Drawing from Anonymous' statements in the Comments section under this article, is:
Lithium Titanate Batteries, short name "LTO" LIBs (formula Li4Ti5O12) (see on Table below) are an alternative to the NCA First Generation LIBs technology fitted in the Oryu (27SS) Soryu submarine.
Compared to NCALIBs, commercial use LTO LIBs have (Scrolling one-quarter way down the Battery Universitywebsite):
- Lower specific energy
- Higher Lifespan (in usage Cycles)
- Higher Cost. But the more years between battery “exchanges” (ie. between replacement of all a
submarine’s LIBs) the lower the cost of the LIBs. and
- Higher Safety (for commercialbatteries, but submarine grade LTO safety is unknown).
See Anonymous mathematical description (below) of LTO issues:
The unit price of an LTO LIB (with an Energy Density of 80-100kW/kg) is 40-50% of NCA [1] , price of LTO module is expected 40-50% of NCA and 200-250% of LAB. Total cost (T) of batteries (480 module, operation period submarine) is as follows.
The unit price of an LTO LIB (with an Energy Density of 80-100kW/kg) is 40-50% of NCA [1] , price of LTO module is expected 40-50% of NCA and 200-250% of LAB. Total cost (T) of batteries (480 module, operation period submarine) is as follows.
LAB (unit price US$26,700; battery exchange cycle 3years = 8 times exchange) [2]
T=26700 x 480 x (1+8) = US$115 million
LTO (unit price US$26,700 x 2.5; battery exchange 10 years = 2 times or 0) [3]
T=26700 x 2.5 x 480 x (1+2) = US$96 million or US$32 million
LTO (unit price US$26,700 x 4.5; battery exchange cycle 6 years= 4 times exchange) [4]
T=26700 x 4.5 x 480 x (1+4) = US$288 million.
Though LTO is relatively low power as LIB, whose excellent stability prove significant cost reduction cheaper than LAB. LTO is suitable for countries who have high, well funded, maintenance budget. A low maintenance budget can cause serious result such as the tragedy of Argentina’s ARA San Juan and the unavailability of all 6 submarines in Germany's fleet.
[1]“Battery Strategy” Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan, July/2012, page 11
[2] Comment by MoD in Administration Review: “LABs are exchanged every 3 years”
[3] Toshiba Home Page: Cycle life of LTO is 20,000 and 10 years
[4] Battery Universitycivilian use analogy
Lithium-Sulfur (or Sulphur) Batteries LSBs are a possible future LIB for submarine technology that may take 20 more years to mature for submarine use. For development of LSBs to maturity, they need extensive testing then placing on the civilian market to establishment a reliability and safety record. LSBs for submarine would need to be produced (by GS Yuasa?) efficiently with adequate return of investment and profit.
TABLE OF LIBS BY GENERATION (provided by Anonymous)
Name | Composition or abbreviation | Energy density [kW/kg] (theoretical) | Note | |
First Generation LIBs | Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminium Oxide | LiNiCoAlO2 or NCA | 260 | for Soryus 27SS & 28SS. NCAs built by Japan's GS Yuasa |
Lithium Cobalt Oxide | LiCoO2 or LCO | 200 (1014) | Shinkai 6500 | |
Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide | LiNiMnCoO2 or NMC | 200 | ||
Lithium Manganese Oxide | LiMn2O4 or LMO | 140 (410) | Proto-type by JMSDF | |
Lithium Iron Phosphate | LiFePO4 or LFP | 120 (575) | LFYP (China) is family of LFP | |
Lithium titanate | Li4Ti5O12 or LTO | 80 | CEP- Japan | |
LABs | LAB | 40 | ||
LSBs | Lithium-sulfur | Li2S3 | theoretically about (2500) | |
Second Generation LIBs | Lithium Ion Silicate | Li2FeSiO4 | (1584) | High Safety, low cycle performance |
Lithium Manganese Silicate | Li2MnSiO4 | (1485) | High Safety, low cycle performance |
Anonymous and Pete