State-of-Charge Technology for Zn-air Battery Systems Navy SBIR FY2006.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2006.2 Topic No.: N06-101 Topic Title: State-of-Charge Technology for Zn-air Battery Systems Proposal No.: N062-101-0490 Firm: Yardney Technical Products, Inc. 82 Mechanic Street Pawcatuck, Connecticut 06379 Contact: Arthur Dobley Phone: (860) 599-1100 Web Site: www.yardney.com Abstract: Many missions in remote locations are currently limited by the amount of power that can be carried on foot and/or left in place for unattended equipment operation. To solve the soldier's battery weight burden, advanced metal-air batteries are being developed. The monitoring of the effective battery power is a significant aspect for the military's use of these batteries. One problem with the advanced metal-air chemistry is a lack of a state-of-charge (SOC) indication technology that factors several environmental influences as well as the discharge profile. The benefits from the use of SOC technology are: indication of battery capacity, effective power management, prevention of premature replacement of batteries and reduced inventory levels resulting in overall cost reduction. The major drawback from the use of SOC technology is they can be expensive especially if discarded with a used battery. Yardney proposed SOC technology provides the benefits without the drawbacks. Yardney's SOC technology proposal can be incorporated in the battery adapter cable or as a stand-alone unit eliminating the drawbacks. It will use existing technology and a custom computer chip to monitor and indicate the batteries SOC with high accuracy. It will ultimately be small in size, low in weight, inexpensive and accurate. Benefits: No current SOC Technology currently exists for Zinc-air or any of the other metal-air battery. Advanced metal-air batteries are being developed to meet the soldier's need for power to complete the mission. The development of SOC indication technology reduces the soldier's battery weight burden. SOC technology is currently being pushed in all portable batteries and is very important to the acceptability and full use of metal-air technology in the near future. Commercial applications similar to the military's use such as remote communication, computing and monitoring are seen as the most promising. Return