Electrothermal Desorption of CWA Simulants From Activated Carbon Cloth

The use of activated carbon fabrics (ACEs) that are desorbed electrothermally, also known as the Joule effect, is explored as a potential method to create a regenerating chemical warfare agent (CWA) filter. Electrical resistance vs. temperature measurements are presented for Kynol-based ACE and compared with results for ACEs produced from other substrates. Adsorption and desorption results for dimethylmethylphosphonate (DMMP) demonstrate that organophosphate compounds can be effectively desorbed from ACE. Chloroethane and propane are used to simulate the behavior of low-molecular-weight CWAs. Results for these more weakly adsorbed simulants indicate that a system that could indefinitely reject HCN without impregnates may be feasible. Planned efforts to advance this technology by both experimentation and modeling are discussed. See also ADM001849, 2004 Scientific Conference on Chemical and Biological Defense Research. Held in Hunt Valley, Maryland on 15-17 November 2004 . , The original document contains color images.