ADVANCED LITHIUM-BASED CHEMISTRY CELL DEVELOPMENT THE OVERALL OBJECTIVES OF THE WORK DEFINED IN THIS STATEM…

Public award description

ADVANCED LITHIUM-BASED CHEMISTRY CELL DEVELOPMENT THE OVERALL OBJECTIVES OF THE WORK DEFINED IN THIS STATEMENT OF WORK ARE TO IDENTIFY COMPONENTS AND DEVELOP DESIGNS FOR HIGH ENERGY AND ULTRA HIGH ENERGY LITHIUM-BASED CELLS IN SUPPORT OF NASA S CONSTELLATION PROGRAMS. NASA S EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, ENERGY STORAGE PROJECT, IS DEVELOPING BATTERY TECHNOLOGIES TO SUPPORT CONSTELLATION S ALTAIR, EXTRAVEHICULAR ACTIVITIES (EVA), AND LUNAR SURFACE SYSTEMS PROJECTS. THESE CUSTOMERS REQUIRE SAFE, VERY HIGH SPECIFIC ENERGY, LOW VOLUME BATTERIES. THE ENERGY STORAGE PROJECT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEMONSTRATION CELLS WITH THE DESIRED CHARACTERISTICS FOR HIGH ENERGY AND ULTRA HIGH ENERGY BATTERIES, TO TRL 6, BY 2013 AND 2014 RESPECTIVELY. THE ENERGY STORAGE PROJECT RECENTLY CONDUCTED EXTENSIVE STUDIES TO IDENTIFY THE COMPONENT OPTIONS THAT WILL LEAD TO ADVANCED LITHIUM-BASED BATTERIES WITH THE GREATEST POTENTIAL TO PROVIDE THE BEST COMBINATION OF SAFE, RELIABLE PERFORMANCE WITH EXTREMELY HIGH SPECIFIC ENERGY WITHIN THE REQUIRED TIMEFRAME. PARALLEL PATHS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED THAT FOCUS ON THE CATHODE AND ANODE, RESPECTIVELY, ALONG WITH DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS RELATED TO SEPARATORS, ELECTROLYTES, AND FUNCTIONAL COMPONENTS THAT ADDRESS SYSTEM SAFETY AND RELIABILITY. COMBINATIONS OF THESE COMPONENTS ARE SHOWN IN FIGURE 2, WITH THE CELL DESIGNATED HIGH ENERGY CELL A COMPRISED OF A COMMERCIAL ANODE AND A COMMERCIAL OR NASA-DEVELOPED SEPARATOR, COMBINED WITH A NASA-DEVELOPED CATHODE AND ELECTROLYTE. THE ULTRA HIGH ENERGY CELL B USES THE SAME NASA-DEVELOPED CATHODE, AS WELL AS A NASA-DEVELOPED ANODE AND SEPARATOR. THE ELECTROLYTE FOR CELL B MAY BE THE SAME AS FOR CELL A OR MAY BE MODIFIED AS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE REQUIRED SAFETY PERFORMANCE AND/OR COMPATIBILITY WITH THE ANODE. CELL DESIGN OPTIMIZATION IS REQUIRED FOR BOTH CELLS TO MEET THE TARGETED GOALS. THE PURPOSE OF THE BASIC WORK PORTION OF THIS CONTRACT IS TO SCREEN AND SCALE-UP THESE NEW MATERIALS, INCORPORATE THEM INTO SMALL CAPACITY CELLS FOR EVALUATION ( EVALUATION CELLS ), AND TO DEVELOP A DESIGN(S) FOR HIGH ENERGY AND ULTRA HIGH ENERGY FLIGHTWEIGHT CELLS THAT MEET FLIGHT PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS. THERE IS AN OPTION TO FABRICATE CELLS TO THIS DESIGN SPECIFICATION AND THERE IS ALSO AN OPTION FOR COMPONENT DEVELOPMENT TO BE PERFORMED UNDER THIS CONTRACT.