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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)
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      Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)


      Mission: The safe elimination of chemical weapons at Pueblo and Blue Grass by Sept. 30, 2023

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Air Supply Offers Alternative Power Source to Wiring in Corrosive Area

Published: February 20, 2020 | Category: PCAPP News, Safety
Electrically powered servo motors that raise and lower the Cavity Access Machine bails, which secure a munition when it is punched open at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, are being replaced with pneumatic cylinders harnessing the pressurized air supply already in the Munitions Washout System rooms.

Electrically powered servo motors that raise and lower the Cavity Access Machine bails, which secure a munition when it is punched open at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant, are being replaced with pneumatic cylinders harnessing the pressurized air supply already in the Munitions Washout System rooms.

Pneumatic, or air-pressure operated, cylinders are solving a problem with certain electrical systems at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant.

“The destructive nature of (mustard) agent eventually eats through the wiring systems that drive the servo motors on the Cavity Access Machines,” said Tom Bailey, plant support specialist. “We can’t replace those wires, so we are faced with a situation where we are going to eventually lose the ability to process when connectivity is lost.”

The new pneumatic cylinders for the machines in the main plant’s Munitions Washout System were developed by Bailey and Huey Cheek, the cognizant systems engineer for the system.

The servo motors originally used a hydraulic system powered by electricity to raise and lower the bails that secure the munition when it is punched, Bailey said. He and other team members reviewed what was available in the room that could be used or modified to solve the servo motor problems.

The solution was pressurized air. “Air sources are plentiful in those stations, so we designed a pneumatic cylinder prototype to safely and consistently move the bails,” Cheek said. The resulting retrofit from electricity to pneumatics is designed for easy installation, minimizing the number Demilitarization Protective Ensemble entries into the toxic area of the plant.

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Other Recent PCAPP News

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PCAPP Safety Videos

  • PCAPP Safety: Written in the Stars

    PCAPP Safety: Written in the Stars

    June 8, 2015
  • Pueblo Plant Operational Readiness Review

    Pueblo Plant Operational Readiness Review

    February 25, 2014
  • Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Hazard School Board

    Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant Hazard School Board

    August 16, 2013
  • PCAPP and the Community Share in National Safety Award

    PCAPP and the Community Share in National Safety Award

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Program Executive Office, Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA)