N093-195 TITLE: Long Life Energy Storage Systems for Shipboard Sensor Applications

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: ACAT I. VIRGINIA Class Submarine, NAVSEA PMS450.

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals, their country of origin, and what tasks each would accomplish in the statement of work in accordance with section 3.5.b.(7) of the solicitation.

OBJECTIVE: Develop a long endurance, low power output, low cost battery or other energy storage system to provide power for wireless sensors in a shipboard environment.

DESCRIPTION: Wireless technology is being integrated into shipboard sensor systems to significantly reduce installation cost. The application of wireless technology, however, is currently limited to those sensor systems with low data rate and low duty cycle requirements. The power demands of high data rate and high duty cycle sensor systems will quickly deplete the power in currently available batteries. A concept of combining a energy harvesting system with an efficient energy storage system is being explored to support the duty cycle demands of a shipboard condition based monitoring system. This solicitation seeks innovative battery or other energy storage system technology that will allow high data rate and high duty cycle wireless sensor systems for shipboard applications to become feasible.

The guidelines for the battery or energy storage system are:
� Voltage: 2 - 5 Volts
� Maximum instantaneous output power: 3 watts
� Nominal output power: 100 miliwatts
� Capacity at nominal output: 500+ Watt-Hours (Note that this is 3 times the current state of the art)
� Size: 2 D cells or smaller
� Rechargeable � maximum input power 1 watt
� Must meet requirements for shipboard use (e.g. operate in a rugged environment)

PHASE I: Determine the feasibility of developing a rechargeable long endurance, low power output, low cost battery or other energy storage system. Perform design and analysis of long endurance, low power output, low cost battery or other energy storage system, and define its performance characteristics, develop a design configuration, safety and environmental parameters, and select the major components for proving the feasibility of the proposed system. Analyze all possible failure mechanisms and estimate battery or other energy storage system reliability, based on the performance of the electrical and mechanical subsystems.

PHASE II: Design and develop a full-scale prototype battery or other energy storage system ready for installation into a wireless sensor system and conduct laboratory and shipboard demonstrations.

PHASE III: Design and fabricate production prototypes for installation into a wireless sensor system for full-scale at-sea testing and transition to the fleet.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Development and production of a long endurance, low power output, low cost battery or other energy storage system can be used by the private sector to make a number of potential commercial wireless sensor systems feasible.

REFERENCES:
1. Sol�gel template synthesis of LiV3O8 nanowires, Journal Journal of Materials Science, Publisher Springer Netherlands, ISSN 0022-2461 (Print) 1573-4803 (Online) Issue Volume 42, Number 3 / February, 2007, DOI 10.1007/s10853-006-0022-y, Pages 867-871, Subject Collection Chemistry and Materials Science SpringerLink, Date Wednesday, January 10, 2007.

2. The Charge of the Ultra-Capacitors by Joel Schindall, IEEE Spectrum Online http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/nov07/5636, November 2007.

KEYWORDS: battery; shipboard; wireless; energy; storage; sensor

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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