Barrier Foil Packaging For The Automotive Industry
With more than three-quarters of a million registered vehicles in 2022, electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming a popular, sustainable and environmentally friendly mode of transportation. EVs use lithium-ion batteries, these batteries while providing a solution for clean emission vehicles are very sensitive. Barrier foil is a popular solution for protecting EV battery components due to its ability to provide a high level of protection against moisture vapor and gas.
In 2021, 3D Barrier Bags, Inc was contacted by a leading EV manufacturer for help protecting components that end up in their lithium-ion batteries. They were using poly-wrap packaging and trays for transportation from their manufacturer. Thus they were not getting the ultimate climatic protection against corrosion.
Since the company needed to provide the highest safety standards to its customers, they decided to look at barrier foil packaging. Barrier foil packaging ensures the battery components arrived in the same condition they left, they can be used straight away and no inventory was lost due to atmospheric damage.
The Problem
During transportation, these components would travel via truck for two days across the USA. During this time, the sensitive parts would be susceptible to temperature changes, moisture vapor within the trucks. These conditions greatly accelerate the potential for moisture and Oxygen damage to the very sensitive and high value parts. As a result, they needed to find packaging that could withstand these conditions.
Our Solution
To address these challenges, 3D Barrier Bags, Inc worked with both the EV manufacturer and the manufacturer of the battery components to develop a customized packaging solution. Ultimately, they needed a flexible, clean and easy solution for packaging, while still maintaining a low moisture vapor transmission rate. We decided that our Mil-PRF-131 Class 1 material (3D016) formatted in a box bag with a loose base would provide their components with the ultimate protection.
The components are placed in their returnable trays on the flat sheet of our barrier foil. The foil box bag is then placed on top of the trays and heat-sealed to the base at the bottom. A vacuum is pulled to ensure no residual oxygen or moisture vapor remains in the package. We also supplied them with a clay desiccant sachet to include in each of the trays for added moisture vapor protection.
After implementing the new barrier foil packaging solution, the EV manufacturing company saw a significant reduction in loss of inventory due to moisture and Oxygen damage. The new barrier foil packaging provided an effective barrier against moisture vapor, and atmospheric gasses, which helped to prevent corrosion and degradation of the components, resulting in an increase in productivity, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Barrier foil is an effective solution for protecting all electric components and finished products during transportation and storage. By working with 3D Barrier Bags, Inc to develop a customized solution, this EV manufacturer overcame the challenges associated with sensitive equipment’s susceptibility to moisture vapor and humidity. As the demand for EVs continues to grow 3D Barrier Bags will continue to provide custom Barrier packaging solutions to the industry.