Kennon Products, Inc. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF203-CSO1

Description

The Problem: Cooling suits are used for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) decontamination applications, as well as normal ground aircraft maintenance operations, firefighting, law enforcement, and even recreation in hot climates. Current suits use liquid ice water to either drip through or be pumped through a web-like full-body suit. These suits are heavy with very limited cooling duration.  The Solution: Kennon’s first innovation eliminates the cooling liquid, eliminating the need for a pump and battery. Our innovation is uniquely based on dry ice with substantially greater cooling capacity than ice/water, offering significantly longer work time in a lighter and smaller form factor.  Dry ice possesses nearly twice the cooling capacity of water ice for an equivalent weight.  Because dry ice evaporates out of the system as it cools, the system gets lighter as it is used, and never poses a moisture or leakage problems.  Dry ice is inert and possesses no personnel or environmental hazards. Our second, complementary innovation is smaller, thermally optimized, ultra-lightweight, form fitting cooling garments made with flexible composite laminates (FCLs).  FCLs are approximately 1/3rd the weight of conventional textiles, efficiently transfer heat, and can be seamed and welded into hermetically sealed, channelized flow constructions.  Such constructions will allow that the cooling fluid can be directed to where it is most effective. Objective:  Our principal Phase I Objective is to secure formal interest and an initial USAF customer, e.g. through a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).  We intend to demonstrate the benefits to USAF personnel by developing a roof-of-concept prototype.