Storage – Defence

Humidity control of defence assets has been uses extensively to

  • Reduce corrosion
  • Improve readiness
  • Increase MTBF (Mean time between failure)
  • Save maintenance costs.

Storage : Armoury humidity control

Humidity effects corrosion and under 45%rh is usually specified for military stock preservation.  Armoury humidity control with desiccant dehumidifier DC10 and DC031 are commonly used by ADF facilities.

DR-010B_installed

Vehicles : Australian Army ASLAV 

ASLAV have DR10 and DR031 dehumidifier connected in Brisbane parking stations for hitching dehumidified air into the parked vehicle for electronics and corrosion preservation.

ASLAVAB

Aircraft : 5th Aviation Townsville Blackhawk Helicopters

DST  desiccant dehumidifiers supply substantial air for aircraft drying as ground support equipment.  Airframe preservation avionics and engine preservation.  Rotor replacements for other brands have been installed in Robertson Barracks Darwin.

 

 

Some platforms benefiting from Seibu Giken DST technology include.

  • French Mirage
  • German Leopard 2
  • Japanese Armouries
  • Malaysian EO stores
  • Australian Tiger operational storage
  • Swedish radio stores

Facts

  • US Army National Guard benefit to investment ratio of 8.995.  USMC maintenance program illustrates an area of benefit
  • Defence management
  • Swedish materiel FMV statement on use dry air storage attribute maintenance budget savings of
    • 10% of maintenance cost for operational assets
    • 40% for stored items.
  • Corrosion rates determined by Vernon in 1928, become exponential above 50%rh for most materials.  Average relative humidity for Canberra 75%.

AAAT have over 15 years of local platform dehumidification support experience and are available to provide integration advice on most systems.

 

CASE: ADF Military Ordnance Store

Military Ordnance demands strict conditions in temperature and humidity due to the volatility of goods stored. If excess moisture is allowed to remain in the stores then chemical reactions may occur, which may cause destruction or loss of potency, both of which are undesirable. The key to avoiding damage and loss of stock is prevention, and keeping the ordnance store at a low relative humidity is the best way to do this.

DSCN0394

Air and Aqua Tech have delivered nine DST desiccant dehumidifiers to RCR Haden for installation to now  keep these stores at the desired humidity levels. These desiccant dehumidifiers remove moisture and reduce the humidity in the stores without needing to increase the temperature, meaning that the military personnel remain in comfort and energy costs are reduced.