DETERIORATION SENSORS OF HAZARDOUS MATERIAL CONTAINERS

Two systems are proposed for investigation of potential to solve the problem of premature disposal of hazardous material. The systems employ acoustic technology. One is based on Ultrasonic Pulse-Echo effect (UPE), the other is an Acoustic Resonance Spectroscopy. These systems have been used to externally interrogate chemical warfare materiel and were able to discriminate between chemical agents as well as other chemicals,l in configurations ranging from munitions to bulk containers. In limited testing, the ability to discriminate between high-purity and low-purity chemicals was demonstrated. It appears that there is excellent potential to use acoustic technology to non-destructively interrogate the contents of sealed hazardous material containers, and using the characteristic signature obtained, evaluate the purityk of the contents. This information could be used to extend the shelf-life of the material. Although this method differs from that implied in the Navy submission (i.e., a purity sensor inside the container that can be queried from outside the container) this technology offers the advantage of a single system which works from outside the container, requires no internal components, has potential application to many chemicals, uses off-th-shelf components, ands can be quickly and inexpensively evaluated.