A test and evaluation (T&E) capability for aerosolised Hazardous Materials has been developed at Dstl to deliver safely and efficiently aerosol challenge levels in a ‘dial-up’ manner for prolonged test periods.

The chemical aerosol test facility has been installed at Dstl, Porton Down and it enables the robust, reliable and reproducible T&E of aerosol detection technologies.  This proves an understanding of the potential of such technologies to meet the needs of future requirements. 

The first-of-its-kind aerosol T&E facility for chemical detection was entirely designed by Dstl scientists and enables the generation of an appropriate range of droplets/particles sizes within the flow tube, at concentrations that can be tuned over a relevant dynamic range. Chemical sensors can be connected to the flow tube and their performance against the aerosolised chemicals can be assessed.

The ability to assess safely the performance of prototype instruments currently being developed in industry for the detection of aerosols of high toxicity materials will help identify the next generation aerosol detection technologies.