SEAWATER CHEMICALLY ACTIVATED BATTERIES - A METAL OXIDE-ALUMINUM SEAWATER SYSTEM

A VERY HIGH POWER DENSITY METAL OXIDE-ALUMINUM SEAWATER ELECTROCHEMICAL BATTERY SYSTEM IS PROPOSED FOR INVESTIGATION IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM AS A BASIS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH POWER BATTERY APPLICATIONS. THIS IS A LOW RISK DEVELOPMENT APPROACH SINCE THE INDIVIDUAL ELECTRODES ARE KNOWN IN OTHER BATTERY SYSTEMS. THE COUPLE COMBINATION AND DESIGN APPROACH ARE NEW. ELECTROCHEMICA CORP. HAS UNDERTAKEN PRELIMINARY TESTS IN THE AGO-AL SYSTEM AND ACHIEVED PROMISING RESULTS DESPITE THE ABSENCE OF ANY TYPE OF FLOW CONTROL. USING THE ELECTRODE TECHNOLOGY AND SPECIAL ALUMINUM ALLOYS, THE AGO-AL SYSTEM WAS FOUND TO BE CAPABLE OF OPERATION TO 700 MA/CM(2) AT 1.3 V (0.9 W/CM(2)) AT TEMPERATURES OF 50 DEG C. IN PHASE I, THE AGO-AL COUPLE WILL BE EVALUATED AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES UNDER VARYING SEAWATER ELECTROLYTE ADDITIONS, THE ANODE FARADAIC EFFICIENCY DETERMINED FOR DIFFERENT AL ALLOYS AND AN INITIAL CELL WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AND STUDIED UNDER RELEVANT DISCHARGE CONDITIONS.