CW Sentry Chemical Warfare Agent Detector

Detech to Protect

The CW Sentry Detector is a fixed-point, third generation detector that has been extensively evaluated by US national labs with hundreds of instruments installed in key locations across the US, safeguarding the public against terrorist attacks and chemical spills. The Sentry Detector's primary role is consequence management. Specifically, it is designed to minimize casualties by rapidly alerting security personnel upon detection of trace amounts of a targeted chemical gas.

Principles of Operation

The CW Sentry Detector is a hybrid system employing two separate detector arrays. The first array consists of Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) microsensors for the detection of nerve and blister agents. SAW sensors are piezoelectric crystals that detect the mass of chemical vapors absorbed into chemically selective coatings on the sensor surface. This absorption causes a change in the resonant frequency of the sensor. The internal microcomputer measures these changes and uses them to determine the presence and concentration of chemical agents.

The secondary array is an optional configuration of electrochemical cells and is employed for broad detection of Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TICs).

Technical Aspects

Having been field deployed since 2001, the third generation system represents significant improvements in detector performance and maintainability to meet the demanding requirements of critical infrastructure protection.

The CW Sentry Detector reduces the occurrence of false alarms in environments containing unpredictable chemical backgrounds.