ADVANCED RECHARGEABLE NICKEL-ZINC BATTERY FOR BASING SYSTEMS

ADVANCED BASING SYSTEMS REQUIRE HIGH EFFICIENCY AND HIGH ENERGY DENSITY SURVIVABLE POWER SOURCES CAPABLE OF KW TO MW OUTPUTS, UNDER FLEXIBLE OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING MULTIPLE STARTS AND RECHARGEABILITY. CONSERVATIVELY DESIGNED, LOW ENERGY DENSITY (7-9 WH/#, 0.7-0.8 WH/IN[3]) LEAD-ACID BATTERIES ARE USED AT PRESENT. SIGNIFICANT ENHANCEMENT OF ENERGY CAPABILITIES CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE PROPOSED NI-ZN SYSTEM, WHICH HAS AN ENERGY DENSITY ADVANTAGE OVER OTHER CANDIDATES SUCH AS NI-CD, BOTH GRAVIMETRIC (28-35 WH/#) AND VOLUMETRIC (2.0-2.3 VS. 1.1-3 WH/IN[3]). AS A RESULT OF A RECENT FUNDAMENTAL DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW CHEMISTRY FOR THE ZINC ELECTRODE IN THE NICKEL OXIDE-ZINC BATTERY, A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN CYCLE LIFE HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED IN ELECTROCHIMICA CORP. AND GOVERNMENTCONDUCTED TESTS ON VENTED CELLS IN THE 15 TO 225 AH CAPACITY RANGE. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RUGGED LOW TEMPERATURE VERSION OF THE PROVEN ELECTROCHIMICA VENTED CELL DESIGN IS PROPOSED WHICH WOULD BE TAILORED TO SATISFY ANTICIPATED CHARGING (TRICKLE) REQUIREMENTS. SMALL 10-12 AH CELLS WOULD BE TESTED FOR PHASE I DEVELOPMENT AND 200 AH CELLS WOULD BE CONSTRUCTED TO SERVE AS INTERMEDIATE SIZE PROTOTYPES FOR FUTURE APPLICATION IN BASING SYSTEMS.