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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.
UNCLASSIFIED1/FOR 8ffl@IAL tt91! e"t I Chapter 1: Concept Overview Ultracapacitors, also known as supercapacitors, hybrid capacitors, electrochemical capacitors, electrochemical double-layer capacitors, or ultracaps, are energy-storage platforms that offer energy storage capable of extremely rapid charge and discharge rates. Ultracapacitors also have the ability to be cycled hundreds of thousands of times. The phenomenal charge and discharge capabilities make them ideal for supporting volatile memory and computing applications, energy efficiency/capture processes, and high power applications. Ultracaps store their charge in the electrical double layer between the electrode and the electrolyte. Charge storage is a physical mechanism rather than a chemical phase change, so these are theoretically capable of cycling an infinite number of times. 2 One of the Figure 1. Ultracaps in Various Configurations.' disadvantages of ultracaps can be a high self-discharge rate. 3 The charge and discharge voltage output for an ultracap is a slop ing linear curve, which allows for straightforward and accurate state-of-charge monitoring.4 The real advantage of an ultracapacitor is the ability to deliver or accept bursts of power in a short time. Ultracaps were introduced in 1966 and found initial use 12 years later as backup power devices for volatile memory and clocks. Over the last 30 years, numerous advances have been made that have led to many uses of ultracaps, from transportation to portable electronics and more. Ultracaps are becom ing more affordable as activated carbon electrodes and manufacturing improvements have driven costs down. Several companies now make ultracapacitors to fill a broad spectrum of applications. Figure 1 shows a number of ultracaps with various capacities to fill a range of functions. Transportation, microelectronics, and aerospace markets are some of the many areas where ultracaps have become enablers. Advanced materials and improved cell designs will lead to improvements in both power density and energy density. The improved performance is expected to make ultracaps important components for efficient power leveling and high-power receiving and delivery. The unique signature of ultracapacitors must be understood for aerospace and military applications. As an electrochemical capacitor, ultracapacitors store energy within the electric double layer formed at the interface between the electrode and electrolyte. In a conventional capacitor, the energy is stored by moving charge carriers from one plate to another, and the charge separation creates a potential. Voltage differentials in a conventional capacitor are dependent upon the dielectric material separating the plates. In the ultracap, the electrical double layer is the separation of charge in a vanish ingly thin gap between two plates. Figure 2 depicts the components and basic design of the ultracap, UNCLASSIFIEO/fFOA OFFI&I:.l.b YS& ONLY 1
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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.