Welcron Hantec’s Chinese Subsidiary Expands Orders for Secondary-Battery Separator Equipment

[Financial News] Welcron Hantec said on the 23rd that its Chinese subsidiary secured a total of four energy equipment projects this year for major lithium-ion battery (Li-ion battery) separator production facilities in China, recording cumulative orders of KRW 24.2 billion through the third quarter.
That figure is approximately 5.8 times last year’s annual order value of KRW 4.2 billion. As Chinese secondary-battery material manufacturers continue investing in equipment to improve production efficiency, reduce energy consumption and recycle resources, Welcron Hantec’s Chinese subsidiary is also expanding its related business.
Welcron Hantec is applying its process technology, accumulated in the fields of industrial concentration and crystallization, to secondary-battery material production. In particular, the company supplies solvent recovery equipment that distills and purifies methylene chloride (MC) from waste solution generated during the wet-process separator manufacturing process, recovering it at high purity for reuse in production.
MC is an organic solvent used to remove oil during wet-process separator manufacturing. Welcron Hantec’s solvent recovery equipment can recover and purify MC contained in waste solvent for reuse in the production process. According to the company, more than 99% of the MC can be recycled, reducing raw-material consumption and the burden of waste-solvent treatment while helping lower production costs and improve resource-circulation efficiency.
Welcron Hantec has also developed technology to reduce the energy used in the solvent recovery process. It developed an energy-recovery distillation system that captures and reuses thermal energy generated during distillation through a heat pump, thereby reducing steam and cooling-water consumption. The company has also completed a Chinese patent application for the technology. This is expected to reduce the energy and equipment operating costs required for the solvent recovery process, in addition to enabling MC recovery and reuse.
Welcron Hantec entered the secondary-battery material sector in 2016 by beginning to supply lithium hydroxide concentration and crystallization equipment. Since then, it has accumulated related technology and project-execution experience by supplying separator solvent recovery equipment, as well as concentration, crystallization and energy-saving equipment for secondary-battery materials. As its equipment supply record in China grows, the company is pursuing additional projects. It is currently in discussions with Chinese secondary-battery material manufacturers on additional projects worth approximately KRW 14 billion.
A Welcron Hantec official said, "We have continued securing orders based on the process technology and project-execution experience we have accumulated in China’s secondary-battery material market." The official added, "We plan to advance our concentration and crystallization, solvent recovery and energy recovery technologies, reduce our customers’ production costs and energy consumption, and secure business opportunities in secondary-battery material production processes."
[email protected] Choi Do-sun Reporter