Defense Articles

Two individuals and three teams have received awards from the Defense Standardization Program Office (DSPO) for outstanding contributions to the Department of Defense last fiscal year. The awards were presented on May 23, during a ceremony in Arlington, Va.

Since 1987, DSPO has recognized individuals and organizations that have effected significant improvements in quality, reliability, readiness, cost reduction, and interoperability through standardization. The mission is to identify, influence, develop, manage, and provide access to standardization processes, products, and services for warfighters and the acquisition and logistics communities. In addition, the program promotes interoperability and assists in reducing total ownership costs and in sustaining readiness.

Following are the Defense Standardization Program recipients for 2005:

Individuals

* Dr. Jose-Luis Sagripanti, U.S. Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center laboratory, developed a quantitative three-step method for determining the sporicidal efficacy of liquids, liquid sprays, and vapor or gases on contaminated carrier surfaces. This method addresses the long-standing need for a proven test method to assess products and procedures used for decontamination and disinfection (DECON) and provides a standardized and validated test to ensure that the military services select DECON products and practices, affording adequate protection to their personnel.

* Andreas Pappas, Defense Information Systems Agency, led an effort on UHF SATCOM waveform standards and technology insertion to mitigate the tactical satellite shortfall. Efforts were initiated to provide systems enhancements that will more than double the present UHF SATCOM systems capacity. Implementing integrated wavelength standards into deployed software-programmable radios will provide tremendous operational and economic benefits for the warfighter.

Teams

* The Navy’s Virginia Class Submarine Program team (PMS450) achieved tremendous savings by turning to standardization initiatives to help reduce overall acquisition and operation and maintenance costs of the program. The use of standardization succeeded in minimizing the program’s overall logistics footprint, as well as reducing the class parts library. By investing $27 million in parts standardization, the projected cost avoidance over the life of the Virginia Class program is estimated to be approximately $789 million. Members are David Restifo, James Conklin, and Jimmy Smith.

* The Navy’s Aircraft Wiring Support Equipment Commodity Program team developed the Aircraft Wiring Information System. This comprehensive database allows the standardization of repair tooling, specifications, and processes across all Navy and Marine Corps aircraft. The team’s standardization efforts have reduced the proliferation of tools and support equipment and realized a total cost avoidance of $15.9 million. Members are Gail Edwards, William Peck, Leah Boise, Robert Petrie, and Benjamin Yearwood.

* The Air Force’s Community Sensor Model (CSM) Program Team developed a CSM Interface that eliminated proprietary, technical, and political barriers across all DoD reconnaissance systems. As a result of this work, the CSM interface became an emerging standard through the DoD IT Standards Registry Technical Working Group. With more than 21 models created and four more in development, armed forces operators will be able to measure target quality coordinates at one-third the cost of previous systems. Members are Air Force Capt. Ricardo Garcia, and Lea Gordon.

Additional information on the Defense Standardization Program, this year’s awardees, and their accomplishments may be obtained by visiting the DSP Web site at .

PEAKERS: LIEUTENANT GENERAL KARL EIKENBERRY (USA), COMMANDER, COMBINED FORCES COMMAND IN AFGHANISTAN

BRYAN WHITMAN, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS

[*]

WHITMAN: Good morning and welcome.

I think you’re all familiar with Lieutenant General Karl Eikenberry. He’s the commanding general of the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan. He’s here to give you an operational assessment and talk about the progress to date and some of the upcoming challenges in Afghanistan.

He was last here, I think, in May, when he talked to you and we’re fortunate to have him today. He actually is a little bit under the weather, but he wanted to keep this appointment and we may have to keep it short if he starts to not feel too well. But he did want to meet with you and we’re glad that he’s here today.

Thank you.

EIKENBERRY: Good morning.

I’m in Washington this week to brief the department and congressional leaders on our ongoing efforts in Afghanistan and I thought it was important to give you an update as well.

As I told you when I was here in May, the progress we’re making in Afghanistan is significant, especially when viewed from the baseline, October of 2001, when we first began Operation Enduring Freedom.

But against this progress, Afghanistan remains the target of international terrorists, militant extremists, drug traffickers and a determined criminal element.

The enemy we face today in the field is not extremely strong. Their influence has grown in some areas in the south and southeast where the presence of the government of Afghanistan has never been strong.

In some areas there are more Taliban extremists than there were at this point last year. And within some areas they are demonstrated better command and control and they’re fighting harder.

They remain an enemy as well that is not bound by international borders, and poses a common threat to all nations within the region.

The challenge that we face is not one of a military nature. The coalition, NATO and Afghan national security forces dominate wherever they encounter the enemy.

The critical task at this stage is strengthening the government of Afghanistan, developing the economy and helping to build Afghan civil society.

However, NATO and U.S.-led coalition and Afghan national security forces are moving aggressively to deny the enemy safe havens, to interdict his movement routes and, most importantly, to extend the authority of the central government.

The combat phase of the coalition’s current operation, Operation Mountain Fury in southeastern Afghanistan, is only the precursor to our longer-term goal of strengthening governance, establishing the rule of law and facilitating reconstruction and economic development.

This emphasis on government and development is the centerpiece of coalition and NATO’s overall approach to the Afghan campaign.

Provincial reconstruction teams are actively engaging district and provincial leaders to facilitate good governance. Medical assistant teams are treating thousands of Afghans who, otherwise, would not have access to medical care. And we are building hundreds of miles of roads.

These roads, along with schools, bridges, wells, health clinics and other reconstruction we are providing, are the heart of our long- term effort to rebuild Afghanistan’s middle ground, that is its civil society that’s been ravaged by three decades of brutal warfare, extremism and terrorism.

In a campaign such as this, the construction of roads and schools can be just as decisive, if not more, than military actions. The international community must make greater efforts in this area.

EIKENBERRY: The Afghan national security forces are a key part of this effort to restore the middle ground. Today over 76,000 army and police are trained, equipped and engaged in security operations.

While still lacking sufficient capability, they’re increasingly playing a major role in ensuring the stability of their nation, as evidenced by their successful participation in Operations Mountain Lion and Mountain Thrust, earlier this year, and in NATO’s Operation Medusa, just completed, and in the ongoing coalition Operation Mountain Fury.

It’s imperative here, too, that the international community maintain its support and commitment to these essential but still emerging institutions of the Afghan state.

Finally, the coalition continues to work toward a seamless transfer of authority in Regional Command East to NATO International Security Assistance Force.

The coalition transferred Regional Command South to NATO on July the 31st. And we anticipate turning over Regional Command East to NATO later this year.

A key point to remember in this transition is that the United States maintains its full commitment in Afghanistan. It will be undiminished. As a NATO member, the United States will remain by far the single largest contributor of troops and military capability.

We will maintain our strong national capability in support of counterterrorism missions to strike Al Qaida and its associated movements wherever and whenever they are found.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld announced that the president has nominated:

Lt. Gen. Robert Wilson, U.S. Army, for assignment as assistant chief of staff for installation management/commanding general, Installation Management Command, U.S. Army, Washington, D.C. He is currently serving as assistant chief of staff for installation management, U.S. Army, Washington, DC.

The Department of Defense announced today the annual winners of the Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards, the Phoenix, and the Robert T. Mason Trophies recognizing excellence in field and depot-level maintenance.

The field-level maintenance awards honor military maintenance organizations for outstanding performance. The awardees–two from each category of small, medium, and large organizations–are chosen from active and reserve organizations that perform unit- or field-level maintenance. One of those organizations is singled out as the best of the best and receives the Phoenix Trophy.

2006 Phoenix Award

The 2006 winner of the Phoenix Award for field level maintenance is the 3rd Materiel Readiness Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF). Based in Okinawa, this battalion serves the entire III MEF. In fiscal year 2005, III MEF units deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and various training exercises and humanitarian relief efforts. Despite supporting so many diverse missions, the battalion completed more than 13,500 intermediate repair orders in an average repair cycle time of 27.8 days, resulting in III MEF having an overall ground combat equipment readiness of greater than 95 percent.

Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards

The other field-level maintenance organizations receiving Secretary of Defense Maintenance Awards are: Helicopter Anti-submarine Squadron Light 47, Helicopter Maritime Strike Wing for the Navy and 303rd Intelligence Squadron, Air Combat Command for the Air Force in the small category; the 297th Transportation Company, 2nd Chemical Battalion for the Army, and the 437th Maintenance Squadron/315th Maintenance Squadron (Reserve), Air Mobility Command for the Air Force in the medium category; and 3rd Maintenance Group, 3rd Wing for the Air Force in the large category.

Robert T. Mason Trophy

The Secretary of Defense Maintenance Award for depot-level maintenance, the Robert T Mason Trophy, is presented to the major organic depot-level maintenance facility that exemplifies responsive and effective depot-level support to DoD operating units. It is named after a former assistant deputy secretary of defense for maintenance policy, programs, and resources, who served as a champion for excellence in organic depot maintenance operations.

The 2006 winner of the Robert T. Mason Trophy is the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle Recapitalization Program at Red River Army Depot, Texas. Through this program, the Red River Army Depot restored nearly 2,800 primarily battle-damaged HMMWVs, exceeding planned output by 33 percent, while reducing average defects by 46 percent, shortening repair cycle time by 45 percent and lowering the average cost by 42 percent. Its workload for fiscal year 2006 consisted of 3,500 HMMWVs, a 26 percent increase over the year before.

These awards were presented Oct. 25 at the 2006 DoD Maintenance Symposium and Exhibition in Reno, Nev.

Today Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England presented two categories of distinguished civilian awards: the 51 st annual DoD Distinguished Civilian Service Awards and the 2nd annual DoD David O. Cooke Excellence in Public Administration Award. The Pentagon ceremony was hosted by Director, Administration and Management Michael B. Donley.

The DoD David O. Cooke Excellence in Public Administration Award recognizes a DoD employee with from three to 10 years of federal service and occupies a non-managerial DoD position who exhibits great potential as a federal executive. This employee must emulate Cooke’s dedication to service and spirit of cooperation and improvement in the department. The recipient of this year’s award was Lorena Castro, project engineer, Program Executive Office (Ships), Department of the Navy. Castro was responsible for the development of the acquisition and contracting strategy for procuring three research ships for the National Science Foundation.

The DoD Distinguished Civilian Service Award is the highest DoD-level award that a career civil servant can earn. It recognizes career employees for exceptional contributions to the DoD. The following received this award:

CUNO of Meriden, CT, has announced the availability of Maximizer dual- layer filters in its Zeta Plus series depth filter cartridge. Zeta Plus H series cartridges are used by breweries around the world for clarification and prefiltration of non-pasteurized beer. According to the company, the H series filter is noted for its high media tensile strength and durability. The Zeta Plus Maximizer H series filter cartridge employs two layers of graded-density filter media. The upstream layer consists of a more “open” porosity compared to the downstream layer. The company says that this allows the upstream layer to essentially act as prefilter, retaining larger particles, yeast, and colloids, while the tighter downstream layer removes microorganisms and haze components.

The company says this efficient use of filter media maximizes filter throughput, extending service life, and greatly reducing filter usage and operating cost. Users also realize reductions in equipment, labor, and water usage with the Maximizer H series filter. Furthermore, CUNO notes, it affords the potential to collapse a two-stage filtration scheme into a single stage, again resulting in significant process savings.

In this text/CD-ROM package for practitioners and students, Irons (electrical and computing engineering, University of Maine) identifies common problems with active filters for integrated-circuit applications, reviews circuit analysis operations, and illustrates the concept of feedback. He presents the state variable procedure, a general design approach for a range of applications, and discusses classic approaches for comparative purposes. Material is organized as a one-semester course divided into four subject areas of 10 lectures each. Students are assumed to have had basic courses in linear system theory and electronics or experience working in analog integrated circuit design. The CD-ROM contains circuit and MATLAB files that help readers solve examples in the text.

Passive, active, and digital filters.

Ed. by Wai-Kai Chen.

CRC Press

2006

— pages

$99.95

Hardcover

TK7872

Developed to provide electrical engineers and computer scientists with up-to-date information, this reference work covers the spectrum of micro-electronic filter designs. Stressing fundamental theory, Chen (emeritus, electrical engineering and computer science, U. of Illinois at Chicago) and collaborators focus on the key concepts, models, and equations that enable the design engineer to analyze, design, and predict the behavior of large-scale systems employing passive, active, or digital filters. Twenty-five chapters cover approximation, frequency transformations, sensitivity and selectivity, passive immittances and positive-real functions, passive cascade synthesis, two-port synthesis by ladder development, resistively terminated networks, broadband matching networks, and a broad range of filters. Extensive development of theory and details of proofs have been omitted, but concise reviews of theories, principles, and mathematics are included for some subject areas.

A brochure has been released by Luber-finer, a manufacturer of heavy-duty filtration products for on- and off-highway applications, focusing on heavy-duty fuel filters including the TotalTec fuel filter. The brochure has an ordering chart separated by engine make, thread size, absolute micron rating and fuel filter type.

Recent experimental works have demonstrated the benefits of adding nanofibers to microfiber nonwoven filter media. In this work, single fiber efficiencies and drag are applied to model filter performance for steady-state coalescence of oil drops from air streams. The model results show the same trends as observed in the experiments, namely that the addition of small amounts of nanofibers significantly increase the Quality Factor. New results from the model and experiments show that there is an optimum amount of nanoflber.

INTRODUCTION

Recent work shows improved performance of nonwoven filter media by the addition of small amounts of nanofibers. (1) The purpose of this work is to determine whether there is an optimum amount of nanofibers to add to the filter media.

Our approach to this project is to model the filter using single-fiber capture mechanisms and single-fiber drag forces. The coalescence filter is assumed to operate at steady state with a uniform saturation of 10% (a typical value from our experimental data). The filter performance is determined using the Quality Factor. The model results are compared with experimental data.

Our model results show that there is an optimum amount Of nanofiber. The highest Quality Factors occur when the ratio of nanofiber surface area to micro fiber surface area is in the range of 1.0 to 2.0. Our experimental results agree with the optimum occurring in the same ratio. Qualitatively, the model and experimental results are similar, but the model over-predicts the value of the Quality Factor due to simplifying assumptions used to developing it.

DESCRIPTION OF COALESCING FILTERS

Coalescing filters are used throughout industry to separate small liquid droplets from gas streams or from another liquid phase. Several factors influence the efficiency and economics of the separation. In general, droplets in the 0.1- to 0.8-micron ([micro]) range are the most difficult to remove. Polymer nanofibers, made in our laboratory, provide a flexible and adjustable system for optimizing the filter structure to capture particles in the size range that has the highest probability for passing through the filter.

Unlike other filter media whose primary purpose is to stop particles from moving with the fluid stream, coalescing filter media have the additional requirements of making the drops coalesce into larger drops and of providing a means for them to drain out of the medium. In operations such as gas compression, coalescing filters may be used upstream of the compressor to protect the equipment. They may also be used downstream to collect compressor oil. The compressor oil is typically an expensive synthetic oil used in the compressor as a coolant, sealant and lubricant. Coalescence filters are used to recover and recycle the oil back to the compressor. Recovering even smaller droplets also reduces airborne emissions in many processes and helps in regulatory compliance.

There are a number of mechanisms that control the coalescence filtration process. (2) The process is sketched in Fig. 1. Single-fiber capture mechanisms (3) control the rate at which drops are captured within the filter media. The filter media act to slow the movement of drops, helping them to collide. Microscopic observation of the coalescence process shows that most of the drops visible to the microscope (20- to 200-[micro] range) are captured on the fibers. (4) When the captured drops form beads on the fiber that are large enough to see with an optical microscope, bead growth is rapid. (5) Drag of the gas phase, together with gravity forces, causes the enlarged drops to migrate out of the filter media.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Several parameters, including pressure drop and capture efficiency, characterize the performance of filter media. It is convenient to have one parameter that accounts for multiple effects. Brown (3) recommends using the Quality Factor, QF, defined by:

QF = -ln([C.sub.out]/[C.sub.in])/[DELTA]P

where ([C.sub.out]/[C.sub.in]) n is the penetration defined as the ratio of the partide concentration passing through the filter to the particle concentration entering the filter, and [DELTA]p is the pressure drop. The nature of capture efficiency is such that if you double the thickness of a filter medium, the penetration decreases by the square of the thickness, hence the logarithm of the penetration is proportional to the thickness. Conversely, the pressure drop is directly proportional to the filter thickness. Hence, ideally, the Quality Factor is independent of the medium thickness and provides a means of direct comparison between various media.

MODEL DESCRIPTION AND RESULTS

The numerical model applies volume-averaged continuum equations to account for conservation of mass for the gas and liquid phases. Capture rates are calculated for the dominant mechanisms of Brownian diffusion and direct interception using literature correlations. (3)

The gas-phase momentum balance is applied to determine the pressure drop. Drag correlations for flow around fibers are determined from literature correlations) The capture and drag correlations account for continuum, slip or molecular flow regimes, depending on the Knudsen number for the materials.