EVs will make up 54 percent of new car sales in 2040. (Source: Electrek)

Even though EVs make up about 1 percent of total new car sales in the U.S., EVs are on a steady, steep path upwards. According to a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, EVs will make up 54 percent of new car sales by 2040, and by 2029, EVs will be cheaper to buy than gasoline and diesel-fueled cars.

The figures are significant and will translate into a sharp increase in demand for rechargeable batteries and their materials.

SEE ALSO: Ask an Expert: Electric Vehicles and the Future of the Automotive Market

The Evolution of EV Batteries

Before diving into the juicy details, it’s always helpful to cover the basics. Batteries are made up of 3 main components. The anode, or negative electrodes, the cathode, or positive electrodes and some type of electrolyte through which the electrodes travel to release chemical energy.

A simple battery can be made out of a potato, copper penny and galvanized nail. (Source: Tested)

The first rechargeable battery, lead-acid battery, was invented in 1859 by a physicist named Gaston Plante. Lead dioxide was the cathode material used, and lead was the anode material with a liquid solution of sulphuric acid and water as the electrolyte. The materials were affordable and the battery was applied to many early models of EVs, including early models of the Tesla Model S.

Another widely used battery that came after the lead-acid battery is the nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery developed at the Battelle-Geneva Research Center in 1967. Nickel hydroxide was used as the cathode material while a hydrogen-absorbing alloy was used as the anode material. A liquid solution served as electrolytes. The research for NiMH batteries was extensive, and funded jointly by Daimler-Benz and Volkswagen AG. The batteries were also applied to many EV models such as the Toyota Prius, prior to 2015.

The Advent of Lithium-Ion Batteries

The introduction of lithium-ion batteries was a game-changer. Sony first introduced them in 1991, and today, most EVs have them, including the Tesla Model 3. The batteries consist of lithium-cobalt oxide cathodes, graphite anodes and the electrolyte is usually a solution of lithium salt and an organic solvent, though some automakers are experimenting with solid-state electrolytes.

The Tesla Model 3 has a lithium-ion battery. (Source: Green Car Reports)

Compared to its predecessors, lithium-ion batteries have the highest amount of stored energy and specific power, which is kind of like horsepower for electric cars. As a result of improved technology and lower costs, lithium-ion batteries are projected to make up 70 percent of the total rechargeable battery market by 2025, which will be worth roughly USD 112 billion.

Good as Gold

It is estimated that every 1 percent increase of EVs in the auto market will result in an additional 70,000 tons of lithium demand LCE per year.

In 2016, Australia topped the list for the most lithium produced with 14,300 metric tons. China and Zimbabwe are also top contenders producing 2000 and 900 metric tons in 2016, respectively. Then, there are the South American countries of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia, also referred to as the “lithium triangle,” and home to 75 percent of the world’s lithium supply.

Workers at a brine pool at the Rockwood Lithium Plant on the Atacama salt flat. (Source: Reuters)

Does that mean the world has enough lithium to fuel the cars of tomorrow? The answer is yes, but there aren’t enough mines to produce them. In order to prevent environmental damage and the exploitation of unprotected workers, lithium producers have to get smart about lithium mining and production.

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POSCO’s Lithium Production  

Starting in 2010, POSCO and the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology (RIST) teamed up to develop a chemically based lithium extraction technology. The innovation cut down extraction time from up to 18 months down to between 8 hours and 1 month, delivering a purity rate of 99.9 percent. The recovery rate of lithium also increased to over 80 percent. POSCO is the world’s first corporation to commercialize the technology.

SEE ALSO: Lithium Rocks: POSCO at Forefront of a Green Energy Future

POSCO CEO Kwon Ohjoon holds lithium on his visit to PosLX, POSCO’s battery production factory in Korea.

It’s also at the heart of the lithium triangle. POSCO currently operates facilities in Chile’s Maricunga Salt Lake, Argentina’s Cauchari Salt Lake and Argentina’s Pozuelos Salt Lake, which alone will boost POSCO’s annual lithium production to 2,500 tons. POSCO also opened its first battery production plant in Korea earlier this year.  

The future of EVs is promising thanks to advancements being made in electric batteries, and there’s a lot at stake for the health and well being of future generations. Increasingly, the availability and costs of EV battery materials will play a vital role in market outcomes and widespread EV adoption. It is vital for companies like POSCO to provide abundant, sustainable and cost-friendly EV battery materials so automakers can continue to enhance the batteries of tomorrow’s cars.

Cover photo courtesy of Quartz.

In order to adapt, the automotive industry is learning to make cars differently. Underpinning all of these advancements is a need for stronger, lighter, and more durable materials.

Below we take a closer look at three trends that are fundamentally changing the way consumers think about cars, and what the car industry is doing to stay ahead.

Shared Mobility

Companies like Uber and Lyft have left an indelible mark on the way people use cars. While it used to be understood that a vehicle was one’s personal property and space, those ideas are changing. Over the last five years, car sharing services have seen 30 percent annual growth, and McKinsey predicts that one out of 10 cars will be a shared vehicle by 2030.

With this much sharing, vehicles will need to be replaced more frequently as they will be used more often and experience more everyday wear and tear. As consumers move away from owning one car and begin to use services that offer on-demand vehicles for specific uses, the materials used to make these cars need to improve.

Recently, many steelmakers have been working toward advanced high-strength steel (AHSS) solutions. AHSS steel solutions are also more durable than conventional steels, making them ideal for new cars that are going to be on the road with more frequency. This advancement is necessary as consumers begin to change their driving behaviors while maintaining high standards for safety and quality in the cars they use.  

Self-Driving Cars

Self driving cars are a fairly new idea, but in a short amount of time, they have consumed the imagination of the public and R&D labs around the world. Seemingly every company in the automotive industry is working on some form of a self-driving vehicle, and even those not in the industry are getting involved (see Google’s Waymo video below).

While autonomous cars are not yet market-ready, they will be soon. However, because it causes such a dramatic shift to the way people use cars, manufacturers will need to jump many hurdles before they are fully accepted by the public at large.

As with any new technology, access will be limited and expensive. In the beginning at least, it is unlikely that self-driving cars will be affordable enough for mass distribution. In addition, they must become more accessible for consumers. Most people have never seen, much less taken a ride in, a self-driving car. It is hard for people to imagine the experience, and even more difficult for them to place their trust in a piece of software located in a multi-ton vehicle. In order to ensure the trust of consumers, the auto industry must work to manufacture cars that are safer and more secure.

Advancements made in AHSS have allowed auto manufacturers to design cars with even stronger steel. Now, with auto steel being produced that goes beyond the 1,000 MPa range, consumers can feel more at ease with the software that enables them to get the grocery store.   

Electric Vehicles

Electric cars represent the forefront of the trend toward more fuel-efficient cars. Hybrid cars that use a combination of a gasoline powered engine and a rechargeable battery captured the attention of the industry after Toyota successfully launched its Prius in 1997. As car makers race to produce an electric vehicle that is viable for mass production, seemingly every major player is working toward a true electric car solution with zero emissions.

The Chevrolet Bolt EV offers a range of 200+ miles, a key milestone for consumers. (Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for Chevrolet)

Having relied on gas powered engines for over 100 years, the change to battery powered cars is changing the fundamental nature of how a car is made. Consumers have proven unwilling to change their driving habits and expectations, so manufacturers have struggled to build electric cars that can match the performance of their gas-powered cousins.

Advancements in lightweighting are required for electric cars as they will not be equipped with gas-powered engines. Also, improvements in battery technology are also needed so that EVs can increase their driving range and allow consumers to drive distances similar to what they can today.

Innovations in steel technology have given car manufacturers ideal options for lightweighting as new advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) offer lightweight, strong automotive steel. Compared to other alternatives, these new ultra high strength steels are also more eco-friendly to produce. Advancements in lithium extraction technology have also made the process faster and more environment-friendly.

The automotive industry is going through a renaissance. New expectations from consumers coupled with stricter regulations are forcing quick changes to an industry that has moved at its own pace for 100 years. As car manufacturers work to build cars that are safer, more durable, and much lighter, POSCO’s innovations in steel technology provide material solutions that are stronger, lighter, and more durable. Together with POSCO’s work in lithium extraction technology, they have also created more eco-friendly ways to make the rechargeable batteries for electric cars.     

This month, The Steel Wire will continue to look at how POSCO is driving the future of the automotive industry with its new advanced automotive steel solutions.

It all started 49 years ago in a small fishing village on the East coast of Korea and has grown to be the fourth-largest steel producer in the world.

A Small Fishing Village with 39 Employees

To help rebuild the country after the end of the Korean War, President Park Chung-hee made steel production and heavy industry the centerpiece of his Second Five Year Plan (1967-1971). Despite there being no steel industry in Korea, President Park wanted to be able to manufacture steel domestically without relying on imports and foreign technology.

Opening of POSCO in April 1968

In 1965, President Park visited Pittsburgh, PA, where he gained insight into the steel industry and what would be required if Korea were to develop its own independent production facilities. One year later, Korea International Steel Associates (KISA) was formed. KISA included a consortium of eight companies from five different countries whose goal was to help Korea start its own integrated steelmaking facility. By 1967, the government approved a plan from KISA that included a basic agreement on technology & funding.

Pohang, a small fishing village on Korea’s eastern coast, was chosen as the official site of the steel mill. POSCO was officially incorporated on April 1, 1968, as a joint public-private venture with just 39 employees. Park Tae-joon came on board to serve as CEO and by May 1968, construction of POSCO’s headquarters had begun.

In May 1968 the POSCO headquarters construction had begun

Setbacks to Success  

Despite the steps taken to move Korea’s steel industry forward, there were many setbacks along the way. First, overshadowing each step of its development was the skepticism coming from both foreign and domestic fronts. Foreign investors could not understand why Korea would expand into industries it had no history with. And local leaders doubted their ability to overcome all of the technological, economic, and infrastructural hurdles facing them. To make matters worse, KISA was disbanded in September 1969 – leaving plans for POSCO up in the air.

Korean President Park Chung-hee was instrumental in getting POSCO off of the ground. Here he is at one of the blast furnaces at Pohang Works. (1976)

Determined to complete the project, President Park began negotiations with Japan who later provided the grants, loans, and technology for the construction of the initial plant. Construction of the steel mill started in 1970 and on June 9, 1973, at 7:30 am, the first steel came off of the line. By April 1974, they had decided to expand the capacity of the third furnace at Pohang Words to 5.5 million tons and the fourth furnace capacity was increased to 8.5 million tons.

Expansion

Because of POSCO’s early successes, the Korean government decided to build a second facility on the peninsula’s southern coast in Gwangyang. After the completion of the fourth phase of construction at Gwangyang, POSCO had a total of 20.8 million tons of crude steel production capacity. Of that total, Pohang was producing 9.4 million tons with Gwangyang producing 11.4 million tons. It earned the distinction of being the world’s largest steel mill and POSCO become one of the main driving forces behind the industrialization of Korea’s economy.

After its completion, Gwangyang Works was the largest integrated steel mill in the world. (1992)

In 1986, POSCO entered into a 50/50 joint venture with US Steel (UPI). Their partnership was set to develop a comprehensive modernization program that would upgrade the processes and equipment of the facility. Since the establishment of USS-POSCO Industries (UPI), POSCO has continued to branch out all over the globe. It has set up STS production plants at Zhangjiagang Pohang Stainless Steel (China) and POSCO Tai Knox (Thailand), and automotive steel plate production lines (CGL) in Mexico, India, and China. PT Krakatau POSCO was built in 2013 and was the first integrated steel mill in Southeast Asia.

POSCO Becomes the Most Competitive Steelmaker in the World

By 2014, production capacity had increased to 37.7 million tons. Pohang now has three heavy plate mills, four cold rolling mills, five blast furnaces, heavy plate mills, and four hot rolling mills. Beyond its scope and production capacities, POSCO is committed to developing advanced, high-quality World Premium Products. In addition, POSCO’s innovations in other industries, integration of smart factory technologies into the production process, and its commitment to local communities continue to push POSCO forward.

Advanced World Premium Products

With a focus on advanced steel solutions, POSCO has developed a wide range of products that can be customized to fit a customer’s unique needs. These World Premium Products are the reason POSCO has been listed as the most competitive steelmaker for seven years in a row. For example, PosMAC has been utilized in many different ways from floating solar cells to durable public art pieces. Also, POSCO’s award winning PosCozy floor plates provide soundproofing and heat insulation.

The hot rolling process at Gwangyang produces 3,400,000 tons per year

Lithium Extraction & Other Ventures

POSCO has also strengthened its global competitiveness by accelerating new businesses in the materials and energy industries. POSCO has developed a fuel cell plant that was completed in 2008, a Myanmar gas field that produces 500 million cubic feet of gas each day, and lithium extraction technology that is 10 times faster than previous methods.

Solution Marketing

In addition to manufacturing advanced, high-quality steel, POSCO’s Solution Marketing provides customers with added technology solutions and commercial support. Instead of just supplying products and stepping away from the customer, POSCO works with its customers to create customized solutions that ensure successful implementation. Partnering with manufacturers early on in the production process, POSCO has stepped beyond its role as a steel supplier and now serves as a solutions provider.

Smart Factory Technology

POSCO also incorporates cutting edge technology and innovations into its production processes. At its automotive steel plate factory in Gwangyang, POSCO introduced AI technology into its coating weight control system, improving quality and reducing waste. Also, POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon remains committed to developing more smart factory solutions and has been meeting with executives of other companies, such as GE and Siemens, to explore partnerships and best practices.

President Park Chung-hee comes to POSCO to celebrate the opening of Pohang Works

Someone seeing the successes of POSCO today might have a hard time understanding how it even started, much less how it was able to overcome the immense barriers it faced. POSCO continues to be a leader in the steel industry with its advanced, high-quality World Premium Products. Also, POSCO’s successes in its non-steel ventures show its commitment to remaining on the cutting edge of technological trends and industrial innovation. Watch the video below to see for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nq574Ivp7c0

POSCO has been ranked as the world’s most competitive steelmaker for seven years in a row. It has remained competitive in part by focusing on its World Premium Products, which offer advanced steel solutions for their customers. POSCO has also put extensive effort into maximizing its non-steel technologies and products to find new growth in non-steel sectors. In addition, POSCO has been a leader in innovating its own manufacturing processes, incorporating advanced AI and IoT technologies into its smart factories. POSCO has also remained committed to not only growing its non-steel secondary businesses, but advancing upon existing technologies to create new and eco-friendly production methods.  Below we take a closer look at how POSCO has continued its work to innovate and stay competitive.

POSCO Expands Lithium Manufacturing Business

Amid the rising demand for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles, POSCO has been working on proprietary technology for lithium extraction. Earlier this year, POSCO opened Korea’s first lithium plant, PosLX, and commercialized the production of lithium carbonate from rechargeable batteries after 7 years of development.

From left to right: Jae-chun Song, chairman of Gwangyang City Council, Hyun-bok Jeong, mayor of Gwangyang, Gi-jong Woo, deputy governor of South Jeolla Province, POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon, Ung-beom Lee, president of LG Chem and Nam-seong Cho, president of Samsung SDI who can be seen pressing symbolic buzzers to show that the plant is now online.

The PosLX Plant is expected to produce 2,500 tons of lithium carbonate per year using a new eco-friendly technology, which is enough to manufacture about 70 million laptop batteries. This output will supply POSCO’s battery making partners LG Chem and Samsung SDI, as well as POSCO ESM, a subsidiary that produces cathodes for secondary batteries.

POSCO incorporates AI into Smart Factories

POSCO is also breaking through technical barriers by designing smart factories connected through IoT technology and artificial intelligence (AI) that produce higher quality products with less waste. POSCO has also begun incorporating advanced AI technology into its smart factories in order to more efficiently manufacture automotive steel.

Smart factories operate autonomously as the machines talk to each other through sensors – reducing faulty products and waste.

In particular, the ‘Smart Solution for Coating Weight Control Based on AI‘ technology uses an automated control technology that predicts the coating weight in real time and accurately meets the target coating weight. When coating weight is controlled manually, quality deviates depending on the skill level of the worker, which inevitably results in significant amounts of wasted zinc. However, when it is automatically controlled by AI, the quality of POSCO’s automotive coated steel can be enhanced while production costs are decreased. These new automated processes have also helped increase work efficiency and productivity with workers.

Also, CEO Ohjoon Kwon recently visited Siemens in Germany and GE in the U.S., both of which are known to have successfully operated advanced smart factories to observe how other companies have implemented highly sophisticated smart factory models. Through close cooperation with POSCO’s major affiliates such as POSCO E&C, POSCO Energy, and POSCO ICT, Kwon aims to embrace smart technology and reorganize POSCO’s entire business structure (Smart Factory, Smart Buildings & Cities, and Smart Energy).

POSCO’s Thailand CGL, Southeast Asia’s First Automotive Steel Sheet Plant

Faced with sluggish growth due to the oversupply from China and a decline in steel demand, POSCO has been looking to expand sales in new markets. In a bid to become the world’s largest steel provider for automobiles, POSCO completed its Thailand CGL (Continuous Galvanizing Line) in 2016. The plant has an annual production capacity of 450,000 tons and incorporates some of the most advanced AI technologies in its smart factory system.

In addition to being one of the strongest automotive production bases in Asia, Thailand is also the center of the consumer-electronics industry in Southeast Asia.

With the newly established automotive steel plate plant in Thailand, POSCO’s global volume will reach over 9 million tons in 2017 and more than 10 million tons per year starting in 2018. The automotive steel sheets manufactured by the facility will be supplied to global auto parts companies and carmakers operating in Thailand including Toyota, Nissan, and Ford. Despite the increase in competition from other steelmakers, POSCO aims to become a market leader through building strategic partnerships with global automakers operating in the country.

POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Tanasak Patimaprakorn shake hands at hands at Thailand CGL.

As cities around the world get more crowded, urban dwellers are facing more and noisier neighbors. To help combat this problem, POSCO introduced PosCozy in 2016, a unique flooring system that combines manganese (Mn) Z-clips with continuous galvanized steel plates that greatly reduce impact noise, save space, and lower costs (product video).  

Unlike conventional flooring that uses non-steel materials such as styrofoam insulators and rubber buffer materials, POSCO’s floor plates are developed by combining high Mn steel Z clips – a material that is 4 times more vibration-resistant than general steel – giving it the ability to reduce noise between floors. PosCozy is able to reduce the sound of typical walking from 50dB to just 40dB, while impact sounds are lowered from 58dB to 38dB.

PosCozy is the world’s first high manganese steel floor plate with first-class floor noise reduction.

PosCozy is the world’s first high manganese steel floor plate with top quality floor noise reduction. It is also the first flooring system to receive the highest rating in sound insulation from Korea’s industrial rating agency.  Due to its unique and superior qualities, PosCozy won the prestigious Jang Young Sil Award in 2016.

POSCO’s High Manganese Steel Used in the World’s Largest LNG-Fueled Bulk Carrier

Due to the rising number of shipbuilding orders for large-sized liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, there has been a shortage of nickel,  requiring new and innovative solutions to construct LNG-fueled ships. In order to address these issues, POSCO developed a new type of high-performance manganese steel and announced in 2016 that it would be applied to the LNG-fueled bulk carrier built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.

Developed independently by POSCO, this high manganese steel contains an Mn content of 20%. Compared to traditional materials, it boasts improved performance through unique properties that include high strength, low-temperature toughness, wear resistance, non-magnetic, and damping properties.

It is the first time a bulk carrier will have been constructed to include an LNG-fueled system and a fuel tank made of high manganese steel.  Its higher strength, ability to withstand an extremely low temperature (-162℃), and cost competitiveness make it superior to the nickel and aluminum alloys that are typically used in tanks. The ship, which will be the world’s largest LNG-fueled bulk carrier, is expected to have a capacity of 50,000 tons, seven times more than previous ships.

POSCO’s high-performance manganese steel will be applied to the world’s largest LNG-fueled bulk carrier built by Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.

POSCO has been able to overcome immense barriers, from the nickel scarcity in the LNG market to the oversupply of steel from China. POSCO strives to be a pioneer across all industries with its innovative products and will continue to do so in the years to come.

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In the ten years since Apple launched its first iPhone, mobile devices have gotten bigger screens, more features, and more powerful processors – all of which translates into bigger batteries.

For consumers, battery life remains a top priority. A quick search online brings up thousands of articles written on how users can improve the battery life of their phones, tablets, and wearables, even though most of these articles offer tips and tricks that only are marginally beneficial at best.

The rechargeable batteries used in smartphones, laptops, and now electric vehicles, are made from lithium. Traditionally, lithium carbonate is extracted from brines gathered in salt-rich lakes. This method is extremely time consuming, taking anywhere from 12-18 months, and also inefficient with a low extraction rate. Since 2010, POSCO has been working to develop new technologies for more efficient, more eco-friendly lithium extraction methods. Earlier this month POSCO announced the opening of its lithium extraction plant, PosLX, in Korea that is able to extract lithium from recycled batteries. In addition, while working on the traditional extraction methods from saline lake water, POSCO has also found a way to reduce extraction time from 12 months to less than one day.

If MWC is any indication, mobile device manufacturers are going to continue to need more lithium-ion batteries, and POSCO is now well positioned to be a leader in providing lithium carbonate. In the gallery below, we take a look at some of the improvements made by the leading mobile device manufacturers.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S3

Even though Samsung is waiting until March to unpack its new Galaxy S8 smartphone, they used the opportunity at MWC to unveil the update to their popular Galaxy Tab series. The new Galaxy Tab S3 improves upon many of the features in the S2 and now comes equipped with Samsung’s S Pen Stylus. However, the 10” model includes just a 6000mAh battery. While this is a modest improvement over the Galaxy Tab S2’s 5870mAh, it pales in comparison to some other tablets like the 9243mAh battery included in Google’s Pixel C.

LG G6

LG announced its new flagship device, the LG G6, in Barcelona on Sunday. Having ditched the rather unpopular design of the G5, LG went in a completely new direction with the G6. It features a large, nearly bezel-free display, water & dust proofing, and three cameras. Last year, LG was one of few remaining manufacturers to still include a removeable battery when it launched the G5, but this year’s device drops that distinction and sees LG follow suit with a non-removable battery. To do this, LG increased the battery size from 2,800mAh to 3,200mAh, includes quick charge capabilities, and wireless charging (US models only).

Huawei P10

In 2015, Huawei’s P9 was released to generally favorable reviews. It included powerful specs with an elegant, minimalist design – and it was placed at a price range that was more affordable than many of its competitors. This year, Huawei has launched its P10 model that carries over many of the same features found on its P9. Huawei’s P9came in two sizes, one that included a 3000mAh cell and a larger one with a 3200mAh. The P10 also comes in two sizes but Huawei has decided to upgrade the size of both batteries to 3200mAh and 3750mAh respectively.

BlackBerry KeyOne

Blackberry continues to stand out as the one major manufacturer still using a physical keyboard with its new KeyOne. In efforts to extend the phone’s running time, BlackBerry included a power-efficient Snapdragon 625 processor in addition to a fairly large 3505mAh battery. Both of these together should see the KeyOne hold up against BlackBerry’s first Android phone, the Priv which included a 3410mAh battery and was listed at 22.5 hours of mixed usage.

Nokia 3310

Nokia brought some nostalgia to its announcement by releasing an update of the wildly popular 3310 phone that first debuted in September 2000. As a basic feature phone, it comes with an Opera browser, but not much else. With limited resources being used by apps and operating systems, the battery on the Nokia 3310 gives it a standby time of 31 days with a talk time listing of 22 hours.

Consumers expect to be able to go a full day without worrying about charging their phone. However, advancements in mobile technology also require more resources – forcing manufacturers to constantly find a balance between slimmer phones and an increasing drain on batteries.

As seen at MWC, the demand for lithium continues to increase, and it is expected to skyrocket as other industries, such as electric vehicles, grow. POSCO’s work on lithium extraction technology is important because we have found a way to extract lithium in an eco-friendly way that also significantly reduces time. These improvements will create a notable impact moving forward as global consumer needs for lithium-ion batteries continue to rise.

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Earlier this month POSCO opened its first lithium extraction plant, PosLX, in Korea that is expected to produce 2,500 tons of lithium carbonate per year – enough to produce about 70 million laptop batteries. While most lithium carbonate is extracted from salt deposits, POSCO was the first to develop a way to extract it from wasted batteries.

Lithium Demand to Continue Rising

Demand for lithium-ion batteries is expected to rise exponentially in the coming years. Tesla, Chevrolet, Nissan, Toyota, and other upstarts are all expecting increased demand as their electric vehicles begin rolling off production lines. Overall, worldwide demand for lithium carbonate is expected to rise from 66,000 tons in 2015 to over 180,000 tons by 2025.

“With the supply of electric cars and the development of smart grid technology, the market is expected to result in massive growth.” – Ohjoon Kwon, CEO

POSCO Reduced Extraction Time to 8 hours

Starting in 2010 when CEO Ohjoon Kwon was the Director at the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology (RIST), POSCO began working on developing a high-efficiency technique for extracting lithium from water.

In 2010, POSCO began development of a new chemically based lithium extraction technology that is able to reduce extraction time while also improving efficiency and reliance on overseas imports. The first pilot program began in 2013 and POSCO recently became the world’s first corporation to commercialize chemically based lithium extraction technology.

Lithium extraction traditionally takes anywhere from 12-18 months using a slow evaporation technique. However, POSCO’s new extraction method takes from 8 hours up to one month while also offering a purity rate of 99.9% and increasing the lithium recovery rate to over 80%.

Furthering POSCO’s work in lithium extraction, in 2011 POSCO partnered with RIST to further establish pilot production facilities with an annual capacity of two tons. Since then, POSCO has successfully completed more pilot production facilities overseas at Chile’s Maricunga Salt Lake (2013), Argentina’s Pozuelos Salt Lake (2014), and Argentina’s Cauchari Salt Lake (2015). The lithium processing plant at the Pozuelos Salt Lake in Argentina will have an annual processing capacity of 2,500 tons of high-purity lithium that can be used in rechargeable car batteries.

Pozuelos Salt Lake in Argentina

Eco-friendly Extraction Using Recycled Batteries

POSCO has also commercialized a new eco-friendly technology used to produce lithium carbonate. While lithium is typically extracted from salt, for the first time ever, POSCO developed a way to extract lithium from recycled batteries.

The lithium carbonate produced from these recycled secondary batteries was tested in January 2017 and found to be of equal quality in terms of purity, charge, discharge efficiency, and capacity. This technology is used at POSCO’s PosLX plant with an annual capacity of 2,500 tons, and will help supply POSCO’s battery making partners such as LG Chem, Samsung SDI, and POSCO ESM, a subsidiary that produces cathodes for secondary batteries.

With POSCO’s unique technologies in place, POSCO is planning to increase production capacities to over 40,000 tons of lithium – both at home and abroad.

From left to right: Jae-chun Song, chairman of Gwangyang City Council, Hyun-bok Jeong, mayor of Gwangyang, Gi-jong Woo, deputy governor of South Jeolla Province, POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon, Ung-beom Lee, president of LG Chem and Nam-seong Cho, president of Samsung SDI who can be seen pressing symbolic buzzers to show that the plant is now online.

CEO Ohjoon Kwon’s Commitment to Grow POSCO’s Non-Steel Business

Since 2010 when he was a director at RIST, POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon has worked to promote the advancement of lithium extraction technology. His work can be seen in POSCO’s recent efforts to significantly cut extraction time while also finding new and eco-friendly sources of lithium carbonate.

POSCO Chairman Ohjoon Kwon gives a celebratory speech at a newly built lithium extract plant in Gwangyang, South Jeolla Province, on Feb. 7.

When Kwon was appointed as POSCO’s CEO in 2014, he focused on strengthening POSCO’s steel businesses. However, as he begins his second term, he has emphasized the need for POSCO to search for profitable growth engines in order to strengthen its global competitiveness.

“Our vision is what propelled us to keep going in spite of many difficulties and limitations.” – Ohjoon Kwon, CEO

In the world’s growing lithium market, POSCO is determined to become a leading supplier. While strengthening its non-steel business segments, POSCO will continue working to provide innovative technologies that are efficient, effective, and eco-friendly.

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From left to right: Jae-chun Song, chairman of Gwangyang City Council, Hyun-bok Jeong, mayor of Gwangyang, Gi-jong Woo, deputy governor of South Jeolla Province, POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon, Ung-beom Lee, president of LG Chem and Nam-seong Cho, president of Samsung SDI who can be seen pressing symbolic buzzers to show that the plant is now online.

“Our vision is what propelled us to keep going in spite of many difficulties and limitations,” POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon said. “We plan to continue differentiating ourselves in the energy material business with lithium, high purity nickel, and positive electrode materials.”

Jong-joo Kim, a director at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said, “Today’s completion of the plant gives POSCO the ability to provide lithium carbonate for its partners in the battery manufacturing industry. ”

POSCO is currently obtaining its lithium phosphate, a raw material of lithium carbonate, by extracting it from wasted rechargeable batteries. In the future, POSCO will use its proprietary lithium extraction technology to produce its own lithium phosphate. POSCO has been developing this eco-friendly technology for 7 years. It extracts lithium phosphate from saline water and converts it into lithium carbonate. Unlike the conventional method that takes 12 to 18 months on average, POSCO’s highly efficient method takes as little as 8 hours or up to one month. This method offers a purity rate of 99.9% while also increasing the lithium recovery rate to over 80%.

POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon and others being briefed on the lithium production process while taking a tour of the PosLX Plant.

Due to the continuous expansion of the mobile industry, the demand for lithium-ion secondary batteries has increased exponentially. In 2015, worldwide demand for lithium carbonate for batteries swelled from 6,000 tons (in 2002) to 66,000 tons. And as the presence of electric vehicles and energy storage systems (ESS) continues to expand, the demand for lithium carbonate is expected to balloon over 180,000 tons by 2025. To address these changing needs, POSCO plans to strengthen its position as a global lithium production base by building plants that have an annual production capacities of 40,000 tons of lithium – both at home and abroad – starting with the PosLX Plant at Gwangyang Works.

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When Tesla unveiled the Model 3, its low-priced EV, to promote sales, about 370,000 cars were pre-ordered globally in a single month. This was about 30,000 more than the number of Toyota Lexus models sold in the US last year.

As a result, Tesla decided to increase the vehicle production capacity to 500,000 until 2018 to keep up with the high demand of the market. This increase in vehicle production capacity is eight times more than the current vehicle production capacity, which is around 62,000 per year.

Automotive companies around the world are now rushing to getting into the game, marking the blossoming of the development of new electric vehicles. Market analysts anticipate that the EV will dominate the automotive market as quickly as smartphones transformed the mobile phone market.

Global Environmental Efforts Transform the Automotive Industry

As the main cause of global warming, cars using fossil fuels will no doubt cease to exist in the future. As a result, the world is experiencing a market shift toward electric vehicles faster than originally anticipated.

For example, EVs made up more than 19 percent of vehicles in Norway, a representative oil-producing country, by the end of 2015. Norway is also taking a legal step to ban the sales of cars that use fossil fuels starting in 2025. Other European countries including the Netherlands seem to be following this course as well. Clearly, the EV is no longer just a trend.

In addition, China—the world’s biggest automotive market—is providing subsidies (as much as $16,000 per car) to proliferate the use of EVs and mandating that these cars make up at least 50 percent of vehicle purchases by public institutions.

India, too, is changing their traffic policies regarding EVs to help reduce the country’s severe air pollution. India’s Secretary of Transportation said that the nation is establishing a strategy to ensure that all cars in India are electric by 2030. It is certainly inevitable that the electric vehicle will be the car of the future.

Reducing EV Energy Loss with Electric Steel Plate

The core parts of the EV include a motor, battery and car frame. EVs don’t have engines. Instead, the power that moves an EV comes from electricity stored in its battery.

An electric motor powers the wheels which move the car. To increase the output of the motor, the peculiar qualities of the non-directional electric steel plate has to be improved.

The output of the motor is expressed in the form of “speed of revolution x torque.” For a larger motor torque, the magnetic flux of electric steel, which is used as a core element of the motor wrapped with wire, must be high.

Also, to increase the output of the motor, the speed of revolution should be fast. This increases excitation frequency and iron loss, resulting in lower power efficiency. Therefore, in order to increase the motor characteristics, electric steel plate, which has low iron loss, should be used even in high-frequency territory.

In addition, for motors to revolve quickly, the rigidity of the electric steel plate, which is used as a rotor, must be high for it to avoid transforming. In other words, electric steel plate should be of a high quality to heighten the accelerating performance of EVs.

Material Technology That Overcomes the Limitations of EVs

One of the weaknesses of EVs is that the mileage per a single charge is short compared to diesel cars. To increase mileage, the charge rate capacity of the lithium-ion battery should be high.

The charge rate capacity is higher when more lithium-ion is available to be charged. Active materials with a wide specific surface area should be developed into cathode materials to increase the amount of lithium-ion charge for a higher charge capacity.

Also, as the demand for lithium-ion batteries has dramatically increased, the cost of lithium metal has skyrocketed due to its short supply.

Lithium salts are extracted from water in mineral springs and salt lakes like those in South America in a similar method as salt evaporation. This existing method is low in efficiency and production speed, and the produced lithium metal has a low purity of approximately 40 to 50 percent.

“LiSX” is a new method of lithium extraction that POSCO recently developed. This method can concentrate and produce lithium with more than 99.9 percent purity in a low concentrated salt lake with a lithium content of 20 parts per million (ppm) in eight hours.

The construction period of this type of production facility is short, and lithium can be produced immediately after the facility begins operation. As a result, this method is a good response to the recent changes in lithium demand.

△Renault’s Eolab—an EV that uses high-strength steel and magnesium sheet

To increase driving efficiency of EVs, the weight of a car frame should be reduced. A direct way to do this is to lighten the weight of chassis and car body materials.

steel is suitable as a chassis material to lighten the weight of automobile components and heighten the performance of crashworthiness, as it has a high formability and is two to three times stronger than general steel.

Aluminum and carbon-complex composites are currently used for parts of the body of the car, but magnesium alloy plates, which are far lighter than aluminum, are receiving attention as a future material.

There is still a need for further development and technical improvement of the electric vehicle to secure its place as the car of the future. In order to heighten the performance of the EV, material technology that can improve materials for the car frame, motor and battery is even more necessary than the development of machine techniques.

Material companies will no doubt help to improve the global traffic environment and further, work as advanced guards to improve the environment of the earth. This is why the performance of POSCO—an integrated material company—is greatly expected to make such contributions.

Written by science technology columnist Dr. Junjeong Lee

The opinions expressed in this POSCO Report piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of POSCO.

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The use of lithium is soaring. It’s gone from 70,000 tons in 2002 to 170,000 tons in 2014, and some estimate that could grow to 470,000 tons by 2025. And with that surging demand, POSCO has identified lithium as a major product for the company’s future business growth.

“POSCO is accelerating the lithium material industry after lithium was selected as the new growth business that will lead the future of the company,” said CEO Ohjoon Kwon when he became the head of POSCO in 2014. “If steel is the ‘rice’ of the current industry, lithium will take on that role in the future.”

What Is Lithium?

For such a common element, most people don’t know a lot about lithium. The soft, silver-white metal is the third element on the periodic table, making it the lightest metal and least-dense solid element. It is found commonly around the Earth, but because it is highly reactive, it is rarely found in a pure, elemental form, and instead is present in very low concentrations in sea water, in rock in the Earth’s crust (especially granite), and in brines and salt lakes.

Importantly, lithium is also very energy-dense—in fact, it has twice the energy density of the next closest alternative—making it a great option for portable energy storage applications.

Lithium, however, is quite difficult to extract. In the past, it was gathered on large salt farms, and required months for the water to evaporate, leaving lithium salts behind. But in 2010, POSCO (with support from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) developed a high-efficiency technique for extracting lithium from water. Instead of a large and slow evaporation process, POSCO uses a chemical reaction to extract the lithium more quickly. It also increased its extraction capabilities to 200 tons per year.

Now POSCO is expanding its lithium processing even more, opening a cutting-edge lithium processing plant at Pozuelos Salt Lake in Argentina this year. Built high in the Argentine mountains, some 4,000 meters above sea level, the new plant had a groundbreaking ceremony on February 14, and once operational later this year it will boost POSCO’s annual lithium production to 2,500 tons.

Lithium in IT Gadgets

Lithium is a key element in lithium-ion batteries, which power many of our most popular devices, including mobile phones and laptops. Lithium-ion batteries can generate a 3 volt charge in each cell, much more than lead-acid and zinc-carbon cells, meaning it can provide more power more efficiently.

For portable devices, like mobile phones, size and weight are at a premium, so being able to contain more power means being able to create smaller and more useful mobile gadgets. Lithium-ion batteries are also commonly used in portable power tools, like drills, saws and lawn trimmers.

In addition to the success of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, regular lithium batteries are also in high demand, often used in such devices as pacemakers, cameras and watches.

Lithium for a Green Future

Beyond gadgets, lithium-ion batteries are a big part of the future of green energy. Solar, wind and other renewable energy sources are important, but you still need an energy storage device to store that power between peaks and valleys.

In particular, they are at the heart of the latest developments in electric cars, like the very popular Tesla cars. And as an electric car usually requires around 40 kilograms of lithium for its lithium-ion battery, that adds up quickly. In fact, Goldman Sachs estimates that the amount of lithium needed for electric car batteries will go up 11-fold over the next nine years.

But the eco-friendly applications don’t stop with cars. Motorcycles, large-scale residential facilities and industrial facilities are all increasingly using lithium-ion batteries, too.

POSCO Leads the Way Toward a Lithium Future

“With the supply of electric cars and the development of smart grid technology, the market is expected to result in massive growth,” noted CEO Kwon. “In order to raise competitiveness of the domestic secondary cell industry, it is crucial to develop lithium resources along with localizing core material.”

Pozuelos Lake, where POSCO is building its new processing facility, covers 106 square kilometers, and has an estimated 1.5 million tons of lithium reserves. That’s enough for millions of large-scale lithium-ion cells, which is good news for the environment and our planet.

POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon, fourth from left, with company executive during a ceremony to mark the construction of the steelmaker’s lithium processing plant in Salta, Argentina, February 14 (local time)

“We have brought our advanced and environmental-friendly technology to extract and process lithium,” said Kwon at the ceremony. “We will continue to expand our operations in Argentina and boost cooperation with our partners here to create a win-win solution for all.”

POSCO’s lithium processing plant will be located at Pozuelos Salt Lake, which rises 4,000 meters above sea level. It will have an annual processing capacity of 2,500 tons of high-purity lithium for rechargeable batteries, and will supply them to domestic and international mineral manufacturing enterprises that produce minerals for car batteries. Considering the fact that it takes an average of 40 kilograms of high-purified lithium to make a single electric car battery, this equates to about 60,000 electric cars a year.

Pozuelos Lake, which spans 106 square kilometers and is estimated to have about 1.5 million tons of lithium reserves, is considered to be an optimal location to produce lithium.

Pozuelos Salt Lake is considered to be an optimal location for producing lithium. POSCO plans to extract and process about 2,500 tons of lithium annually after completing the construction of the plant here by the end of this year.

Earlier this year, POSCO signed a supply contract with Lithea Inc. of Argentina, the company owning the mining rights of Pozuelo Salt Lake and securing the stable permissions to access the lake. POSCO also set a solid foundation for entering the lithium business through developing an independent technology that is economically-friendly.

The Pozuelo Salt Lake plant will use POSCO’s innovative and independent technology that dramatically reduces the lithium extraction period, which usually takes more than a year, through chemical reaction.

POSCO’s high-efficiency lithium extract technology, which was developed with support from the energy resource technology development project led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in 2010, does not require a large area of salt farm compared to the conventional evaporation and extraction method, and is less affected by changes in climate. Moreover, since there is very little loss when extracting lithium, it is possible to extract the same amount of lithium, compared to the conventional process, even by using a less amount of salt water. Therefore, POSCO’s high-efficiency lithium extract technology is an economical and environmental-friendly technology.

POSCO’s lithium business is one of the main businesses that has taken the lead in developing production technologies since 2010, when POSCO CEO Ohjoon Kwon was the Director at the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology (RIST). Since the development of the company’s high-efficiency lithium extract technology in 2010, POSCO has been beefing up pilot production from 2 tons to 200 tons, while examining the economic viability of the technology.

The world’s lithium market has grown from 70,000 tons in 2002 to 170,000 tons in 2014, and is a promising market that is projected to grow to 270,000 tons by 2020. Of this, the lithium market for electric car batteries, which will be produced by POSCO, is expected to be 135,000 tons, accounting for half of the entire market. Nonetheless, the Korean battery manufacturers that depend entirely on lithium imports are currently suffering from unstable supplies and price hikes.

With an increase in sales of electric cars worldwide including China, which is aiming to further promote electric cars across the nation, the lithium industry is welcoming POSCO for its new lithium business. Due to the recent shortage of lithium supplies and price increases, global battery manufacturers are already starting to discuss the possibility of lithium supply contracts with POSCO.

Meanwhile, CEO Ohjoon Kwon had an exclusive meeting with Mauricio Macri, the president of Argentina, on February 15 following the ceremony marking the construction of the steelmaker’s lithium processing plant in Argentina. Kwon discussed POSCO’s excellent lithium extract technology and the technology development process. He also talked about future plans for building a consistent and cooperative relationship with Argentina for lithium development.

POSCO Lithium Business Progress

2010: Development of the world’s first independent lithium extract technology using chemical reaction

2011: Establishment and operation of pilot production facilities with RIST (Annual Capa: 2 tons)

– Process aim was 100% achieved and qualification process for enlargement was completed

2013: Completion of pilot production at Maricunga Salt Lake in Chile (Annual Capa: 20 tons)

2014: Completion of pilot production at Pozuelos Salt Lake in Argentina (Annual Capa: 20 tons)

2015: Completion of pilot production at Cauchari Salt Lake in Argentina (Annual Capa: 200 tons)

2016: Start of construction of lithium processing plant at Pozuelos Salt Lake in Argentina (Annual Capa: 2,500 tons); Projected to complete construction and begin production this year

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