Pine Bluff Arsenal is once again in the filter-making business due to high-quality production of collective protection filters made years ago.
In the late 1990's, the Arsenal established production capabilities for the M49 Fixed Installation Filter, and expanded capability to M48 "vehicle" filters and M98 shipboard filters. Due to low demand of collective protection filters and a commercial ability to meet the demand at the time, a decision to end the filter program was made in 2007.
Justin Lieber, project manager with the Directorate of Engineering and Technology, said that the Arsenal was approached in 2012 by a former customer, the Department of Defense Program Office, to start making the 410 CFM (cubic feet per minute) filter. "They remembered that we had done very well producing these large filters. However, our production line had been dismantled," said Lieber. "The customer funded us to have the line put back in and we started making that filter."
"The 410 CFM filter and the M39 were not fabricated by the Arsenal," said John Burkhead, Chief of Pine Bluff Arsenal's Quality Management Division in the Directorate of Chemical and Biological Defense Operations. "We were provided the parts and put them together, using GFM (government furnished materials) from the customer."
The 410 CFM filter work was completed in fall 2014, said Lieber. "This really opened the door for us to produce more filters," he said. "Since that time, the Arsenal has been making M49 fixed installation filters (120 CFM) for that same customer."
TACOM has also approached the Arsenal recently about doing some filter work. "Now that we have a filter facility and have been making filters, we have been funded by TACOM to do some M98 (200 CFM) filter work," said Lieber. "During the next four months, we are starting First Article work on M98 filter fabrication. The M98 is a gas and particulate filter unit. We have work across the board to do gas only and sets in filter production."
This means every piece of the filter will be built here at the Arsenal, said Lieber. "We will get metal in, roll that metal, and weld it together. Then that metal will be sent off to be coated and sealed," he said. "Once we get it back it will be filled and then packed and shipped."
The M98 filter production will be the bulk of what is made for the next five years, said Lieber. "This is the time frame when the surge of activity will be per TACOM," he said.
The M98 is installed in a wide range of shelters used by the U.S. Army, aboard U.S. Navy ships and as part of mobile field hospitals, according to information from the Joint Program Executive Office-Chemical Biological Defense. This filter removes contaminants from the air flow and is resistant to fungus and mildew.
"These filters are used in the M8E1 Chemical Biological Protective Shelters that are serviced here at the Arsenal," said Burkhead.
Lieber said that TACOM is also looking at the Arsenal to do some Intercontinental Ballistic Missile filter work on the missile silos. "This filter will be a variant of the M49. We are slated to a little work in this area, and are really getting our feet wet with this type of work," he said.
The amount of filter work being done at the Arsenal equates to roughly seven man years, according to Burkhead. "It is over 10,000 direct labor hours approximately," said Lieber.
Since the filter production lines were started quickly within a tight timeline back in 2012, the building where the production line was set up was put together fast. "What we hope to do in the next three to five years is do some capital improvements on the building to make it into a long-term filter facility," said Lieber.
Burkhead said that in order for the carbon in the filters to function properly the conditions in the building have to be very dry. "We are updating the humidity and HVAC controls in the building," he said. "We had some difficulties this summer dealing with the humidity."
A portion of every filter lot goes through destructive testing. "This testing simulates chemical agents and the filters are sent to Edgewood Biological Center in Maryland for this testing," said Lieber. "On the M49 trays, we have produced the highest amount around 150 minutes with what is called DM&P testing. The minimum is 60 minutes. So this is double the minimum and is one thing that the customers likes about our filters."
Once the Arsenal gets through the First Article tests in the next three to four months, the filter line will be consistently running, said Burkhead.
"We don't' want to have any breaks and plan to continue running multiple configurations of filters. It is important that we don't have a three month lull, otherwise we have to do First Article testing again," said Lieber. "This is tricky scheduling."
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