Scientifically proven air monitoring methodologies and technologies that enable accurate real time sensing of the chemical content of pilot breathing air lines during high-performance flight.
711th Human Performance Wing, Airman Bioengineering Division, Real Time Air Quality Sensing of Military Pilot Breathing Lines REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) 711th HPW RFI Announcement # RFI-711th-HPW-R... 711th Human Performance Wing, Airman Bioengineering Division, Real Time Air Quality Sensing of Military Pilot Breathing Lines REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) 711th HPW RFI Announcement # RFI-711th-HPW-RHB-001 I. DISCLAIMER: This announcement constitutes a Request for Information (RFI) for the purpose of determining market capability of sources or obtaining information. It does not constitute a Request for Proposals (RFP), a Request for Quote (RFQ) or an indication that the Government will contract for any of the items and/or services discussed in this notice. Any formal solicitation that may subsequently be issued will be announced separately through Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps). Information on the specific topics of interest is provided in the following sections of this announcement. Neither the 711th Human Performance Wing nor any other part of the federal government will be responsible for any cost incurred by responders in furnishing this information. II. BACKGROUND: The 711th Human Performance Wing, Airman Bioengineering Division, Applied Biotechnology Branch, is seeking information regarding development, evaluation, and delivery of scientifically proven air monitoring methodologies and technologies that enable accurate real time sensing of the chemical content of pilot breathing air lines during high-performance flight. Specifically, this call requests information that will aid in the development/evaluation of an in-flight monitoring system in the FY20/21 timeframe. The real time air quality sensing systems will actively detect levels of typical gases such as oxygen, and potential contaminants such as CO, CO2, and various other volatile compounds including hydrocarbons relevant to the aerospace and flightline environments. The systems will allow accurate reporting of these levels during environmental conditions typical with high-performance flight such as extreme pressure variations and atypical temperature and humidity levels. Such technologies may require data processing techniques to compensate for said environmental variations. Potential for future integration of monitoring technology into real time data presentation (such as real time failure or threat alerts, or active levels displays on an aircraft HUD) are desirable but not a requirement at this point. The goal is to provide optimal protection of military personnel and equipment through intelligent monitoring in the flight environment and provide timely notification and mitigation such that the operators and maintainers can take corrective action before human/air vehicle assets are compromised or lost. III. SPECIFIC INFORMATION OF INTEREST: The responses shall address the design, fabrication, and testing of such a system that will integrate with existing pilot breathing air lines with or without interfacing with vehicle power and data busses. The following is provided as a guideline of initial systems capabilities. This is intended to establish baseline conditions for submissions and is not meant to constrain or direct responders to a specific point design or evolved set of solutions. The primary areas to address are (1) chemical sensing suite-oxygen, CO, CO2, etc. (2) physical property sensing suite-pressure, temperature, humidity, acceleration, etc. (3) data processing algorithm, and (4) data transfer (memory, wired/wireless interfaces)/display methods. Responders are encouraged to submit their ideas that cover some or all of these areas. Sensors must be miniaturized sensors self-contained, compatible with high oxygen/low humidity environments, low power, and unobtrusive, and must require minimal interaction with warfighters. Sensor systems must facilitate integration directly into the pilot breathing lines, or utilize a bleed air method unobtrusive to the pilot air source. These should be easy to maintain and calibrate without special tooling, and must not require frequent removal from the aircraft for maintenance. Any person-borne system must not present an increased injury risk in the event of aircraft ejection or vehicle crash. Chemical sensing for pilot breathing air should include oxygen, CO, CO2, and a generalized hydrocarbon detector. Systems which can simultaneously identify and quantitate a broad range of compounds of interest to USAF from a mixture in real- or near- real-time, similar to analytical grade instrumentation, is highly desirable. Examples of compounds of interest include: ethanol, toluene, styrene, hexane, acetonitrile, and acetic acid. Discrimination of individual compounds within a chemical class (IE, ethanol vs. isopropanol) is preferred. The sensor system should also include measurement of physical properties such as pressure, temperature, humidity, flow rate, and acceleration, or demonstrate that extreme variation of these factors does not impact sensor performance. Consideration should be given for developing sensor suites that can be integrated into the current configurations of high-performance aircraft life support systems. The system should be capable of operating in low barometric pressure, low humidity, high oxygen, and sustained high-G acceleration environments. Extreme variation in pressure, flow rate, and acceleration must not impact sensor/system physical integrity; if sensor performance is impacted under these conditions, the sensor suite must have demonstrated high-maturity solutions to process signal and compensate for these artifacts. While the temperature is fairly controlled during flight, the operational environment includes locations where temperatures may vary from -50-120?F on the ground. The sensor package should be tolerant to these temperature extremes without sacrificing performance or operational lifetime. All recommended sensing transducers should specify the necessary calibration methods for error sources. An advanced adaptive monitoring algorithm should account for aerospace environmental factors and system must stand up to operational rigors such as vehicle vibrations. The working environment will have multiple noise sources, powering cycles, and data drop outs which must be considered. Predicted increases or decrements in sensor levels should factor into any decision algorithm to classify the performance and any type of data presented or warnings issued. The responses shall include a thorough description of the associated supporting power requirements, electronics, communications interfaces, safety-of-flight testing necessary to obtain a safe-to-fly status for at least initial testing, and procedures for using the recommended system. The Air Force is interested in innovative solutions that address the needs of pilots and maintainers. Technologies should demonstrate that they meet and ideally exceed the current state of the art in quantitative metrics such as (but not limited to) size, weight, efficiency, effectiveness, producibility, power and interface requirements, term of expected availability, suitability for the industrial and military marketplace. Given the timeframe outlined in this RFI, the focus of the submissions should be on advanced technology solutions in the middle to late development stages. A Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) on cost of approaches or solutions will be submitted along with the RFI. IV. SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS and FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS: a. Responses to this RFI are due by August 8, 2019 to the following email address:jesse.somann@us.af.mil. Any response received after this date will also be considered but may not be included in initial reporting or assessments. All responses should be in PDF or MS Word format and emailed to the technical point of contact (Dr. Jesse Somann) at jesse.somann@us.af.mil. The subject line of the email should read, "Real Time Air Quality Sensing of Military Pilot Breathing Lines." b. Unclassified/Classified RFI Responses: All responses should be unclassified. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked proprietary will be handled accordingly. Responses to this notice will not be returned. c. Format specifications include 12-point font, single-spaced, single-sided, 8.5 by 11 inches paper, with 1-inch margins in either Microsoft Word or Adobe PDF format. Responses should not exceed 7 pages. d. Submission of Documentation i. Cover Page (1 page) with RFI number and name, address, company / institution, technical point of contact, with printed name, title, email address, phone, and date ii. Table of contents with page numbers iii. Abstract (1 page) iv. Technical data and approach (4-5 pages, approximately 1500-1800 words) v. No cost or pricing information should be provided. Any received will be deleted and destroyed. vi. Due to email constraints, the size of the submission is limited to 10 MB. V. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION This RFI is an exchange of information between Government, Academia, and Industry. It is the first step of an iterative process aimed at understanding the existence of sources that can deliver an in-flight monitoring/warning system described herein. Additional RFIs requesting further detail may be issued in the future to continue the Government's informational exchange with Academia and Industry. Information received as a result of this request is expected to be proprietary to the responding company and will be protected as such. Any proprietary information received in response to this request will be properly protected from any unauthorized disclosures; however it is incumbent upon the responder to appropriately mark all submissions. The Government will not use any proprietary information submitted to establish the capability, requirements, approach, or solution so as to not inadvertently restrict competition. In order to complete its review, 711th Human Performance Wing must be able to share the information within the Government and with its support contractors; therefore, any responses marked in a manner that will not permit such internal Government review will be returned/deleted without being assessed/considered. VI. QUESTIONS AND POINT OF CONTACT: Questions of a technical nature regarding this RFI may be sent to the following Technical Point of Contact: Dr. Jesse Somann Applied Biotechnology Branch 2510 Fifth Street, Bldg 840, Wright Patterson AFB, OH 45433 jesse.somann@us.af.mil/(937)938-3786
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