Optimized Thermal Battery Heat Regulation

Thermal Batteries are reliable, high energy density power sources that have very long shelf lives. Optimal performance of these batteries depends on the insulation material and detailed design. There have been many studies that have investigated the use of a particular type or class of insulation. These investigations have been useful in demonstrating insulation concepts, but they have not provided battery designers tangible design tools. Additionally, complex thermal battery models have been developed to explore the multicomponent transport and electrochemical interactions that occur in thermal batteries. While very valuable for research, these models are too complex and computationally intensive to be of practical use to battery designers. On this project, we will develop a computational tool specifically to assist designers in optimizing insulation for thermal batteries. In Phase I, we will create the computational framework based on the appropriate set of transport equations and a prototype of the user interface. The tool will be flexible enough to allow the designers to explore the use of multiple insulation strategies. In Phase II, we will refine the package, optimize the insulation for a specific MDA battery design, and then verify the package by building and testing the optimized design.