SANDIA HELPS SMALL COMPANY WITH AUTOMATIC TIRE PRESSURE MAINTENANCE SYSTEM
09 December 2006 - DOE/Sandia National Laboratories

Now Petty wants to turn one of the concepts into a life-saving product, and he is marketing the idea to various companies.

Petty, owner of Petty Farm and Ranch in Clovis, N.M., was tired of maintaining his old farm tires and dealing with blowouts caused by low tire pressure. He wanted to develop a device that would automatically check tires for the recommended pressure and add or release air.

He sought assistance from Sandia’s Small Business Assistance Program and was partnered with Sandia researcher John Browning.

Browning came up with various ideas for maintaining the manufacturer’s recommended tire pressure without having to do it manually. He suggested three engineering concepts to Petty: an air compressor system, a high-pressure bottle, and a gas generator.

Prototype versions of two of the design concepts have been created and tested.

The air compressor concept is similar to systems that operate tools powered by compressed air. A centrally located air compressor would call for tire inflation pressure to come through the air channel of a rotary union mounted on the wheel. John says this concept would work well in semi tractor trailers, for example, but could not be easily implemented on the majority of passenger vehicles that use constant-velocity joints. A more expensive system could put an air compressor on each wheel, and would require power to be provided through a slip connection on the axles.

The high-pressure bottle concept is similar to systems used to inflate life rafts and aircraft emergency slides. A high-pressure bottle with a pressure regulator can be placed on each wheel of almost any vehicle. Product pricing issues, however, include costs of the high-pressure-rated parts and possible regulatory maintenance requirements such as periodic testing of the system components.

The gas generator concept would use materials already in use in automobiles today to inflate airbags. A series of small, hot-wire-ignited pellets (e.g., sodium azide) could provide nitrogen gas for periodically replacing lost tire pressure. The pellets could be mounted on a flex circuit board, which would be strapped around the tire rim inside the tire volume, along with a battery, pressure sensor, microcontroller, and igniter electronics. John says the gas generator concept is potentially the lowest cost manufacturing solution, but because of the relatively high development cost was not pursued under the small business assistance project.

Air compressor
The air compressor concept was chosen in the preliminary design of an automatic tire pressure maintenance system. A prototype system was built under the small business assistance project to address the safety and economic issues of under-inflated automobile tires frequently driven on American's roadways.

A portable prototype has been created to hand-carry to trade shows and potential customers. The portable system is designed for demonstrations, and may be powered either by a portable 12-volt, sealed lead-acid battery (with a 110-volt AC battery charger), or by a 12-volt DC output, 110-volt AC power converter. The system features a mounted tire and wheel, attached to a pedestal by a bearing, with a handle for manually rotating the tire. A carrying case is included. The pedestal contains an air compressor, pressure switch, and vent valve, with associated tubing and wired connections to a control box with an internal pressure sensor.

The prototype has some features similar to the Dana Corporation's central tire inflation systems which have found utility in the trucking industry, particularly in off-road vehicles, and have been employed with both trailer axle vehicles and tractor drive axle vehicles. The CTIS is currently available on some models of the Hummer, but, says Petty, ìHopefully someday all vehicles will be equipped with a device that will help save lives.î

High pressure bottle
With the assistance of Dale Petty's brother David, an automotive technician at Galles Chevrolet in Albuquerque, an automatic tire pressure maintenance system using wheel-mounted high-pressure nitrogen bottles was created as well.

The system has been installed on all four wheels of a 1966 Ford Mustang.

Testing of the system included tire balance check and various bottle road tests. The bottle road tests rim and tire assemblies, shock and vibration from various highway speeds, and the structural integrity of the system. In addition, tests were conducted to detect leaks and simulation of proper functioning of the automatic tire pressure maintenance system.

Small idea, big concept
Petty says the idea for the system came after his son came home with a homework assignment. The assignment was to not to reinvent the wheel but to make it better. Petty sat on the idea for a year and soon contacted Sandia's Small Business Assistance Center.

Besides being tired of changing flats and dealing with blowouts, Petty says the idea was also based on safety. He was alarmed with the 2000 recall of Bridgestone/Firestone's 6.5 million tires.

Sandia National Laboratories researchers have developed a software-based tool called BROOM, short for Building Restoration Operations Optimization Model, to assist in the gathering of samples following a release of biological warfare agents in a public facility.

BROOM is intended to help officials of airports, transportation centers, and high-traffic public buildings during planning for a possible reoccupation and return to service and assist cleanup personnel in restoration operations.

A major piece of the BROOM tool is a hand-held electronic device that assists HazMat crews in collecting and managing the many thousands of samples that are collected to characterize contamination in a facility and to verify that the facility is clean following decontamination.

The three-year joint development project, a collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security and includes partnerships with San Francisco Bay area airports as model facilities for restoration. Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration lab.

Sandia researcher Mark Tucker says the main objective of the BROOM project is to develop methods to minimize the economic impact of a release of biological agent by conducting restoration operations more rapidly than can be done now.

“The current process in collecting samples is very cumbersome,” says Tucker. “BROOM helps streamline the process.”HazMat responders can gather samples only during short periods of time due to the heavy gear they must wear, and for safety reasons. To make it easy for the responders to carry the software tool, the researchers assembled a handheld device that incorporates the BROOM software, a barcode scanner, and a wireless laser range finder to accurately identify where the sample was taken.

An exercise, in conjunction with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to test BROOM was held recently at Sandia. Here, NIOSH crews get suited in full HazMat gear before entering the simulated area. The handheld device looks simple, but lots of information can be stored in the pocket PC. The device also holds the contamination map and layout of the location where the responders are collecting samples.

The device’s scanner reads barcodes placed on vials where the samples are stored. Sample barcodes provide a way to monitor the transfer of samples from the field to the lab. They also help automate the process of merging field data with laboratory results. In addition to barcodes, data specific to each sample are recorded in the handheld device.

Information such as the sample type, surface type, surface orientation, surface area, and surface texture are recorded for each sample. The sample collector records himself as the person who acquired the data and may also write additional information about the sample in a notes field.

All data are then transferred to a PC outside the contaminated area by wireless transmission. The results are displayed on a map on both the handheld device and the PC.

The first sampling is done right after a determination is made of what the contamination is, where it occurred, and what techniques should be used to gather samples. If spores or other biological contaminants are found, the facility requires decontamination.

During the decontamination process, strips of paper containing a nonpathogenic bacterial spores similar to anthrax are mounted throughout a facility. Immediately following decontamination, these spore strips are collected and analyzed for live spores. If live spores are found on the spore strips, the decontamination process must be repeated.

Collection and analysis of the spore strips constitutes the second stage of sampling. The third stage focuses on clearance sampling to ensure that the area is safe and clean for reentry. The BROOM tool can be used to assist in each stage of the restoration process.

BROOM exercise
An exercise, in conjunction with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, to test BROOM was held recently at Sandia.

NIOSH establishes standards and methods for biological sampling. Previous work done by NIOSH includes anthrax sampling at the Hart Senate Building and at the Brentwood and Trenton postal facilities after the 2001 anthrax incident.

The exercise at Sandia involved a release of a harmless simulant used to mimic a biological agent. NIOSH crews in full HazMat gear using the BROOM tool conducted a realistic sampling exercise.

During the first day of the three-day exercise 24 samples were collected and entered into BROOM. The diagram showed hot spots in the area where the contamination occurred. The remaining two days consisted of additional sample collection, as well as analyzing and testing BROOM.

The exercise was a tremendous success, says Tucker. “Although the NIOSH crews provided some feedback about minor changes to the BROOM software, they were, in general, very impressed with the product,” Tucker says. “In fact, they want to further evaluate BROOM by using it in their future sampling operations, both those that involve biological agents and those that involve more routine sampling operations for investigations of occupational hazards.”

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