TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Human Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: ACAT 1D, CAPT Jim Murdoch, (202) 781-2132

OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate a modular wastewater treatment system to supplement Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) wastewater capacity for increased personnel or mission system demands.

DESCRIPTION: The next generation of Navy combatants will utilize modular mission packages to provide focused mission capability and facilitate technology refresh. The LCS seaframe’s primary wastewater plant is designed to handle requirements for nominal manning and operational profiles. While this ensures that LCS will be able to effectively support current missions, future roles may require increased manpower or new mission profiles that will exceed the ship’s wastewater handling capacity. A secondary modular wastewater processing system can leverage the flexibility of the LCS mission bay to augment installed capacity for increased crew support and operational demands without impacting current ship design and performance requirements.

Current commercial technologies include biological, physical/chemical, and advanced oxidation treatment. These technologies are used on cruise lines, shipping vessels, and some Navy ships which provide significant stowage/processing tanks and do not require frequent start-up/shutdown or highly compact systems. Additionally, commercial systems are not tested specifically with Navy shipboard generated blackwater and graywater, which is more concentrated with contaminants than commercial marine wastewater sources. Current commercial treatment technologies do not meet the LCS modular treatment requirements for a compact system with minimal tank usage and minimal manning and are not capable of quick start-ups (within hours, meeting effluent quality discharge standards).

Innovative self-contained wastewater processing technologies beyond the state of the art will be required to provide rapid processing startup (within hours), produce sufficient capacity within module space and weight limits (including tanks), able to operate autonomously with limited crew training or monitoring, tolerate the wide variability of influent rate and composition, accommodate employment profiles including extended lay-up periods, and comply with stringent material and operational requirements for shipboard use. Novel packaging approaches, rapid startup technologies or processes, automated operating systems and sensors capable of continuously measuring effluent quality are of particular interest.

A wastewater treatment module is required to receive gray and black water waste from ship systems and process sufficiently to support discharge overboard in compliance with applicable environmental standards. The module should maximize waste processing capacity (2500gpd minimum), as well as: a) comply with LCS Interface Control Document (reference 1) to facilitate module loading, handling, and stowage in Support Type 2 module zones, b) interface with standard Navy connections for influent and discharge, c) facilitate rapid system installation/startup and shutdown/removal, d) handle variable wastewater throughput and influent contaminant levels, and e) satisfy Navy operational, safety, water quality, and damage control requirements.

PHASE I: Demonstrate the feasibility of a concept for a self-contained, wastewater treatment module that will provide the above features. Develop an initial conceptual design and establish performance goals and metrics to analyze the feasibility of the proposed solution and for assessing detection and dissuasion performance. Develop a test and evaluation plan that contains discrete milestones for product development for verifying performance and suitability.

PHASE II: Finalize the design, fabricate and demonstrate a prototype of the system as defined in Phase I. Through laboratory testing, demonstrate and validate the performance goals as established in Phase I. As needed, refine and demonstrate the capabilities of the system. Develop a representative concept of operation and analysis of capabilities, interface specifications, operating sequences, emergency procedures, logistics support plan, weight breakdown, system cost estimates (both acquisition and lifecycle), manning/Human Systems Interface (H.S.I.) requirements as well as a Phase III testing and validation plan.

PHASE III: Through land-based and/or shipboard testing, demonstrate and certify the functionality of the module in each of its required functions, including processing capacity, rapid startup capability, efficiency, effluent water quality, and automated operation as outlined in the Navy treatment system performance specification. Develop a detailed concept of operation and analysis of capabilities, weight breakdown, system cost estimates (both acquisition and lifecycle), detail designs, production drawings, operating sequences, emergency procedures, logistics support plan, shock and fire safety qualification plans, , and manning/Human Systems Interface (H.S.I.) requirements. Develop plans for and support shipboard certification and full acquisition and lifecycle cost estimates.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL: There are a wide variety of Naval, maritime, and land based applications for a modularized system capable of processing wastewater sufficiently for discharge. Specific applications include locations with rapid demand to support increased populations such as humanitarian/disaster relief support vessels or facilities, law enforcement detention support vessels or facilities, and surge labor for maritime or land based construction.

REFERENCES: Available at http://www.navysbir.com/ via the SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS) web link

1. "Interface Control Document (ICD) for Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Flight Zero Reconfigurable Mission Systems," Baseline 1.0, 18 February 2005.

2. "Ship Impacts & Capabilities Analyses: Providing Modular Habitability Support in LCS Mission Zones," January 2005.

4. 33 CFR 159 Department of Transportation (DoT), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Directives, "Marine Sanitation Devices", 3 February 2003.

5. Annex IV of MARPOL 73/78, Resolution MEPC.115(51) and Resolution MEPC.2(VI).

6. "Performance Specification, Treatment System, Blackwater and Combined Blackwater/Graywater, for Surface Ships," MIL-PRF-30099, June 2006.

KEYWORDS: Wastewater; Module; Container; Shipboard; LCS; Blackwater; Graywater

TPOC: Tina Lerke
Phone: (301) 227-5157
Fax: (301) 227-3720
Email: tina.lerke@navy.mil
2nd TPOC: Thomas Owen
Phone: (540) 653-7614
Fax: (540) 653-7193
Email: thomas.f.owen1@navy.mil

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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