HIGH-ENERGY DENSITY ALUMINUM/OXYGEN CELL

An alternative to a secondary battery as the power source for vehicle propulsion is a fuel cell, an example of which is the metal/air cell using metals such as aluminum, zinc, or iron. Aluminum is a particularly attractive candidate, with high energy and power densities, environmentally acceptable and having a large, established industrial base for production and distribution. An aluminum/oxygen system is currently under development for a prototype unmanned, undersea vehicle (UUV) for the US navy and recent work has focussed upon low corrosion aluminum alloys, and an electrolyte management system for processing the by-products of the energy-producing reactions. This paper summarizes the progress made in both areas. Anode materials capable of providing high utilization factors over current densities ranging from 5 to 150 mA/cm(2) have been identified, such materials being essential to realize mission life for the UUV. With respect to the electrolyte management system, a filter/precipitator unit has been successfully operated for over 250 h in a large scale, half-cell system.