Tri-Service Dem/Val of the Pulsed Optical Energy Decoating (FLASHJET) Process for Military Applications - Rotary Wing Evaluation. Cost and Performance Report
Abstract
A major waste stream associated with Department of Defense (DoD) industrial maintenance facilities is toxic chemical and media blast materials associated with coating removal operations. These conventional coating removal operations have additional safety and health concerns for workers. In October 1997, the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) awarded the U.S. Army Environmental Center funding for a project to demonstrate and validate the Flash Tech, Inc. FLASHJET(registered tradename) Coatings Removal Process on military equipment, specifically on rotary wing and ground/fighting vehicle applications. The process combines the xenon-flashlamp and carbon dioxide (dry ice) pellet blasting technologies into an environmentally acceptable coatings removal process. In this rotary wing part of the demonstration/validation, the process was evaluated on CH-53 off-aircraft components and one fleet SH-60 Seahawk. The main objective of this demonstration/validation was to determine if the process could effectively remove a significant amount of the external surface area topcoat on all aviation demonstration equipment, specifically to remove greater than 80% of the external coated surface area. Economic analyses were conducted to determine which coating removal process is more cost effective for an installation with a large rotary wing aircraft workload.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA640445
Entities
People
- Dean Hutchin
- Peter Stemniski