Military qualification of a high-reliability, light-weight 24 V/30Ah aircraft battery

The United States Navy has flown Valve Regulated Lead-Acid Batteries (VRLA) for approximately 18 years. The first VRLA aircraft batteries were cylindrical cell design and evolved to a prismatic design to save weight, volume, and to increase rate capability. This paper discusses the next generation of the VRLA aircraft battery. The HORIZON composite grid VRLA design reduces weight, increases high rate performance, and is expected to increase service life. This paper discusses the weight reduction over the present 30 Ah prismatic VRLA aircraft battery design; improvements in high rate engine start performance, and present status of the development effort. Finally, the paper discusses the applications for the 30 Ah composite grid VRLA aircraft battery, and shows the future application opportunities for light-weight VRLA, both in the military and commercially     

Life cycle testing of a sealed 24-V, 42-Ah nickel-cadmium aircraftbattery

Extensive research has been conducted in the design and manufacture of very long life sealed maintenance free nickel-cadmium aircraft batteries. This study presents data on a 100% depth of discharge (DOD) life test performed on a nominal capacity 42-Ah battery. The purpose of this study is to validate design concepts, determine the life characteristics of the newly designed sealed Ni-Cd batteries, and develop baseline information on failure rates and mechanisms. The data from this experiment can be used to compare depth of discharge versus battery life with similar tests such as the lower DOD experiments performed on spacecraft batteries. This information is important in the ongoing development of long life batteries and in developing failure models for life prediction     

Power sources and portable computers

The safety aspects of the nickel-metal-hydride and high-capacity nickel-cadmium batteries used in Apple Computer's current notebook computers are discussed. No problems are anticipated with nickel-cadmium packs, which have an excellent record for safety because the cell design parameters are well understood and there is ample safety margin under abusive conditions. At its early stage of development, the nickel-metal-hydride cell is not as electrochemically robust as the nickel-cadmium, and it does not have as wide an operational temperature range. The possible hydrogen release from nickel-metal-hydride batteries on charging at low temperatures can also be a potential explosion hazard. Nickel-metal-hydride is considered less environmentally harmful than nickel-cadmium and has escaped legislated recycling requirements     

A maintenance-free lead acid battery for inertial navigationsystems aircraft

Historically, aircraft inertial navigation system (INS) batteries have utilized vented nickel-cadmium batteries for emergency DC power. The United States Navy and Air Force developed separate systems during their respective INS developments. The Navy contracted with Litton industries to produce the LTN-72 and Air Force contracted with Delco to produce the Carousel IV INS for the large cargo and specialty aircraft applications, over the years, a total of eight different battery national stock numbers (NSNs) have entered the stock system along with 75 battery spare part NSNs. The standard hardware acquisition and reliability program is working with the Aircraft Battery Group at Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, Naval Air Systems Command (AIR 536), Wright Laboratory, Battelle Memorial Institute, and Concorde Battery Corporation to produce a standard INS battery. This paper discusses the approach taken to determine whether the battery should be replaced and to select the replacement chemistry. The paper also discusses the battery requirements, aircraft that the battery is compatible with, and status of Navy flight evaluation. Projected savings in avoided maintenance in Navy and Air Force INS systems is projected to be $14.7 million per year with a manpower reduction of 153 maintenance personnel. The new INS battery is compatible with commercially sold INS systems which represents 66% of the systems sold     

Nickel-Cadmium Batteries as Capacitive Filters for Pulsed Loads

This investigation consisted of several tests of specially fabricated nickel-cadmium batteries having circular disk-type electrodes. These batteries were evaluated as filter elements between a constant current power supply and a 5 Hz pulsed load demanding approximately twice the power supply current during the load on a portion of the cycle. Short tests lasting 104 cycles were conducted at up to a 21 C rate and an equivalent energy density of over 40 J/Ib. In addition, two batteries were subjected to 10h dischar cycles, one at a 6.5 C rate and the other at a 13 C rate. Assuming an electrode-to-battery weight ratio of 0.5, these tests represent an energy density of about 7 and 14 J/Ib, respectively. Energy density, efficiency, capacitance, average voltage, and available capacity were tracked during these tests. After 10y capacity degradation was negligible for one battery and about 20 percent for the other. Cadmium electrode failure may be the factor limiting lifetime at extremely low depth of discharge cycling. The output was examined and a simple equivalent circuit was proposed.     

Nickel-hydrogen multicell common pressure vessel batterydevelopment update

Flight qualification of the multicell common pressure vessel (CPV) nickel-hydrogen (Ni-H₂) battery is discussed. The battery has completed full flight qualification, including random vibration at 19.5 g for two minutes in each axis, electrical characterization in a thermal vacuum chamber, and mass-spectroscopy vessel leak detection. A first launch is scheduled in 1992. Several design variations, ranging from 9 Ah to 125 Ah and 12 to 32 V, have been developed and prototypes fabricated. Designs for smaller capacity, smaller diameter (6.4-8.9 cm), and higher voltage (up to 100 V) are in progress. The CPV battery offers cost and weight savings of up to 30% as compared to traditional nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) and individual pressure vessel (IPV) Ni-H₂ batteries. The fully qualified design provided a 50% weight savings over its Nd-Cd predecessor for the same application. Its reduced volume also provides a significant advantage over IPV technology. Resistance data show a further advantage     

Behavior of a cycled Ni-Cd battery during pulse discharge

The pulse discharge behavior of a 9-Ah, 6-V nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) battery fabricated for the FAST program was studied. The response of the battery voltage to a pulse with a current of 60 A and duration of 10 to 200 ms was measured, along with the capacity remaining at the end of pulse discharge. The maximum drop in voltage at the beginning of the pulse was 505 to 1,049 mV, and battery capacity remained stable     

Electric-vehicle batteries

Electric vehicles that can't reach trolley wires need batteries. In the early 1900's electric cars disappeared when owners found that replacing the car's worn-out lead-acid battery costs more than a new gasoline-powered car. Most of today's electric cars are still propelled by lead-acid batteries. General Motors in their prototype Impact, for example, used starting-lighting-ignition batteries, which deliver lots of power for demonstrations, but have a life of less than 100 deep discharges. Now promising alternative technology has challenged the world-wide lead miners, refiners, and battery makers into forming a consortium that sponsors research into making better lead-acid batteries. Horizon's new bipolar battery delivered 50 watt-hours per kg (Wh/kg), compared with 20 for ordinary transport-vehicle batteries. The alternatives are delivering from 80 Wh/kg (nickel-metal hydride) up to 200 Wh/kg (zinc-bromine). A Fiat Panda traveled 260 km on a single charge of its zinc-bromine battery. A German 3.5-ton postal truck traveled 300 km with a single charge in its 650-kg (146 Wh/kg) zinc-air battery. Its top speed was 110 km per hour     

Global avionics in the future

The following topics are discussed: new batteries for old airplanes; new charge controls for lengthening battery life; fast methods for batteries charging; AC conductance measurement based battery testing; pulse power; bipolar lead-acid batteries vs supercapacitors; Ni electrode cells for spacecraft; worn-out battery disposal; recycling technology; vehicle batteries cost; high energy content batteries; and energy storage for electric utilities     

航空电瓶内阻测量与剩余容量探讨

论述了电瓶内阻的基本测量方法。利用３５５０电瓶内阻测试仪对典型的航空电瓶进行实际测量，结果表明，对于酸性电瓶判断比较正确，而对碱性电瓶判断不正确。     

Industrial battery technologies and markets

Industrial battery market segments generally fall into two major categories--traction batteries, also called motive power batteries; and stationary batteries, also referred to as standby power batteries. The major industrial battery subcategories are discussed. Industrial trucks and rail and mine vehicles represent two major subcategories of motive power batteries. Industrial trucks include forklifts, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), various types of towing vehicles, floor cleaning equipment and so forth. Battery-powered rail and mine vehicles are used in mines where gas is present that could be ignited by spark ignition engines. Locomotive starting batteries and railcar emergency power batteries are also included in the second subcategory. The distinction is beginning to blur between valve-regulated industrial batteries and golf cart or marine batteries. Both industrial and SLI(starting/lighting/ignition)-derivative batteries are competing for markets in the future. The future trends in industrial battery production in Japan, USA and Europe are discussed     

Safety testing of lithium ion batteries for navy devices

Lithium ion battery technology is being introduced into power supplies used by our armed forces for a variety of applications. In many cases, the same cells and design parameters that support commercial battery packs are being used in military battery packs. This approach is expected to result in a major decrease in the total life cycle cost of the equipment these batteries support. On June 13, 1991, NAVSEA issued INST9310.1B1, which states that all lithium battery powered equipment must undergo safety evaluation and approval prior to fleet use. This safety program governs a process whereby approvals are issued for lithium batteries to be used in specific equipment on ground facilities, surface combatants, air combatants, and/or submarines. The Naval Ordnance Safety and Security Activity (NOSSA) manages the program. The chief technical advisors are Code 644 at NSWC Carderock Division and Code 609A at NSWC Crane Division. This paper describes three battery designs that incorporate lithium ion technology, and the results of battery safety tests conducted in accordance with navy requirements.     

电池条形码综合管理系统设计与开发

从目前小型二次电池生产和应用的现状出发,结合条形码管理的实际特点,介绍了一种新型的电池条形码综合管理系统.系统通过在电池生产过程中引入条形码管理技术,便于电池生产厂家控制生产过程中电池质量、电池Pack厂在组装电池组时提取过程数据及电池流入市场后问题电池的追踪.详细介绍了系统的软硬件结构设计及系统特点,并对系统发展提出展望.     

Safety tests of lithium 9-volt batteries for Navy applications

COTS batteries are relatively inexpensive, readily accessible, and extremely versatile. These attributes allow the military to save time and money during the research and development stages. Of these COTS batteries, a 9-Volt (9 V) lithium/manganese dioxide battery is the subject of this paper. This 9 V battery has the ability to provide a low magnetic signature, which is very important to the Navy for many applications, Also, it is Underwriters Laboratories (UL) listed at the unit level; however, these UL tests cannot be directly related to the safety of these 9 V batteries when they are combined in various series and parallel configurations. Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock was tasked to rate the safety of several such specialized battery packs. It was found that packs consisting of two 9 V batteries in parallel were relatively safe, experiencing no violent behavior. Battery packs with six 9 Vs in parallel vented and deformed the 9 V batteries, but no smoke or flames were noticed. A battery pack with thirty 9 V batteries, 2 in series with 15 legs, experienced venting, smoke, and flames under certain circumstances, After testing, the six and thirty 9 V packs were required to include the addition of various safety devices     

Hubble Space Telescope at twelve years of age

The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the Space Shuttle Discovery into a 380-mile high Earth orbit on April 25, 1990. It subsequently made outstanding astronomical discoveries with its 8-foot (2.4-meter) telescope and other scientific instruments. Critical to the successful observations was continuous availability of power from its solar arrays during sunlit periods, and from nickel-hydrogen batteries when the satellite was in the Earth's shadow. The adopted nickel-hydrogen batteries were carefully selected and tested to confirm their depth-of-discharge and operating temperature that delivered the longest life in charge/discharge cycling service. These batteries had a design life of 7 years. At 12 years after launch the Hubble batteries have delivered more charge/discharge cycles than any other batteries in low-Earth orbit. However, the Hubble batteries have been subjected to many unexpected stresses, and peculiar reductions in battery capacity have been observed. Battery replacement requires a costly trip to the Hubble Space Telescope by astronauts, so the remaining useful life of the batteries must be predicted. Already in four servicing missions, astronauts have replaced or modified optics, solar arrays, a power control unit, and various science packages. A fifth servicing mission is scheduled in 2004. This paper discusses battery charging hardware and software controls, history of battery events in Hubble, cell performance model and spare battery tests, and capacity walkdown.     

A microcontroller-based intelligent battery system

State-of-charge indication for a secondary battery is becoming increasingly important for battery-operated electronics. Consumers are demanding fast charging times, increased battery lifetime, and fuel gauge capabilities. All of these demands require that the state of charge within a battery be known. One of the simplest methods employed to determine state of charge is to monitor the voltage of the battery. However, this method alone is not a good indicator of battery energy, since both NiMH and NiCd batteries have voltage-versus-energy curves that are essentially flat. This paper presents a more effective method of determining the state of charge in secondary cell batteries. A NiMH battery is used as our test vehicle, since it is one of the more difficult batteries to determine state of charge. This method monitors the battery's temperature, voltage, and discharge/charge rate. A microcontroller then manipulates the information, using look-up tables to determine the state of charge. Also, by modifying the look-up tables, this technique can be employed in many other battery technologies and is not limited to NiMH     

Hubble performance on-orbit

A summary of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) nickel-hydrogen (NiH/sub 2/) battery performance from launch to the present. Over the life of HST vehicle configuration, charge system degradation and failures, together with thermal design limitations, have had a significant effect on the capacity of HST batteries. Changes made to the charge system configuration to protect against power system failures and to maintain battery thermal stability resulted in undercharging of the batteries. This undercharging resulted in decreased usable battery capacity as well as battery cell voltage/capacity divergence. This cell divergence was made evident during on-orbit battery capacity measurements by a relatively shallow slope of the discharge curve following the discharge knee. Early efforts to improve battery performance have been successful. On-orbit capacity measurement data indicates increases in the usable battery capacity of all six batteries as well as improvements in the battery cell voltage/capacity divergence. Additional measures have been implemented to improve battery performance, however, failures within the HST Power Control Unit (PCU) have prevented verification of battery status.     

Five-year update: nickel hydrogen industry survey

A 1984 survey of the nickel hydrogen (NiH₂) battery industry is updated. Late 1980s and early 1990s issues are identified, and usage and testing results of the survey are summarized. NiH₂ is the system of choice for new geosynchronous-earth-orbit (GEO) satellites and is being seriously considered for low-earth-orbit (LEO) applications. In five years, the annual cell production rate has doubled from approximately 1000 to 2000 cells. A number of cells under test have exceeded 20000 cycles at 40% DOD in LEO regimes, while other cells have achieved over 35 seasons in accelerated GEO regimes. The LEO database clearly indicates that NiH₂ performance is at least as good as the best conventional nickel-cadmium performance demonstrated under test     

Zinc-air batteries for forward field charging

In order to realize the operational and service cost savings through the use of rechargeable batteries, the dismounted soldier is burdened with the weight, volume and/or charging logistics of the batteries. By providing the soldier with a high energy density source and a lightweight compact battery charger, the burden imposed by rechargeable batteries in the forward field can be minimized. Zinc-air batteries have the potential for meeting the energy demands of forward battlefield charging. They are attitude insensitive, have a high specific energy and are inherently inexpensive, lightweight and safe     

Making batteries last longer [for electric vehicles]

The early 1900's era of electric cars ended because the batteries didn't last long enough, and a new gasoline-engine-powered car cost less than a replacement battery. Long-life batteries are the key to achieving a low life-cycle cost for the electric vehicles that will help solve the air-pollution problem in our cities. New ways of making batteries last longer are discussed