STUDY TO OBTAIN A SIMULANT FOR TESTING VX CONVERSION FILTERS

AGENT VX HAS A VERY LOW VAPOR PRESSURE AND IS QUITE REACTIVE. FOR THESE REASONS, IT HAS A TENDENCY TO ABSORB OR REACT IRREVERSIBLY ON MOST MATERIALS AND, THUS, THE QUANTITATIVE TRANSPORT OF VX THROUGH KEY COMPONENTS IN CW-AGENT DETECTORS IS DIFFICULT. FOR THIS REASON, IT IS COMMON TO DETECT VX AS ITS MORE VOLATILE "G-ANALOG" BY FIRST PASSING THE GAS STREAM ENTERING A DETECTOR THROUGH A SILVERFLOURIDE-IMPREGNATED FILTER. ALTHOUGH THIS FILTER IS SUITABLE IN MANY APPLICATIONS, IT IS QUITE UNSTABLE AND, THUS, THERE IS NEED FOR OTHER CONVERSION SUBSTRATES. VARIOUS REAGENT/MEMBRANE COMBINATIONS FOR USE AS A VX CONVERSION FILTER ARE COURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED UNDER THE MARINE CORPS CHEMICAL/BIOLOGICAL DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM THROUGH THE U.S. ARMY CHEMICAL RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING CENTER (CRDEC). THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK DESCRIBED IN OUR PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP A SAFE AND COST-EFFECT VX SIMULANT FOR USE IN EVALUATING THE STABILITY OF UX CONVERSION FILTERS.