TEXAS RESEARCH INSTITUTE , AUSTIN, INC. — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: AF151-023

Description

ABSTRACT:Texas Research Institute Austin Inc., with teaming partner Honeywell Analytic, proposes to develop and qualify a sensor system to track composition and contaminants in pilot breathing air in near real-time. TRI/Austin will utilize its years of experience in design, utilization and fabrication of custom sensors and electronic circuitry to cost efficiently design an optimal system with minimized foot print and weight that fits within the constraints of high performance aircraft subject to varying pressure, temperature and humidity. Sensors and a functional prototype will be rigorously tested in our facilities for specificity, accuracy, precision, detection threshold, response-time, drift, robustness, reliability, cost, size and weight. The analytical laboratory of TRI Air Testing has almost 40 years of experience specializing in breathing air composition and detection and quantification of contaminants in compressed breathing air. Honeywell Analytic is a recognized industry leader in the development of sensors and breathing air monitoring systems and is currently developing sensor suites for commercial aviation. Phase II will focus on implementation of the sensor suite and electronics, with extensible library of detectable compounds, necessary for real-time tracking of air quality and organic and inorganic contaminants down to PPB ranges simultaneously in a form factor compatible with in-flight testing.BENEFIT:Development of an orthogonal sensor suite for use in flight will enable continuous assessment of pilot air quality and an early warning system for contaminant incursions. TRI/Austins engineering team also sees this as an opportunity to providing a technical platform for further development of hand-held and fixed site air-quality monitors in indoor or outdoor environments from urban to rural settings. A sizable population of environmentally sensitized, severely allergic, and asthmatic individuals is present that need to cost effectively monitor their residential air quality and receive an alarm when conditions warrant. This, together with an aging population plagued by pulmonary disabilities such as COPD, supports a large accessible market for these air quality sensor suites. Similar systems could be readily utilized in hospitals, clinics, office buildings and industrial complexes, as well as on portable point-of-use oxygen generators. Extant technology is limited to monitoring individual, or otherwise too few, potentially hazardous contaminants. Thus, high unmet needs persist in a spectrum of accessible settings requiring sensor suites to monitor composition and alarm for contaminants in breathing air.