Courtesy Photo | A small RLI cartridge in the slot being tested in the Sampling Cartridge Analysis...... read more read more
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A new Residual Life Indicator (RLI) and Sampling Cartridge Analysis System (SCAS), currently in development, will enable the Department of Defense (DoD) to less expensively maintain collective protection (ColPro) systems in buildings and ships. These ColPro systems use large, expensive filters that operate 24/7 to provide uncontaminated air in the event of a chemical warfare agent attack. Filters must be changed on a regular maintenance schedule to ensure that their protective capacity is not depleted. The current method for testing remaining filter capacity includes disassembling and testing the filters in a laboratory, which destroys them. The RLI and SCAS will allow DoD to monitor ColPro filters life in real time and change them only when filter capacity is depleted, without destroying expensive filters for testing.
Over time, pollution and humidity reduce filter protective capacity, even in the absence of chemical warfare agents. These ColPro filters must be replaced on a regular maintenance schedule that includes a costly verification of system integrity. Replacing filters on a regular schedule minimizes the risk to the Joint Force but results in higher life-cycle costs for ColPro systems. Ideally, filters should only be replaced when their protective capacity is depleted. A nondestructive, onsite testing method would enable an operator to measure the remaining service life of usable filters and replace them only when needed, which would minimize life-cycle expenses.
To develop a nondestructive, onsite testing method for fixed-site and shipboard ColPro filters, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Chemical and Biological Technologies Department in its role as the Joint Science and Technology Office (JSTO) for Chemical and Biological Defense, an integral component of the Chemical and Biological Defense Program, is collaborating with the Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical and Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) to develop RLI-SCAS. DEVCOM CBC began to develop the RLI-SCAS in 2016 as a two-part system.
The first RLI part consists of a small filter indicator cartridge housed in a manifold and installed in line with the fixed-site or shipboard ColPro system. The indicator cartridge is a miniature filter containing the same type of materials as the fixed-site or shipboard ColPro filter. RLIs are housed in a manifold called a cartridge sampling system that holds up to a dozen cartridges. As the fixed-site or shipboard ColPro system draws external air, the same air is drawn into the RLI cartridge sampling system. At scheduled maintenance intervals, individual RLI cartridges are pulled from the system and tested for remaining capacity. Because the cartridges are exposed to the same environment as the fixed-site or shipboard ColPro system, RLI cartridge capacity reflects remaining filter capacity. Between 2016 and 2020, DEVCOM CBC performed multiple fixed-site and shipboard technology demonstrations to ensure that RLI cartridges accurately predict the remaining ColPro system filter life.
The second part of the system is the SCAS. SCAS is a portable instrument the size of several suitcases. It enables onsite, nondestructive analysis of remaining RLI cartridge capacity. A technician with the SCAS could visit the fixed site or ship at designated maintenance intervals and test RLI cartridges only. If testing indicated that RLI cartridge capacity remained above specified values, the filters would not be changed. However, if testing indicated that RLI cartridge capacity was depleted, the filters would be replaced. In this manner, the two-part RLI-SCAS enables customized replacement schedules of expensive filters without increasing risk to the Joint Force and reduces ColPro system life-cycle costs.
From 2018 to 2023, DEVCOM CBC demonstrated the RLI-SCAS in multiple DoD buildings and ships worldwide and collected real-world data for system performance. The data from shipboard demonstrations allowed the researchers to optimize the technology to ensure that RLIs accurately predicted ColPro filter capacity in all operationally relevant environments. Data from fixed-site demonstrations showed that RLI cartridges accurately reflected large ColPro filter residual capacity over 39 months with 95% confidence. Ongoing demonstrations at fixed sites will be completed in early FY24 and the RLI-SCAS technology will transition to the Modernization Collective Protection program of record near the beginning of FY25.
In the future, all DoD fixed-site buildings and ships with ColPro systems may use an RLI cartridge sampling system to monitor remaining filter capacity and optimize maintenance and change-out schedules based on environment. Technicians with SCAS may routinely visit these sites and ships, test the RLIs, and change the filter only when necessary. This will reduce the time and life-cycle costs maintaining ColPro systems without impacting the risk to the Joint Force.
POC: William Buechter, Ph.D., william.f.buechter.civ@mail.mil
| Date Taken: | 01.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 01.07.2024 00:00 |
| Story ID: | 461415 |
| Location: | FT. BELVOIR, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 106 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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