ARMY AL&T
CARBON COPY
How DEVCOM is qualifying additional sources to supply military-grade carbon for use in gas masks and large-scale protective filters.
by Brian B. Feeney, Ph.D. T
he protective air filter on a gas mask, or a protective filter on a vehicle or building, can be all that stands between the warf- ighter and a deadly chemical agent that
an enemy force might use in battle. Tat means that the filter’s carbon—the active mechanism in capturing the chemical agent—must meet the DOD’s exacting specifications and be available in the quantities that the force needs.
For 30 years, the DOD relied on just one supplier, Calgon Carbon Corporation, in Pittsburg, Pennsyl- vania, with just one carbon production line for this critical life-protecting material. Tat represented a seri- ous supply chain vulnerability. Now, the DOD is on its way to having double the supply and a second supplier, Molecular Products, Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Colorado. Tat second supplier was achieved through innovative acquisition and teamwork.
Te Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) joined forces with the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) and several other defense agencies to create a new and better standard for military-grade carbon.
A LONG ROAD In 1992, DOD replaced the chromium-contain- ing carbon it had used for 50 years with a safer but harder-to-obtain carbon for protective masks and filters. It was very effective for removing cyanide but was found to be a carcinogen. Tat effectiveness could be retained with a safer but harder-to-obtain carbon, known as ASZM-TEDA, which is an initialism for the ingredients embedded in it as part of the suppli- er’s manufacturing process.
Tese metals are less toxic and safer for the user than chromium. Center scientists worked with Calgon to develop the new formulation. Te problem was that only Calgon had the ability to mine the material and to treat it with this mix of metals.
But first, to fully understand the challenge of obtain- ing a second supplier of military-grade carbon, an explanation of raw carbon, and the processing it must undergo to get to military-grade, is needed.
RAW TO READY Carbon is such a complex subject that it has its own branch of study: organic chemistry. While only 0.025 percent of the Earth’s crust contains carbon, it is inte- gral to all plant and animal life on the planet, and in its
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