Suppress X-S near deal with Army, NYPD?

For Suppress X-S, maker of material designed to curb fuel-tank explosions, progress is measured more like a slogging infantry advance than the big bang of an aerial bombardment.

"Everything is a lot slower than we anticipated," said Roger Podd, vice president. Delays crop up as each agency or company interested in the material does its own testing, he said.

Still, the company, started in Sept. 1998, is advancing on several fronts:

Suppress X-S anticipates receiving a $1 million order for its eXess explosion-suppressant material within 60-90 days, based on company officials' talks with Army sources. The counter-terrorism bureau and emergency services unit of the New York City Police Department plan to start testing eXess in July in various applications, including vehicle fuel tanks, blast walls, explosion- proof waste receptacle liners and fuel storage.

The company is negotiating with the Long Island Power Authority to outfit additional trucks in its fleet in a deal worth about $50,000.

In its first moves in foreign markets, the company is in talks with the Singapore Civil Defense Agency about installing its product in fuel tanker trucks as well as a manufacturer of armored vehicles in India.

On May 31, Suppress X-S issued a proposal to a company identified only as a "major Northeast utility" to install eXess in 11 upstate propane tanks holding 350,000 gallons. That deal would be worth about $1.5 million.

The eXess material is an aluminum alloy that looks like aluminum foil. It's fed into a $1 million "stretchmatic" machine that turns it into a three-dimensional mesh with hexagonal holes. The material is designed to dissipate heat and pressure so efficiently that an explosion would be averted even if rounds were fired into a fuel tank.

The six-person company is moving its manufacturing facilities to Bayport, where it will share space with Stimpson Co. Inc. at 900 Sylvan Avenue. Suppress X-S may retain offices in West Babylon, Podd said.

Stimpson, which makes anti-ballistic material, along with eyelets, grommets, washers and clamps, is investigating joint ventures with Suppress X-S that would combine the two technologies. One use being tested would combine eXess with anti-ballistic material to create a wall that can absorb an explosive charge.

Suppress X-S has shied away from the aircraft market because of the weight penalty the mesh imposes. In the center wing tank of a B747, the mesh would add 4,400 pounds to the weight of the aircraft, equating to about 20 passengers. It also would reduce fuel capacity by 1.5 percent. The company, however, is proposing that the Federal Aviation Administration fund tests on a 747 center wing tank with the mesh installed only around the areas most likely to spark an explosion. If the mesh performs well, the thinking goes, airlines might accept a less severe weight penalty.

The company licenses technology from Austria-based Efkon Gmbh and has exclusive rights to market the material in North America. Efkon has also signed off on the efforts by Suppress X-S to enter the Singapore and India markets.

Suppress X-S is owned by investors who include brothers Robert and Vincent Kearns, the principals of B.H. Aircraft, a Ronkonkoma-based maker of aircraft engine parts.

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