The SOFAL aluminum-air battery for man-portable applications, topic area: Batteries for terrestrial applications
In a cooperative effort, Alupower Inc., and Commonwealth Technology, Inc., recently completed the development of a Man-portable Aluminum-air hybrid battery for the Special Operations Forces (SOF) under a Phase 2 SBIR program. The Phase 1 SBIR program resulted in the design of a 12 and 24 vdc hybrid system consisting of an Aluminum-air semi-fuel cell and rechargeable secondary battery, interfaced with an electronics control module. This power source, named ``Special Operations Forces Aluminum-air'' or SOFAL , provides a cost effective approach for portable SOF electronic equipment. The Phase 2 development culminated in the delivery of five prototype units to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) for field evaluation. Due to the short window of opportunity available for the field trial, only one unit was activated. The evaluation was conducted at Camp McKall, N. Carolina. The evaluation plan was to operate SINCGARS (AN/PRC-119A) radio and a Digital Message Data Group (DMDG KY-879/P) off the SOFAL for one week. Another set of the same equipment would be powered by the standard issue BA-5590/U LiSO{sub 2} primary batteries as a control group. The exercise simulated a command post handling message traffic, both voice and data, 24 hours a day. At the conclusion of the field trials, the USASOC and Special Forces personnel were pleased with the concept. Based on actual mission scenarios, the present unit was acceptable ``as is'' for command post situations. They have a desire for a second smaller unit for field applications. Being a prototype, there were a few glitches but overall the evaluation was very positive, laying the ground work for Phase 3.
- Research Organization:
- Alupower, Inc., Pawcatuck, CT (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20002730
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 33rd Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, Colorado Springs, CO (US), 08/02/1998--08/06/1998; Other Information: 1 CD-ROM. Operating system required: Windows 3.x; Windows 95/NT; Macintosh; UNIX. All systems need 2X CD-ROM drive.; PBD: 1998; Related Information: In: Proceedings of the 33. intersociety energy conversion engineering conference, by Anghaie, S. [ed.], [2800] pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Floating Solar-Powered Aeration System for Aquaculture
United States Marine Corps (USMC) Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System (SINCGARS) rechargeable battery trade-off study. Technical report, June-September 1992