Ultracapacitor modules for military applications

Tecate has announced the quick-turnaround availability of custom ultracapacitor modules engineered to accelerate the development of military ground-mobile, sea, and airborne products and systems.

The company's customisation capabilities, including the use of Solidworks 3D mechanical CAD (MCAD) software, allow system designers flexibility and responsiveness as well as application engineering support.

Offered to provide cost-effective energy storage and robust power delivery solutions, especially in low temperatures, modules employ either Tecate's Powerburst or Maxwell Technologies' Boostcap ultracapacitor cells.

The 2.7V, high-power density UL 810A recognised, RoHS-compliant cells feature capacitance values ranging from 0.5F to 3,000F and low equivalent series resistance (ESR) to promote optimal performance in mission-critical military applications.

Modules further offer passive or active cell balancing topology to ensure efficient balancing between cells and to minimise any additional current leakage.

Internal cell balancing facilitates 'plug-and-play' capabilities along with module-to-module balancing for systems with higher voltage requirements.

Modules withstand more than one million cycles.

Tecate's quick-turn custom modules exhibit performance characteristics that make them ideally suited for powering, backing up, or bridging power in such military and aerospace applications as tactical vehicles or electromagnetic armour and weapons.

They are frequently designed for use in backup power for electronics in military vehicles, fire control systems in tanks and armoured vehicles, airbag deployment and black box on helicopters, and backup power/memory hold-up for emergency handheld radios.

Modules are appropriate in peak-power applications to facilitate reliable communication transmission on land-based vehicles, active suspension for vehicle stabilisation, GPS guided missiles and projectile systems, cold engine start, and bus voltage hold-up during peak currents.

In sea applications, modules are used for high-power discharge in naval warfare (unmanned boats), all electric aircraft launch on aircraft carriers, power source for magnetic drivers that power munitions elevators on aircraft carriers, and to bridge power when switching over from ground to onboard aircraft subsystems for data retention.

They are also commonly employed in pulsed laser radar systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

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