High Pressure Composite Air Flasks for SCUBA Systems

Current air flasks utilized by the Navy for SCUBA diving weigh about 40 lbs and are rated for 3,000 psi internal pressure, providing 30 minutes to an hour of air supply from a single tank. The Navy desires to increase mission capability for free-swimming divers, but air supply remains the most significant impediment to this goal. Development of smaller air flasks and a regulator system that could accommodate up to 10,000 psi of internal air pressure is sought. However, flasks manufactured using similar materials to those currently in service would be far too heavy and bulky if fabricated to meet this pressure. Lighter weight materials are required. Luna Innovations Incorporated will team with a leading commercial producer of DOT approved composite air flasks to design a flask and regulator system to meet the Navy"s desired criteria. The manufacturer"s extensive experience in the design and manufacture of flasks for DoD, including underwater applications, will be leveraged with Luna"s novel optical fiber strain sensing technology to streamline design. Weight savings will be optimized by intimately calibrating measured material response to design models. Furthermore, this non-intrusive sensing system will enable a means of health monitoring, reducing operational risk and maintenance costs.