Abstract
The battery energy density remains a key parameter accounting for the satellite mass budget. As illustration to this, the rechargeable battery still represents 100 to 200 of kilograms for a typical Eurostar 3000 satellite, which can represent up to 5% of the total mass, and about 100 kilograms for the next meteorological satellite program MetOp-SG. Any reduction in weight in these applications has therefore significant financial benefits, considering that the launch cost for such a satellite can be around 10k€/kg.Lithium-ion technology represented a revolution in terms of specific energy compared to Ni-Cd and is currently the most used and well suited for spacecraft. But it has also many drawbacks like price, some safety issues and its toxicity. Lithium-Sulfur (Li-S) cells are likely to become the next generation of energy storage to replace them.One of the reasons is that sulfur is an abundant element so it’s more affordable than cobalt used in Li-Ion cells. On top of that, Li-S cells are safer and more environmentally friendly. But the main advantage of this technology is the high energy density: around 5 times higher than Li-Ion cells.The major obstacle for application is due to dissolved polysulfide shuttling between anode and cathode. This phenomeno leads to permanent loss of active mass from the cathode into the electrolyte and onto the Li metal anode (passivating the Li anode with insoluble Li 2 S), severe self-discharge, low efficiency and fast capacity decay.Airbus DS has been testing and characterizing prototype Li-S cells manufactured by OXIS Energy Ltd. since 2014, demonstrating the potential and fast evolution of the cells performance. This paper presents the last test results on a set of different batches provided by OXIS and performed at Airbus DS premises in the frame of an ESA Innovation Triangle Initiative (ITI).
Highlights
This paper will first present a brief state of the art on Lithium-Sulfur technology, followed by the description of OXIS’ cells tested during this study
A hysteresis method is selected for charge management, so the voltage of the cell is always higher than end of charge voltage (EOCV) – 100mV
It is demonstrated by testing that Li-S is a technology with a specific energy superior to that of Li-Ion, i.e 306 Wh/kg delivered by a POA0217 Ultra-light cell at Airbus DS premises
Summary
This paper will first present a brief state of the art on Lithium-Sulfur technology, followed by the description of OXIS’ cells tested during this study. 2. STATE OF THE ART A Lithium-Sulfur Battery (LSB) is a secondary battery composed of lithium metal anode and sulfur-based cathode. The Li-S battery works on the basis of redox reactions between lithium metal anode and sulfur cathode. Lithium-sulfur secondary battery technology is currently the only rechargeable battery technology that can reach 400 Wh/kg energy density and 1350 cycles [RD1]. 2.1 Cathode materials Elemental sulfur is an attractive choice as a cathode material for high-specific-energy rechargeable lithium cells because of its high theoretical specific capacity and the fact that it is very low cost and non-toxic. The conductivity of MCMB (MesoCarbon MicroBeads) is around 103 S/cm
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