15: Development of a Long Range Underwater Vehicle

Our initial primary goal was to examine energy sources for improving small-glider performance. The energy source is a critical design choice for any autonomous vehicle. Today’s gliders usually use selfcontained lithium primary batteries. Based on reaction energy and reactant mass, oxidation of lithium is a particularly high energy density option. Each gram of lithium supplies 3.8 A-hr of current at a voltage that, depending on the lithium oxidation reaction, ranges from 2.6 to 3.5 V. The no-load potentials, E, of the lithium-oxygen and lithium-water couples most likely to occur in seawater are