Basics of Breathing Air
INTRODUCTION
The design and operation of a cylinder refill system for compressed breathing
air can be simplified by separating the system into five components:
- Compressor
- Purification System
- Air Quality Monitors
- Storage System
- Filling Station
These components can be integrated into a single package to form a complete
Cylinder Refill System (CRS), such as the Baron II or AIRQUEST Mobile CRS, or
they can be individually combined to form a component-built or modular system.
The CADET CPM and Accessories are an example of a popular modular system.
Once interconnected, the components operate as follows:
- The compressor draws ambient air through a strategically located air
intake and compresses it through multiple compression stages. The compressed
air is then routed to the purification system for processing.
- The purification system processes the compressed air stream to ensure
that delivered air meets breathing air quality. The mechanics of the
purification process includes mechanical separation, impingement,
adsorption, absorption and catalytic conversion. During the purification
process visible contaminants such as oil, water and particulate matter, down
to a size of 1.0 micron, is removed. Finally, gaseous contaminants such as
water vapour, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide are removed.
- Air monitors are utilized to ensure that the air quality is maintained
in accordance with industry standards. Compliance with established
regulations is facilitated through such methods as continuous in-line
monitoring and/or periodic sampling.
- Once purified, compressed breathing air is then stored in the storage
system. The storage system consists of high pressure air receivers or
containers that store the purified, pressurized air until needed.
High-pressure air is transferred from the storage system into breathing
apparatus cylinders by the filling station.
- The filling station is designed to fill self-contained breathing
apparatus (and/or self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) cylinders
easily, efficiently and safely. A filling station can be very simple or
quite complex. A simple filling station may consist of a single fill hose. A
complex filling station may consist of both an air control panel, utilized
to monitor and control the system air flow and pressure, and a fill
container enclosing BA cylinders during the filling process in order to
protect the operator and by-standers.
The following abbreviations are commonly used in conjunction with compressed
breathing air systems:
- BA=Breathing Apparatus, SCBA and/or SCUBA
- SCBA=Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
- SCUBA=Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
- CRS=Cylinder Refill System
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