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This Defense Intelligence Reference Document was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office and dated 1 November 2010. It is one of a series of advanced technology reports produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapons System Applications Program. The report reviews how ultracapacitors work, how they compare with batteries, their history and materials, and their commercial, military and aerospace uses. It concludes that new materials and cell designs will raise energy density and that the U.S. government must understand the devices' spectral signatures.
From the source:Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 11/1/10, Las Vegas, Nevada. Released with redactions. This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD surveys ultracapacitors as high-power energy-storage devices and argues that their main value lies in extremely rapid charge and discharge, very long cycle life, and usefulness in systems that need short bursts of power rather than sustained energy delivery. The report explains how ultracapacitors differ from batteries, reviews the materials and cell designs that determine their performance, and emphasizes that they are especially useful for power stabilization, backup power, load leveling, regenerative braking, and other applications where fast energy transfer matters more than total stored energy. It also notes their drawbacks, including lower energy density, self-discharge, and voltage-management requirements that limit their usefulness as stand-alone replacements for batteries in many applications. The document presents ultracapacitors as a maturing and increasingly important technology whose most credible aerospace and military uses lie in pulsed-power, missile and munitions systems, electric propulsion support, and other hybrid power architectures rather than in long-duration primary energy storage.
“The Advance”13 pages
UNCLASSIFIED1fFOR 8ffl@IAL tt.!! e"t I In the 2020-2030 timeframe, ultracapacitor cell designs will be different. Simple plate designs, coin cells, and laminated pouches will still be used for some applications. However, advanced designs and form-factors will be used to fit specialized applications. Ultracapacitors will be designed for incorporation into chip architectures. Several options will exist for micro- and nano-electronics. Electrolyte options will most likely be different from those used today. New electrolyte solvents and better salts will be discovered that produce higher voltage cells while maintaining good ionic conductivity. Ionic liquids and complex solvents that withstand higher voltages are likely candidates. Three dimensional architectures may begin to be introduced, which will greatly improve both energy density and power density. Manufacturing techniques will enable small- and medium-format three-dimensional electrodes, where the electrical double layer is stored perpendicular to the current collector. The manufacture and assembly of large format ultracapacitors with extremely high power capabilities will be enabled by three dimensional architectures of nano-engineered carbons and current collectors. Beyond 2030 it is difficult to project the future developments of ultracapacitors since materials science is experiencing a nanomaterials revolution. It can be expected, however, that nearly all microelectronic circuitry will incorporate thin-film ultracaps or MCaps, and laptop computers will become the size of an iPhone with mostly voice activated functions. As depicted in Figure 16, advancements will occur on a much faster timescale than what has happened over the last 50 years. In the energy storage area, particularly for PHEV and EV batteries, the major impact for ultracapacitors may allow not only reduced mass and size but also order-of-magnitude reduction in costs. 010 2020 2030 2050 ■ •ULTRACAPS ► Figure 16. Evolution of Ultracapacitors UNCLASSIFIEO/fFOA QFFI€il.t.le YSE O,.LY 26
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Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 34 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.