Products

Explosives Trace Detection (ETD)

L-3’s innovative energetic materials detection (EMD) technology represents a paradigm shift for screening trace amounts of explosives. Departing from conventional ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) detection devices, L-3’s EMD-based explosives trace detection products do not require carrier gases or dryer consumables, radioactive sources or reference libraries. This technological breakthrough results in immediate operator benefits, including significantly lower operating costs, an inherently safer product that does not require radioactive wipe testing, and an intrinsic capability to detect new or evolving explosive compounds without having to update reference libraries.

The L-3 Approach.

All explosive materials, regardless of the amount, decompose exothermically after being exposed to sufficient activation energy. The subsequent decomposition process results in an intense release of heat to the environment surrounding an explosive particle, producing a localized, sharp increase in temperature, followed by a sharp decrease in temperature once the energetic material has been consumed. These unique heat signatures, analyzed with embedded proprietary detection algorithms, indicate the presence of explosives.