A Low-SWap Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR)

In prior work, Creare developed a compact, high-efficiency blower and a comfortable, modular respirator facepiece for a powered air purifying respirator (PAPR) system that provides improved user comfort and low blower size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP). The system was designed to reduce user burden and improve the comfort, portability, and capabilities of a PAPR system for individual protection in biological and/or low chemical hazard environments. Preliminary blower and facepiece prototypes were developed and shown to provide high respiratory protection factor as a PAPR system. The primary technical challenge to bringing the technology to market and to the warfighter is developing low-cost manufacturing methods for the blower. In this project, Creare proposes to advance the design, materials, and capabilities of the low-SWaP blower to product-like status and develop low-cost methods for manufacturing and assembling blowers. Advanced blower prototypes produced with the new manufacturing approaches will be characterized in benchtop tests to demonstrate their SWaP, performance, and suitability for use in chemical/biological (chem/bio) protective PAPR systems. The advanced blower can serve as a PAPR air supply system in both low- and high-hazard environments and could be paired with a wide range of commercial tight- and loose-fitting respirator facepieces. It could also provide filtered ventilation air to high-level protection chem/bio protective garments.