A Steatite led consortium have been selected to present a paper on pressure tolerant Lithium Batteries for Maritime Autonomous Systems (MAS) at Oceanology International 2016, in London.
Roland Rogers, Maritime Sector Lead for the National Oceanography Centre, will be delivering the presentation during the Conference on the 17th March, the second day of the Unmanned Vehicles and Vessels Showcase organised with the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT).
This Steatite led consortium with OXIS Energy, National Oceanography Centre and MSubs together with Collaborative R&D funding from Innovate UK are working on a two year development project to develop the next generation of pressure tolerant Lithium Batteries for Maritime Autonomous Systems (MAS).
The project’s aim is the development of a pressure tolerant rechargeable battery based upon new, innovative Lithium Sulfur (Li-S) chemistry for use in MAS. Li-S cells have five times the theoretical specific energy of lithium ion cells, but as yet have not been used in underwater applications. The programme is designed to achieve greater performance characteristics using Li-S by integrating and testing the cells and a battery management system on MAS platforms in deep-sea applications.
One of the projects objectives is to reduce weight and increase energy for MAS providing improvements in operational efficiency resulting in fewer launches and recoveries. The decrease in weight will allow for greater payloads or provide vessels with an increased runtime, allowing vessels to run longer and further during missions. The battery packs will also be easier to handle due to weight saving. The chemistry is also much safer than existing solutions and able to withstand short-circuiting and even puncturing, decreasing the risk whilst out at sea.
For more information on this event please visit the event page or contact Steatite on +44 (0)1527 512400.
