Physical Optics Corporation — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: To address the Chemical and Biological Defense (CBD) need for a residual life indicator (R

Description

To address the Chemical and Biological Defense (CBD) need for a residual life indicator (RLI) capable of determining the degradation in physical adsorption and reactive capacity arising from battlefield contaminants and exposure to the elements, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to continue the development of a new Miniature Residual Life Indicator (MRLIN). MRLIN is based on impedance spectroscopy measurements performed directly on the filtering system"s adsorptive material. MRLIN"s original impedance spectroscopy probe design and innovative algorithm for performing impedance spectroscopy enables MRLIN to directly probe the contamination of the active carbon material, with increased accuracy, without the undue complications of readout electronics. This development, as a result, offers a novel system for assessing the residual life of sorbent-based air purification systems that are integrable into collective protection (ColPro) systems. In Phase I, POC demonstrated the feasibility of MRLIN approach by developing and testing a proof-of-concept prototype capable of evaluating the exposure of carbon to reactive gases and heavy hydrocarbons. In Phase II, we plan to collect a comprehensive library of impedance spectra for common battlefield contaminants and develop a preproduction prototype that will be ready for integration with existing ColPro filtering systems.