High-Quality and Easy-to-Regenerate Personal Filter

0557398 - ÚCHP 2023 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Fraenkl, M. - Krbal, M. - Houdek, J. - Olmrová Zmrhalová, Z. - Prokeš, B. - Hejda, P. - Přikryl, J. - Slang, S. - Ondráček, Jakub - Makeš, Otakar - Kostyk, Juraj - Nasadil, P. - Malcík, P. - Ždímal, Vladimír - Vlček, M.
High-Quality and Easy-to-Regenerate Personal Filter.
PLoS ONE. Roč. 17, č. 6 (2022), č. článku e0268542. ISSN 1932-6203. E-ISSN 1932-6203
Institutional support: RVO:67985858
Keywords : aerosols * COVID-19 * equipment design * filtrations
OECD category: Public and environmental health
Impact factor: 3.7, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0268542&type=printable

Proper respiratory tract protection is the key factor to limiting the rate of COVID-19 spread and providing a safe environment for health care workers. Traditional N95 (FFP2) respirators are not easy to regenerate and thus create certain financial and ecological burdens, moreover, their quality may vary significantly. A solution that would overcome these disadvantages is desirable. In this study a commercially available knit polyester fleece fabric was selected as the filter material, and a total of 25 filters of different areas and thicknesses were prepared. Then, the size-resolved filtration efficiency (40–400 nm) and pressure drop were evaluated at a volumetric flow rate of 95 L/min. We showed the excellent synergistic effect of expanding the filtration area and increasing the number of filtering layers on the filtration efficiency, a filter cartridge with 8 layers of knit polyester fabric with a surface area of 900 cm2 and sized 25 × 14 × 8 cm achieved filtration efficiencies of 98% at 95 L/min and 99.5% at 30 L/min. The assembled filter kit consists of a filter cartridge (14 Pa) carried in a small backpack connected to a half mask with a total pressure drop of 84 Pa at 95 L/min. In addition, it is reusable, and the filter material can be regenerated at least ten times by simple methods, such as boiling. We have demonstrated a novel approach for creating high-quality and easy-to-breathe-through respiratory protective equipment that reduces operating costs and is a green solution because it is easy to regenerate.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0331878