A HIGH POWER THERMAL BATTERY

Lithium thermal batteries offer superior properties, such as long shelf life, high power capacity, high reliability, and ability to operate in a wide temperature range, as well as in dynamic environments. These properties make the lithium thermal battery a viable candidate for the expendable 35 kW sonobuoy battery. The primary focus of this proposed Phase I program is to develop the design of a thermal battery that call tolerate high power drain and yield exceedingly high power density. The proposed Phase I program objectives are oriented towards developing exceedingly thin wafers for electrodes and salt separator matrix. Using novel cathodes, the feasibility of the thermal battery system for the expendable sonobuoy application at the cell stack level will be established. The proposed Phase I program consists of studying a number of cathodes and processing of thin electrode and salt wafers. Based upon this study, a cell stack will be designed and fabricated. Finally, the electrochemical evaluation of the cell-stack will be performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the high power density thermal battery, > 10 kW^ . Successful completion of this program will form the basis for a Phase B program in which design, fabrication and testing of a battery prototype is envisaged.