ALUMINUM UNITS

A VERY HIGH POWER DENSITY METAL OXIDE-ALUMINUM ELECTROCHEMICAL BATTERY SYSTEM IS PROPOSED FOR INVESTIGATION IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM AS A BASIS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF SMALL BATTERIES (OF A WEIGHT LESS THAN ONE POUND) FOR APPLICATIONS IN ROCKET LAUNCH, SPACE, AND RE-ENTRY ENVIRONMENTS. 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. A PRELIMINARY DESIGN ANALYSIS WAS CARRIED OUT FOR A 25 V. 1000 WATT UNIT (40 A PEAKS AT A 20% DUTY CYCLE). THE RESULTS INDICATED THAT WITH REASONABLE (FOR THIS HIGH RATE SYSTEM CURRENT DENSITY OF 200 MA/CM(2)) THE BATTERY, WITH A MAXIMUM SIZE OF 13.6 CU. IN, AND A WEIGHT OF 313 G (0.69 POUND) COULD PROVIDE A VERY HIGH PEAK POWER DENSITY OF 3195 W/KG (1450 W/#) AND ALSO A VERY ATTRACTIVE HIGH ENERGY DENSITY. IN PHASE I THE CATHODE WILL BE EVALUATED UNDER RELAVENT CONDITIONS, THE ANODE FARADAIC EFFICIENCY DETERMINED AND AN INITIAL CELL CONSTRUCED AND STUDIED UNDER PULSE DISCHARGE CONTITION.