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@AuManufacturing Conversations
@AuManufacturing Conversations with Brent Balinski is a regular interview program, bringing you discussions with the folks who are contributing to a critical part of the economy -- one that leads private sector R&D investment, employs well over a million Australians, and is just plain important to have around.
We hope to capture something of the variety of manufacturing, its place in the nation, its changing nature, and some of the personalities within it.
From the boutique to the billion dollar, if it's manufacturing and it's Australian, then it likely matters to us. This podcast is an extension of the @AuManufacturing news and analysis website and the community around it, and complements what's written online at www.aumanufacturing.com.au.
Interested in advertising? Get in touch via editor@aumanufacturing.com.au
@AuManufacturing Conversations
Episode 113 -- Dr Ebbe Dommisse from IonDrive
Welcome to this special episode of @AuManufacturing Conversations, which is part of our annual Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers campaign.
It's been made possible through the support of Australia Wide Engineering Recruitment, TXM Lean Solutions, the Industry Capability Network, Bonfiglioli Australia, the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre and the SmartCrete CRC.
In this episode we hear from Ebbe Dommisse, CEO of IonDrive, an ASX-listed battery recycling company commercialising research breakthroughs from University of Adelaide. He tells us about the "solvometallurgy" approach the company is focussed on, some lessons on the battery industry we could borrow from the EU, why invention is separate from innovation, and more.
Episode guide
1:15 – Chemical engineering PhD then advanced manufacturing.
2:30 – Established as a University of Adelaide spinout. Information about the research at the university and the transition from Southern Gold to what the company does now (formalised June 2024.)
4:04 – An explanation of black mass and what’s in it.
5:30 – Black mass and its importance in terms of supply chain sovereignty. 80 per cent of it is shipped back to China for processing because nations like the US and the EU lack the capacity. 11 million tonnes is predicted to be on-market by 2040.
6:59 – An explanation of deep eutectic solvents, which are behind Iondrive’s processing technology, contrasted with hydrometallurgy and pyrometallugy families of metals recovery.
8:50 – A closed loop process without the waste streams or energy demands of other recycling types used for battery materials.
10:08 – A simplified explanation of Deep Eutectic Solvent processing involving teabags.
13:10 – Pilot plant commissioning in late-2025 and the activities leading up to this to determine if the technology would scale up viably.
15:25 – It’s not a value chain, it’s a value circle, with Iondrive addressing black mass processing and creating PCAM.
16:20 – Recent capital raise and starting with semi-continuous work in January, the first step in moving from batch to continuous processes. To be completed in two months.
17:48 – Countries including Australia don’t need to reinvent the wheel on battery materials processing. Where the country can make a difference and borrow from what the EU has done (e.g. banning black mass exports and implementing the battery passport.)
20:04 – Thomas Friedman’s observations on China capitalising on lithium iron phosphate (LFP)
22:57 – What makes a company innovative. Goran Roos’s “lovely definition” of innovation and what we can learn from one incubator in Finland.
24:50 – Let’s not confuse innovation with invention.
25:40 – Long-termism and the kind of manufacturing that works in Australia. An investigation comparing Switzerland with Australia. What we have here that can be leveraged.
Further reading
Our Bar-Napkin Presidency (by Thomas Friedman in The New York Times)
Iondrive raises $6 million to progress DES battery recycling tech
Iondrive claims robustness improvement in battery recycling process
$22.5 million Early Career Industry Fellowships round supports r
