Marine Technology Reporter, March 2011

<BODY> <div> www.seadiscovery.com energy to power the vehicle and its critical systems. With the role of batteries taking center stage in naval and marine applications of the future, it is very impor- tant to develop reliable and sophisticated energy stor- age systems. Energy storage systems enhance the overall perform- ance of any military application. Selecting a cell with the optimal power-to-energy ratio affects system safety and efficiency. Too much power or energy means the system will require more cells to satisfy the other requirement. For example, a system with excess ener- gy is more energetic when misused and a system with excess power has higher short circuit currents and requires larger downstream switching. Both result in a system heavier than ideal. Chemistry selection Saft offers several choices of electrochemistry, includ- ing primary and rechargeable, each optimized for par- ticular naval applications. Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batter- ies are a popular choice for marine designers because they offer qualities making them ideal for jobs demanding high power and energy without additional weight. Lithium-ion provides more energy per volume than many other electrochemistries and operates at higher voltages to maximize the power-to-weight ratio of a battery. Li-ion batteries can also be recharged repeatedly, which reduces life cycle costs. Because of these advantages, Li-ion battery technology is increas- ingly being used in a number of marine, space and mil- itary applications with similar performance demands. Li-ion, however, can be less tolerant of abuse condi- tions and failure modes. Due to this, designers must consider risk mitigation for the user and platform tak- ing into account the worst possible failure regardless of probability. In order to offer a more abuse tolerant technology that maintains many of the benefits of other Li-ion technologies, Saft developed Super- Phosphate™, using lithium-iron phosphate technology. Introducing Super-Phosphate Technology For UUVs, Saft’s Super-Phosphate iron phosphate- based rechargeable chemistry offers an ideal balance of power, energy and safety, making it a good solution for naval applications. Like standard lithium-iron phos- phate electrochemistry, Super-Phosphate operates at a slightly lower voltage profile and is less energetic than traditional metal oxide technologies, but offers addi- </div> <span id="lblContents"></span> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.digitalwavepublishing.com/" title="Digital Magazine">Digital Wave Publishing</a> </BODY>