LIFT, the manufacturing innovation institute of the Department of Defense, is slated to develop a pilot line for electrochemical separators in a bid to reduce the cost of energy storage and conversion at its operations.
The Detroit-based project will make LIFT the first U.S.-based producer of such instruments, the organization said Monday.
Electrochemical separators are the main components of energy storage and conversion devices. They have shown promise as a lightweight alternative to corrosion-resistant separators, which are necessary for isolating chemical reactants and waste heat from energy systems.
LIFT’s plan is to make test units from the pilot line, transition to full production after two years and support activities to find a permanent owner and operator of the line.
The program “will secure the supply chain of a critical component of energy systems, it will lower costs, and it will create an enduring research tool for separators in general,” DOD Program Manager Kevin Cronin remarked. “All of these benefits lend to providing the warfighter the best technology we can get them.”
Sponsored by the Manufacturing Science and Technology Program under the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the project is expected to be operational in the third quarter of 2025.
