TDA RESEARCH, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF192-058

Description

Malfunctions and accidental triggering of fire-suppression systems in aircraft hangars are surprisingly frequent, with incidences at Air Force bases and civilian airports and hangars. In 2014, an accidental Hi-Ex foam release killed and injured contractors on Eglin AFB. To protect personnel, there is need for a technology that rapidly collapses the foam without damaging military assets or poisoning personnel, but which is also environmentally benign and easy to clean up. TDA will leverage its twenty year of experience formulating firefighting foams to do the reverse, develop a defoamer solution that can be applied using the delivery systems that are already in place to rapidly collapse the Hi-Ex foam used in aircraft hangars. In this Phase I Project, TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) proposes to optimize and scale-up production of an aqueous defoamer concentrate that can be used as a rapid antifoaming agent after the release of large volumes of Hi-Ex foam. Our defoamer formulation will be made from non-toxic organic and synthetic commercial surfactants and novel surfactants. At the end of the project, a sample of the concentrate will be provided to the Air Force for evaluation.