High Power Discharge Testing of Small Batteries to Power An Ultra-Compact Current Seed Source

The need for inexpensive, disposable, single use, ultra- compact, pulsed power devices has increased dramatically over the past few years. This is driving the development of extremely small pulsed power devices constructed from off-the-shelf components. However, the majority of readily available electronic components are designed and characterized only for long life use such as batteries. HEM Technologies has recently evaluated several candidate batteries for an ultra-compact pulsed power application. The need was to develop a current seed source in a form factor of 150 cm³ for a compact magnetic flux compression generator (MFCG). Recent research has evaluated some batteries down to sizes N and AA. However, for the designed seed source, smaller batteries were required. Candidate batteries included sizes CR2, 23A, down to CR3032. To evaluate the batteries, they were discharged into a resistive load of 1 kOmega down to 10 mOmega. The resulting V-I and power density results are presented.