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Many non-renewable land-based resources are becoming depleted and the search for alternative sources of raw materials is intensifying. This situation has lead to the involvement of a number of countries, especially those of the European Community, in heavily funded ‘Wealth from the Oceans’ projects. A significant element of the research being conducted under the auspices of these projects is concerned with the development of small unmanned and untethered autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). To carry out their intended autonomous missions these vehicles will need reliable power systems which have high energy densities. However, although research into navigation, control and command systems has progressed considerably under this development effort, only limited headway has been made in the development of power systems which could be readily integrated into these vessels.

The advent of the underwater nuclear power system in the late 1950s lead to a general abatement of interest in developing other types of power generation equipment. However, in recent years, the increasing expense of such systems and the needs of an expanding offshore industry have resulted in a renewed interest in alternative power systems. Consequently, there are currently a number of naval and civil projects aimed at increasing the underwater endurance of non-nuclear powered manned and unmanned submersibles beyond that capable from existing battery powered vessels. This paper describes the results of a NATO funded project to investigate an advanced heat engine for autonomous under vehicle applications and to develop underwater power system selection aids.

Long range, extended endurance, variable speed autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) appear to be an attractive solution to problems of environmental monitoring, geophysical exploration and military surveillance. To undertake their intended autonomous missions these vehicles require reliable and cost-effective power systems. Although there is presently an extensive interest in untethered AUVs, with far reaching efforts being made in a variety of activities, only limited headway has been made in the development of power systems which could be readily integrated into these vessels. The majority of current research is focusing on increasing the underwater endurance and hence cost effectiveness of the vehicle by developing compact, lightweight high energy density power systems for vessel propulsion. Subsequently, a number of different power systems have been investigated proposed, designed and developed.