Precise Air Barriers for High-Bay Warehouses
Modern battery production combines extreme thermal requirements with highly automated material flows. Different temperature zones must be separated precisely without interrupting logistics processes or limiting accessibility inside the warehouse. Especially in automated high-bay warehouses, conventional approaches quickly reach their limits.
This case study shows how thermal zoning with air barriers was implemented on an industrial scale for battery manufacturing applications — creating a clear operational advantage through stable process temperatures, fully automated crane operation, and barrier-free material flow within a single warehouse system.
Battery formation consists of several process steps designed to stabilize cell chemistry, improve service life, and ensure consistent battery performance.
Charge / Discharge: Controlled charging and discharging activates and stabilizes the battery cells. During this process, the protective SEI layer (Solid Electrolyte Interphase) forms on the anode while cell capacity, internal resistance, and electrical behavior are verified.
Aging at Ambient Temperature: Ambient-temperature aging stabilizes the cells after formation. During this phase, the SEI layer consolidates and defective cells can be identified through abnormal voltage behavior. Controlled storage conditions also improve consistency across production batches.
High-Temperature Aging: High-temperature aging accelerates chemical stabilization processes within the cell. At elevated temperatures, weak or defective cells become detectable much earlier, while long-term electrochemical stability is improved. This process contributes significantly to battery quality, consistency, and operational safety.
Overall, formation ensures that battery cells are chemically stabilized, tested, and prepared for reliable long-term operation.
What is often underestimated is the challenge of maintaining stable thermal zones throughout these processes. In many conventional production concepts, separate warehouse areas — or even separate buildings — are required to isolate different temperature environments.
In battery manufacturing, precise temperature control directly affects product quality and process stability. Even small thermal deviations can influence battery lifetime, performance, and yield rates.
Typical process zones include:
Traditionally, these zones are physically separated using independent warehouse sections. While technically straightforward, this approach increases:
This becomes particularly challenging in automated high-bay warehouses with dense storage layouts and continuous crane operation.
Instead of separating warehouse areas physically, the Airwall concept enables thermal zoning within one continuous warehouse structure.
This approach provides several operational advantages:
For highly dynamic battery production environments, this creates a clear operational advantage: faster throughput, reduced handling complexity, and scalable thermal zoning.
Several large-scale battery production facilities were equipped with Airwall systems for thermal zoning in automated high-bay warehouses.
Typical system dimensions included:
The Airwall systems had to be installed simultaneously with the warehouse construction process itself.
Conventional overhead air curtains are generally unsuitable for this type of application. Large vertical dimensions and stable thermal boundaries inside high-bay warehouses require significantly more precise airflow management.
The solution consisted of specially developed industrial air barriers with helically arranged nozzle arrays.
Each aisle is bordered by two controlled air streams:
The nozzle systems extend over the entire height of the warehouse aisle and follow the natural thermal stratification of the building. Since warm air rises, temperatures near the ceiling are typically several degrees higher than at floor level.
Without controlled airflow guidance, large convection loops would develop, causing the thermal zones to mix continuously.
To counteract this effect, the airflow direction changes between the lower and upper sections of the aisle. This creates the characteristic helical airflow structure along the entire height of the installation.
The dimensions of these systems are exceptional:
This is why the systems are referred to as “Giga Airwalls.” The term describes not only the physical size of the installation, but also the scale of controlled airflow required to maintain stable thermal zoning across large industrial spaces.
A key factor in system efficiency is controlled air recirculation.
Return air ducts positioned opposite the nozzle arrays capture and redirect the airflow back into the system, creating a nearly closed airflow loop with:
Multiple Airwalls are grouped and controlled together to maintain homogeneous thermal conditions throughout the facility.
In addition to active airflow management, insulated metal panels are integrated into the system to improve thermal separation performance further.
The combination of:
allows highly precise thermal zoning while maintaining completely open and barrier-free warehouse operation.
The Giga Airwall systems were designed using extensive CFD airflow simulations and validated through full-scale test installations.
Operational results confirmed the simulation models:
This project demonstrates that thermal zoning in automated high-bay warehouses does not necessarily require physical separation or isolated warehouse structures.
Using large-scale industrial air barriers, stable temperature zones can be maintained while preserving fully automated and barrier-free material flow.
For battery manufacturing facilities, this creates measurable operational advantages:
The combination of thermal zoning, high-bay warehouse automation, and air-based thermal separation makes Giga Airwalls an enabling technology for next-generation battery production facilities.