In high-security Department of Energy and Department of Defense facilities, cold-chemical smoke generators are used to produce visual obscurants in order to delay unauthorized intruders. The technology is based on the rapid rejection of two chemicals, contained within the device, into the surrounding air where they combine to form a fine particulate, opaque cloud (smoke). While this device provides good visual obscuration, the stored chemicals are toxic and potentially harmful to humans, the unit is expensive to manufacture, and it can be "activated" only once. In addition, recent evidence indicates the existence of long-term performance degradation due to stored chemical migration into the intricately machined dispensing manifold. Phase I of this project will identify an alternative non-toxic, non-lethal technology, which meets existing obscuration performance and eliminates the disadvantages noted. Phase II will specify a simple prototype design and verification test plan, build and test the production prototype, and finalize the design and prepare a manufacturing package.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:A visual obscurant device, which is not harmful to humans nor expensive to manufacture, should be deployed extensively in Federally owned, high security facilities. Given its modest cost and benign contents, the device should also be widely accepted by industry. The device would significantly complicate criminal penetration of protected assets without the potential for "wrongful" harm lawsuits.
