Lithium/sulfur dioxide batteries sizes

Lithium manganese dioxide batteries have become very prominent in recent years for military applications which are now widespread. Like sulfur dioxide batteries these are usually foimd in multicell packs often with dual voltage and cell sizes. The voltage of the system is similar to sulfur dioxide, so no major device changes are required. Typical batteries with their applications are given in Table 2 [1]. 

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, CA) has evaluated several types of lithium primary batteries to determine their ability to operate planetary probes at temperatures of -80°C and below. Individual cells were evaluated by discharge tests and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy. Of the five types considered (Li/SOCl2, Li/S02, Li/Mn02, Li-BCX and Li-CFn), lithium-thionyl chloride and lithium-sulfur dioxide were found to provide the best performance at -SOT. Lowering the electrolyte salt to ca. 0.5 molar was found to improve performance with these systems at very low temperatures. In the case of D-size Li/ SOCI2 batteries, lowering the LiAlCl4 concentration from 1.5 to 0.5 molar led to a 60% increase in capacity on a baseline load of 118 ohms with periodic one-minute pulses at 5.1 ohms at -85 C. 

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