Aerospace Nickel-Cadmium Batteries

Refs. [i] Linden D (2002) Basic concepts. In Linden D, Reddy TB (ed) Handbook of batteries. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp 1.3-1.18 [ii] http //www.rcbatteryclinic.com/seminar.htm [iii] Nilsson AO, Baker CA (2002) Industrial and aerospace nickel-cadmium batteries. In Linden D, Reddy TB (ed) Handbook of batteries. McGraw-Hill, New York, pp 26.1-26.29... 

TABLE 26.1 Major Advantages and Disadvantages of Industrial and Aerospace Nickel-Cadmium Batteries... 

INDUSTRIAL AND AEROSPACE NICKEL-CADMIUM BATTERIES 26.27 TABLE 26.6 Standard line of Sealed FNC Beitteries in X, H, M and L Models... 

Zirconia fiber cloths, such as those made by the relic process (see Chapter 8), are used as separators in aerospace nickel-hydrogen and nickel-cadmium batteries [9j. These fibers display a high resistance to many corrosive media, including hot potassium hydroxide. Zirconia fiber felts are also present in aerospace solid oxide fuel cells. 

Nickel/hydrogen batteries are closely related to the nickel/cadmium battery, since they employ the same positive electrode and the same electrolyte. They have been developed for aerospace applications and are still the number one energy storage system in many satellite projects 60. 

Of the conventional secondary systems, the nickel-iron and the vented pocket-type nickel-cadmium batteries are best with regard to cycle life and total lifetime. The nickel-hydrogen battery developed mainly for aerospace applications, has demonstrated very long cycle life under shallow depth of discharge. The lead-acid batteries do not match the performance of the best alkaline batteries. The pasted cells have the shortest life of the lead-acid cells the best cycle life is obtained with the tubular design, and the Plante design has the best lifetime. 

Developed in the 1960s, it makes use of different technologies for its electrodes NiO(OH) is from nickel cadmium and H2 from fuel-cell systems. Because of its longer cycle life the main use of the nickel-hydrogen battery is in aerospace applications to replace the nickel cadmium cells. For example, the Hubble Space Telescope launched in 1990 was equipped with nickel-hydrogen cells [12]. 

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