Bimodal Lithium Reserve Battery

Current trends in power requirements for missile systems indicate that there is a growing need for providing increased power and energy while simultaneously reducing size and weight of power systems. Additionally, because of the compact size of emerging missile systems and the limitations on traditional “tin can” battery designs, flexibility in battery configuration becomes an enabling factor in optimizing overall system performance. To achieve these goals, a novel approach to electrolyte storage and activation will be employed. Traditional Lithium Reserve Batteries contain two isolated sections. One section consists of a dry cell stack and the other contains a liquid electrolyte. This configuration requires a significant amount of storage space that is effectively useless once the battery is activated. The approach to be researched will contain a cell stack that is “wet” with a neutral electrolyte and separate reservoir with the acidic, high molarity electrolyte component. In the initial state, the battery can serve as a low discharge power source. Upon high power activation, the high molarity electrolyte is injected into the “wet” cell stack and will infuse with the neutral electrolyte to provide high power capability. This concept is described in detail in “Bimodal Battery,” US Patent No. 6,187,471 B1, issued Feb. 13, 2001. The goal of this Phase II effort is to investigate the physical, mechanical and electrochemical aspects of the Bimodal technology so as to build and test a functional prototype battery that meets the requirements for a specific MDA application, for example, the next generation THAAD, MKV or other KV with an active seeker.