A LITHIUM/CHLORINE THERMAL BATTERY

LITHIUM-ALLOY/CHLORINE 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 DYNAMICENVIRONMENTS. THESE PROPERTIES MAKE THE LITHIUM-ALLOY/CHLORINE THERMAL BATTERY A VIABLE CANDIDATE FOR THE RADIO FREQUENCY DECOY BATTERY. THE PRIMARY FOCUS OF THIS PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM IS TO DEVELOP THE DESIGN OF A MORE RELIABLE AND REPRODUCIBLE THERMAL BATTERY THAT CAN TOLERATE HIGH POWER DRAIN. THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM OBJECTIVES ARE ORIENTED TOWARDS DEVELOPING A SAFE CHLORINE STORAGE METHOD, INTEGRATING THIS CHLORINE STORAGE DEVICE WITH THE CELL STACK AND DEMONSTRATING THE FEASIBILITY OF A LITHIUM CHLORIDE THERMAL PRIMARY BATTERY SYSTEM FOR THE EXPENDABLE DECOY APPLICATION. THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM CONSISTS OF STUDYING A NUMBER OF WAYS OF SAFELY STORING CHLORINE THAT CAN BE DELIVERED TO THE CELL STACK UPON THERMAL ACTIVATION. BASED UPON THIS STUDY, A CHLORINE STORAGE DEVICE WILL BE DESIGNED AND FABRICATED. FINALLY THE ELECTROCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF THE INTEGRATED CHLORINE STORAGE DEVICE AND THE CELL-STACK BATTERY WILL BE PERFORMED. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THIS PROGRAM WILL FORM THE BASIS FOR A PHASE II PROGRAM IN WHICH DESIGN, FABRICATION AND TESTING OF A BATTERY PROTOTYPE IS ENVISIONED.