Rapid Heating of Lithium Oxyhalide Batteries

Lithium oxyhalide batteries offer energy densities several times higher than thermal batteries. Like thermal batteries, lithium oxyhalide batteries have unactivated storage lives in excess of 20 years and are mechanically rugged. Some of the main advantages that lithium oxyhalide batteries offer are flat discharge voltage profiles and potentially long operating lives. However, battery performance deteriorates significantly when the temperature is less than –20 degrees Celsius. To preserve the advantages that lithium oxyhalide batteries have and extend them to low temperatures, we will develop a means to heat a cold electrolyte extremely rapidly--in less than two seconds--dramatically improving low temperature performance. Key to this development will be to minimize any weight penalty associated with the rapid heating mechanism. In Phase I, we proved the feasibility of our rapid heating approach. In Phase II, we will demonstrate the approach under prototypical conditions.