Lithium-Sulfur-Dioxide Battery

One of the most common lithium primary battery chemistry is lithium sulfiir dioxide. It is lightweight and is used in a wide range of communications devices. The lithium sulfur dioxide battery provides power over a wide temperature range (-20 to +140° F) and has rather constant output until depleted. 

The basic chemical reactions for these lithium sulfur dioxide battery packs are shown below. (Samuel C. Levy while at the Sandia National Laboratories under a grant from the U. S. Department of Energy developed this analysis). 

Ratnakumar BV, Smart MC, Kindler A, Frank H (2003) Potentiostatic depassivation of lithium-sulfur dioxide batteries on mars exploration rovers. J Power Sources 119 906... 

Lithium primary batteries with liquid cathodes are a relatively mature technology. Incremental improvements in capacity and performance may occur through design modifications and the use of new materials such as improved carbons in the passive cathode. The U.S. Army is adopting Lithium/Manganese Dioxide replacements for some of the Lithium/Sulfur Dioxide Batteries listed in Table 1 in certain applications. These replacements provide higher capacity and energy at room temperature but not at lower temperature. See the chapter on Lithium Primary Cells Solid Cathodes in this work. 

Primary Batteries for Military Applications, Table 1 Lithium sulfur dioxide batteries in military applications ... 

Figure 18.23 Electric circuit of the lithium/sulfur dioxide battery pack BA 5598 equipped with various safety components. (From Reddy in Ref. 5.)...

TABLE 14.10 U.S. Millitary Lithium/Sulfur Dioxide Batteries (Per MIL-B-49430)... 

E. H. Reiss, Considerations in the Use and Handling of Lithium-Sulfur Dioxide Batteries, Proc. 29th Power Sources Conf, Electrochemical Society, Pennington, N.J., June 1980. 

U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Technical Bulletin Number 7, Revision A, Battery Compartment Design Guidelines for Equipment Using Lithium-Sulfur Dioxide Batteries, October 1997. 

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