Syensqo Ajedium? and KetaSpire? PEEK Solutions: Cutting CO2, Costs, and Weight for Automotive Efficiency

By: DeeDee Smith, Luigi Marino, Alex Wist, Ysée Genot, Victoria Lee, Brian Baleno

Sustainability is at the heart of Syensqo's product innovation. Beyond improving eMotors performance and enabling light weighting, another key objective of AjediumTM PEEK slot liners? and KetaSpire? PEEK wire coating is to reduce the overall carbon footprint of the vehicle. Syensqo’s electrical insulation solutions can lead to a potential reduction of 76.4 kg of CO2 equivalent per vehicle. This reduction in kg of CO2 comes from improved efficiency and power density allowing designers to reduce the key raw materials used in the production of eMotor and battery packs. These raw materials include copper in the eMotor windings, steel housings, iron laminations, and rare earth magnets as well as raw materials in the battery pack for a given power and range. To put things in perspective, Table 1 below shows examples of? equivalent raw materials reduction corresponding to the carbon footprint benefit enabled by AjediumTM PEEK slot liners? and KetaSpire? PEEK wire coating.?

Table 1: Equivalent Raw Material Reduction per vehicle

What underlies the reduction of carbon emissions is the ability to use thinner PEEK slot liners and wire coatings than the conventional materials which are used in 400 and 800-volt eMotors today. The established slot liners are typically aramid paper or aramid paper laminates with thicknesses between 220 and 250 microns. By using thinner insulation, the copper slot fill factor is increased, improving eMotor efficiency and heat dissipation. These factors further reduce size and weight for a given e-motor power and vehicle range, thereby reducing the carbon footprint of the motor.

Syensqo has completed a virtual engineering simulation using software (ALTAIR FluxMotor 2021) to quantify the benefits of incorporating Syensqo's AjediumTM PEEK slot liners and Ketaspire PEEK wire coatings into eMotors (Figure 1).?

Figure 1: Virtual Engineering Study on 800 Volt eMotor

A link to the study can be found here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/syensqos-800v-ajedium-peek-slot-liners-ketaspire-kxp9f/

To provide a better sense of the relevance of 76.4 Kg of CO2 is, it is calculated to be equivalent to the emissions required to produce 10 kg of copper (7.6 kg CO2 eq/kg), 19 kg of aluminum (4 kg CO2 eq/kg), or 1.53 kg of rare earth ( 50 kg CO2 eq/kg). Figure 2 summarizes the results.

Figure 2: Virtual Engineering Study GWP, Economic, & Light-weighting Summary

This above estimate is based on several conservative assumptions. One of the aspects that has been neglected is the additional environmental footprint that the incumbent enameling process includes in the magnet wire manufacturing process. Traditional enameling processes have a higher environmental impact due to both the large amount of solvents used and the higher energy consumption. The KetaSpire? PEEK magnet wire process is based on thermoplastic extrusion which is far more sustainable. Extrusion completely eliminates the need for solvents and also significantly reduces energy consumption.

There are additional sustainability benefits to using PEEK slot liners over aramid paper or aramid paper laminates that are not considered in this study. PEEK improves manufacturability by eliminating the need for moisture management systems and dedusting systems. Eliminating these two manufacturing steps improves economics and eliminates the energy required to operate these two processes.

Syensqo recognizes the importance of reducing our own manufacturing carbon footprint at our manufacturing sites.? Both Syensqo's Augusta, Georgia facility, which produces the KetaSpire? PEEK resin used to make AjediumTM PEEK slot liners, and Syensqo's Delaware facility, which produces AjediumTM PEEK, use 100% renewable electricity. Syensqo emphasizes the importance of not only focusing on product innovations that enable automotive OEMs to reduce their carbon footprint, but also working across the value chain to reduce the overall CO2 footprint of the automotive industry.