REACTIVE INNOVATIONS, LLC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: The military desires an improved trap to capture and hold arthropods that may carry diseas

Description

The military desires an improved trap to capture and hold arthropods that may carry disease causing pathogens. A continuous source of carbon dioxide is needed over an 8 hour period to attract flea and tick species that are subsequently trapped and held alive for five days. Ideally, the arthropod trap will be smaller than a 2"diameter by 4.5"cylindrical shape to fit into burrows while also weighing less than 3 lbs. Existing arthropod traps are either excessively bulky and heavy limiting their portability, or extremely simplistic limiting their effectiveness. Additionally, the CO2 source is often based on using dry ice or a propane burner adding significant logistical challenges in military service areas. To address these problems, Reactive Innovations has shown a method that produces carbon dioxide where the replaceable consumables are only water and a battery. With this approach, we can integrate this compact CO2 generator into an arthropod trap that produces a CO2 rich stream that permeates from the trap over 8 hours followed by a trickle flow of CO2 over 5 days to hold and maintain the trapped arthropods.