54 



THE NAVY OCEAN ENGINEERING PROGRAM 



_ 1000 

 a: 



X 



I 



X 



o 



UJ 



o 



UJ 



UJ 



h- 



>- 



CO 



< 



_J 



CL 

 OC 

 UJ 



o 



BATTERIES 

 •~ OR ~ 



CHEMICAL DYNAMIC 



100 



10 - 



10 100 



MISSION TIME OR FUEL ENDURANCE (HR) 



1000 



Preliminary tradeoff analyses indicate that batteries and fuel cells merit the most 

 consideration for appUcation to relatively small deep-ocean submersibles that wiU be 

 operational within the next decade. The other candidate systems, particularly 

 nuclear powerplants, will require more development effort and wiU probably be con- 

 sidered for larger deep-ocean vehicles and bottom installations. Battery data are for 

 the one-hour discharge rate. 



The rechargeable wet-cell battery is the only energy source in use on 

 present small deep diving submersibles. Based on energy density and the 

 state of the art, four couples merit consideration as power sources: nickel- 

 cadmium, lead-acid, silver-cadmium, and silver-zinc. Energy density varies 

 from approximately 15 watt-hours per pound for lead-acid to approxi- 

 mately 35 watt-hours per pound for silver-zinc. Navy-sponsored studies 

 being conducted on silver-zinc cells show promise of higher energy-density 

 figures. 



In selecting a power supply for the DSRV, capacity attainable within 

 restrictive size and weight hmitations were important design considera- 

 tions. The silver-zinc battery was selected because it will produce more 

 energy per pound than other available batteries. 



