Novel Methods to Improve Performance of Silver-Zinc Batteries

BST Systems, Inc. is the first company to have developed a large-format, sealed and completely maintenance-free, rechargeable silver-zinc (Ag-Zn) cell. The Smart Sealed Ag-Zn (SS-Ag-Zn) features two innovationsan automatic gas balancer (AGB) and microprocessor-based algorithm-driven smart system manager (SSM)that together with a commercial catalyst automatically manage gases to maintain low, sub-atmospheric internal pressure (negative gauge) for the life of the cell. Under previous Phase I and Phase II efforts, BST successfully configured the technology to meet the weight and dimension specifications of the military designation MK89 cell. Under the proposed Phase II effort, BST will build a ship-set of the Smart-Sealed MK89 cells and will power the SDV-EXP boat with the SS-MK89 cells in a sea-trial at NSWC-PCD to demonstrate successful operation of the technology. Upon conclusion of the program, the Navy will have a Smart Sealed Ag-Zn UV or UUV battery that has a higher energy density (on a battery basis), is safer, more user-friendly, and which offers a lower lifetime cost than a competitive lithium-ion battery.