, technology, and sales. Since 2017, he was responsible for Catalyst Production and Technology globally. He holds a MSc in chemical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark. He is replaced as COO by Andreas Bruun Jørgensen.

Saudi Aramco has confirmed a phased development approach for its $100 billion-plus Jafurah unconventional onshore gas project, which is expected to produce up to 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas by 2030, raising the company’s overall gas production capacity by 50% over that time frame. Aramco says that the first development phase for the Jafurah gas plant is likely to come on stream by 2025, and it is progressing with the phased development of a project that will reach a raw gas processing capacity of 3.1 bcf/d.

A shortages of highly pure nickel is driving major new investment in high pressure acid leaching plants, especially in Indonesia, with a significant impact upon sulphuric acid and sulphur demand.