Study of protective efficiency of respirator with forced air supply

The aim of the work was to conduct experimental studies aimed at determining the protection factor of the filter respirator with forced air supply by volunteers in different modes of operation and to establish the dependence of the amount of air supplied by the fan from the air purification device to the filter’s resistance. Simulation studies to determine the protective effectiveness of the filter respirator on the testers were performed according to the procedure for determining the penetration coefficient of test aerosol – sodium chloride, as the ratio of the submask concentration of test aerosol to the ambient concentration formed in a special chamber that meets the requirements of DSTU EN 13274. Determination of the amount of air supplied by the air purification unit to the submask space and assessment of the value of positive pressure inside the mask was performed according to the procedure described in DSTU EN 12941: 2004. As a result of simulated laboratory tests to determine the protective effectiveness of filter respirators with forced air supply to the testers, it was found that the average result of the protection factor of the test samples ranged from 99.93 to 99.97, which meets the requirements of DSTU EN 12941: 2004. In addition, it was found that the amount of air treated by the fan of the air purification device for clean filters is 165 and 215 dm3/min for operating modes “Normal” and “Turbo”, while for the polluted filters it is reduced to 131 and 185 dm3/min, respectively. During the study, the compliance of the value of excess pressure in the submask space with the requirements of DSTU EN 12941: 2004, which should not exceed 2.5 mbar, was confirmed. It is also determined that the stability of the technical parameters of the air purification device is maintained in the specified range when charging the “Dinogy Li-Pol 11000mAh 14.8V 4S 25C” brand battery not less than 12 V to ensure the current value of not less than 1.6 A. The practical value of the results lies in determining the duration of protective action of the filter respirator, the choice of filter resistance to establish the scope and modes of operation in the developed personal respiratory protection equipment