An Electrolyte Reformation Technique For Siqnificant Weight & Volume Savings In The Aluminum-Silver Oxide Battery System

An electrolyte reformation technique for use in the aluminum-silver oxide battery system is proposed. Successful implementation of this technique will reduce the weight of the energy section of a high power aluminum-silver oxide battery by more than 100 pounds. The technique is based on the fact that while sodium aluminate is soluble in hot aqueous solutions of sodium hydroxide, lithium aluminate is not. Therefore, the addition of lithium hydroxide to a sodium hydroxide solution, containing dissolved sodium aluminate, will cause a reaction in which lithium aluminate forms as a precipitate with the reformation of sodium hydroxide. The weight savings are the result of not throwing over board contaminated electrolyte but instead reclaiming the electrolyte using the proposed electrolyte reformation technique. Carrying the majority of the electrolyte in the lower molecular weight form, lithium hydroxide, provides additional weight reduction. Sixty four laboratory experiments will establish the operating parameters of the technique. A 1/16 scale electrolyte circulation and reformation test apparatus oprating at 10 gallons per minute will be designed, fabricated and tested to demonstrate the efficacy of the technique. The intended site of Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI.