Center for Space Power, Texas A and M University
Abstract
Johnson Controls is a 106 year old company employing 42,000 people worldwide with $4.7 billion annual sales. Though we are new to the aerospace industry we are a world leader in automobile battery manufacturing, automotive seating, plastic bottling, and facilities environment controls. The battery division produces over 24,000,000 batteries annually under private label for the new car manufacturers and the replacement market. We are entering the aerospace market with the nickel hydrogen battery with the help of NASA's Center for Space Power at Texas A&M. Unlike traditional nickel hydrogen battery manufacturers, we are reaching beyond the space applications to the higher volume markets of aircraft starting and utility load leveling. Though space applications alone will not provide sufficient volume to support the economies of scale and opportunities for statistical process control, these additional terrestrial applications will. For example, nickel hydrogen batteries do not have the environmental problems of nickel cadmium or lead acid and may someday start your car or power your electric vehicle. However you envision the future, keep in mind that no manufacturer moves into a large volume market without fine tuning their process. The Center for Space Power at Texas A&M is providing indepth technical analysis of all of the materials and fabricated parts of our battery as well as thermal and mechanical design computer modeling. Several examples of what we are doing with nickel hydrogen chemistry to lead to these production efficiencies are presented.
- Publication:
-
In NASA
- Pub Date:
- 1991
- Bibcode:
- 1991iisc.symp.....J
- Keywords:
-
- Aerospace Industry;
- Automobiles;
- Manufacturing;
- Nasa Programs;
- Nickel Hydrogen Batteries;
- Spacecraft Power Supplies;
- Technology Utilization;
- Cost Reduction;
- Electric Automobiles;
- Market Research;
- Weight Reduction;
- Electronics and Electrical Engineering