Thermally activated (thermal) battery technology - Part I: An overview

Thermally activated (thermal) batteries are primary batteries that use molten salts as electrolytes and employ an internal pyrotechnic (heat) source to bring the battery stack to operating temperatures. They are primarily used for military applications, such as missiles and ordnance, and in nuclear weapons. This paper discusses the development history and presents a general overview of this technology. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.