Session: 17-01-01 Research Posters

Paper Number: 69333

Start Time: Thursday, 02:25 PM

69333 - Modular Printed Powered Air Purifying Respirator 

Respiratory protection has been around since 23-79AD, serving to protect human respiratory tract from harm (CDC, 2019). In this capacity, most forms of this protection have been passive, being that they worked only under negative pressure as the user inhaled and created a pressure differential across the media in the protective garment. It was not until the 1800s that respiratory protection took a more active approach by positively pressurizing incoming air which was then inhaled and exhaled against. By nature, this added some complexity to the protection, but gave it more uses and allowed for a greater range of user operation environments as a result. By 1907, patients and divers were receiving clean air and purified oxygen through what was known as PAPR or Powered Air Purifying Respirators (Garza, 2020). Since then, PAPR have been used for pilots in high altitude environments, and with the advent of higher efficiency filter media and form factor reduction, manufacturing, military, and medical/first responders as well who require chemical, physical, or bacterial/viral filtration on a portable scale.

At present, the world is undergoing the largest pandemic of the 21^st century and the 15^th largest in human history with the advent of COVID-19 and is faced with some daunting challenges (LePan, 2020). Because of the rapid spread, airborne nature, and small particle size of the virus, healthcare workers and concerned individuals have resorted to using respirators and masks as air filtering Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to protect themselves from infection. The resulting demand has placed a massive strain on the supply industry and highlighted current respiratory PPE issues. Masks do not always fit their users well and do not vent moisture effectively, resulting in leaks, bacteria growth, and reduced usage time while also being a single use product at best. Respirators, on the other hand, offer multi-use, sharing, and reduced or eliminated moisture buildup, but are very expensive, only fit certain masks or headgear, use filter media faster, and take much longer to produce in high quantity. Furthermore, because of the outlined nature of these two main PPE forms, both exhibit a major supply chain shortage, especially to medical institutions and first responders (CDC, 2020).

The purpose of this research and project is to demonstrate understanding of the design and engineering of devices and garner hands-on experience in mechanical design solutions as focused and applied to creating a PAPR to assist users in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic by means of the engineering design process.

            The final PAPR solution devised and created as the result of the engineering design process will accomplish multiple goals attributed to the current needs of both PAPR and passive mask PPE. Once the PAPR system is finally constructed and tested, it will display multiple expected attributes. Firstly, the unit will protect the user’s health and prolong their comfort during wear by providing them with clean, filtered air and by flushing out exhaled air and moisture. Secondly, the unit will be easily cleaned and shared in a rugged, portable, and lightweight fashion. Finally, the constructed PAPR will allow for heightened access to respiratory PPE, helping ease some supply chain burden, and hopefully aiding in decreasing infection rates, serving the overall purpose of combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

References:

CDC. (2019, July 31). 100 Years of Respiratory Protection History. Retrieved June 16, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/Respiratory-Protection-history.html

Garza, A. D. L. (2020, April 7). The Surprisingly Long History of the Ventilator. Retrieved June 16, 2020, from https://time.com/5815499/ventilator-history/#:~:text=Developed in the 1920s, the,including of the respiratory muscles.

LePan, N. (2020, March 14). Visualizing the History of Pandemics. Retrieved June 16, 2020, from https://www.visualcapitalist.com/history-of-pandemics-deadliest/

Presenting Author: Jacob Brown KSU

Authors:

J. Brown Kennesaw State University
M. Clifford Kennesaw State University
J. Magana Kennesaw State University
M. Salman Kennesaw State University
D. Tran Kennesaw State University