Batteries Archives - Physical Sciences Inc.

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy to develop a sensor for early warning of battery failures through the detection of vent gases.

PSI will adapt and combine two previously demonstrated, mature technologies to provide a comprehensive solution to this problem. The resulting technology will support rapid, sensitive and selective detection of vent gases spanning 1‑1000 ppm. This is accomplished by first encoding the source spectrum across the MWIR and LWIR spectra range, supporting robust discrimination between chemicals and an enhanced signal to noise ratio due to the multiplexed measurement. The spectrally modulated source is used to make sample transmission measurements over the full spectral range and a 50x range of pathlengths leveraging a compact open-path sample cell. This data is fit along two dimensions (pathlength and wavelength) to Beer’s Law, resulting in a quantification and discrimination immune to source instability or other common mode noise. Under the Phase I, PSI will leverage in-house hardware to demonstrate the key features of the two parent technologies as applied to the battery thermal runaway problem. These two technologies will then be integrated under the Phase II to produce a complete solution for early vent gas detection that can be used to improve the reliability, cost and safety of battery powered vehicles for Navy applications.

For more information contact:

Elizabeth C. Schundler
Group Leader, Optical Systems Technologies
eschundler@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Office: (978) 689-0003

Acknowledgement of Sponsorship: This work is supported under a contract with the Naval Sea Systems Command. This support does not constitute an express or implied endorsement on the part of the Government.

Press Release

Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Marine Corps to develop a portable, rapidly deployable hydroelectric generator with a power output up to 1.5 kW.

The U.S. Marine Corps needs a portable, hydroelectric generator to provide electrical energy to recharge batteries and power equipment. Electrical energy used in the field today is primarily generated using diesel generators. Having the option to use an energy source present in the environment, such as a river or stream, reduces the need to transport and store fuel. In order to meet the Marine Corps’ needs, PSI is developing the Modular, Collapsible Hydro-Electric Generator (MCHEG). During a Phase I SBIR program, PSI successfully fabricated and tested a prototype MCHEG module, experimentally demonstrating its hydrokinetic turbine geometry. In this Phase II program, PSI will develop an advanced, collapsible MCHEG turbine array that meets the USMC electrical power generation, weight, stowed volume and deployment time requirements.

For more information contact:

Dr. Sean Torrez
Area Manager, Deployable Structures
storrez@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Office: (978) 689-0003

Acknowledgement of Sponsorship: This work is supported under a contract with the United States Marine Corp Systems Command. This support does not constitute an express or implied endorsement on the part of the Government.

Press Release

Imperia Batteries^®, a division of Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI), has been awarded a contract from the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division to develop low-temperature, high performance primary and secondary lithium ion batteries.

Low energy density and poor energy retention of commercial batteries at extreme low temperatures limits the warfighter’s effectiveness during missions in the arctic, at high altitudes, or in space. This capability gap must be addressed to improve mission capabilities in these regions. In order to address this capability gap, Imperia Batteries proposes to prototype and deliver primary (non-rechargeable) and secondary (rechargeable) high performance batteries optimized for extreme cold operation. These batteries will be enabled by a previously developed composite separator that has been demonstrated to improve the energy delivered at -40 °C by >3x over conventional technologies. This improvement in ability to deliver energy at cold temperatures will be paired with Imperia’s high energy density cell designs which have >25% (secondary) and >95% (primary) higher energy density than commercial 18650 cells. By both increasing the energy density baseline and improving the ability to deliver energy at low temperatures, Imperia’s low temperature battery solutions will outperform commercial solutions by >3x.

For more information contact:

Dr. Christopher Lang
Vice President, Energy Enterprises
lang@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Office: (978) 689-0003

Acknowledgement of Sponsorship: This work is supported under a contract with the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division. This support does not constitute an express or implied endorsement on the part of the Government.