Case Study – Running Cost Comparison Between a NAPR and an AYO WX HFM PAPR

by admin | Dec 6, 2023 | Industrial Protection Blog

From a performance standpoint, an elastomeric non-powered air purifying respirator (NAPR) can achieve a better seal than a N95 disposable paper mask thus achieving better protection. In addition, its filter cartridge can be protected from breath and can be designed with a higher dust-loading capacity, therefore, can last longer.

Another important point of a NAPR is that it is reusable, more cost-saving in the long run, and more environmentally friendly. Thus, it is not surprising that NAPR’s market share is on the rise.

However, when it comes to powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs), especially tight-fitting PAPRs, apart from being elastomeric, they offer better protection by design, as the pressure inside the breathing zone is positive, and they are also more comfortable to breathe.

Research shows that the NAPRs market size was over USD 9.5 billion in 2022, compared with USD 2.4 billion for PAPRs. Assuming an average NAPR is USD 50, and an average PAPR is USD 1000, which is roughly about right, this suggests a ratio of 79:1, meaning for 79 NAPR users, there is only one PAPR user. So there is more room for PAPRs to grow.

In fact, the industry trend is heading for more workers to move up from NAPRs toward PAPRs for better protection. For example, in Australia, the exposure limit for welding fumes is reduced from 5mg/m³ to 1mg/m³, and this almost certainly will demand the use of PAPRs in many welding sites.

However, most PAPRs are much more expensive than NAPRs, and they are also bulky, heavy, and troublesome to use and maintain, and these are the key inhibitors of their adoption. Therefore, it is easy to comprehend that there are more users of NAPRs than PAPRs.

To allow widespread workers to be able to take advantage of the improved protection from PAPR technology, Aimwell invented, designed, and optimized AYO WX HFM Half-Face Mask PAPR System, and we believe it can not only significantly enhance respiratory protection, but can also cost less within 12 months of use compared with typical NAPRs when doing daily dusty work, such as stonework.

Here is our case study:

Target NAPR: 3M 6200 with 2135 P2/P3 particular filter.

Comparing PAPR: AYO WX HFM Half-Face Mask PAPR System with pleated pre-filter and PAPR P3 HEPA filter.

Target application: Stonework
Estimated Filter replacement:

3M 2135 P2/P3 filter: every 5 days
AYO WX Pleated pre-filter: every 2 days.
AYO WX Main filter: every 20 days.

Result:

Analysis:

At initial purchase, the 3M 6200/2135 system costs $70 versus $559 of AYO WX HFM PAPR.
Due to the design of 2135 particle filter, there is no pre-filter that can be replaced cheaply. As a result, every 5 working days, the whole pair of filters need to be replaced.
In contrary, AYO WX HFM PAPR has a unique low-cost pleated pre-filter that can capture larger particles with reasonable dust-loading capacity and protect the HEPA filter. As a result, the HEPA filter can last longer while the pleated prefilter can be changed often at a very low cost.
At 12 months of use, the total cost of use for AYO WX HFM PAPR is $1,163 versus $1,245 for the 3M 6200/2135 system.

Other Considerations

The above comparison is based on the RRP for one AYO WX HFM Half-face Mask PAPR System. For large organizations with higher order quantity, the unit price will be lower than the RRP, thus the ‘breakeven’ time will be shorter accordingly.
Being a PAPR, AYO WX HFM PAPR is more comfortable to breathe, especially for long working hours.
Being a PAPR, AYO WX HFM can tolerate some facial leaks, but being a NAPR, the protection of 3M 6200/2135 is highly sensitive to facial leaks.
A non-clean-shaven person shall not use a NAPR. However, a person with a short beard may use AYO WX HFM PAPR and still achieve good protection even better than most loose-fitting PAPRs.
With patented technology, AYO WX HFM PAPR achieves a great wearability similar to common NAPRs. This is dramatically different from most common PAPRs which are bulky and heavy, with poor mobility.

powered-air-purifying-respirator-PAPR-300x300-1

For daily work in highly dusty environments, AYO WX HFM Half-Face Mask PAPR System can not only provide better and more reliable protection than a typical NAPR but also costs less after using for 1 year, in addition to being more comfortable to breathe, making AYO WX HFM PAPR a perfect upgrade from common NAPRs for many industrial respiratory protection applications.

Shop AYO WX HFM Half-Face Mask PAPR System here

Respirator use: to shave, or not to shave, that is the QUESTION

by admin | Nov 19, 2023 | Industrial Protection Blog

Common Requirement on Facial Air

Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) for beards

The Question here refers to respiratory protection when wearing a mask or a respirator.

Here, the ‘respirator’ can be categorized as an Air Purifying Respirator (APR) and a Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR).

Within PAPRs, we have Tight-fitting PAPRs and Loose-fitting PAPRs.

Here, ‘tight-fitting’ means a tight facial seal between the respirator and the skin as intended by design to prevent leaks; and ‘loose-fitting’ means a partial seal between the respirator and the skin as intended by design to relax the fitting allowing some leaks.

Typical tight-fitting respirators involve an elastomeric facial cushion, and typical loose-fitting respirators involve a helmet, a visor, or a hood.

Except for Loose-fitting PAPRs, clean-shaven is the common requirement for wearing a tight-fitting respirator, especially a paper mask or an APR.

The reason is simple:

you want all the hazardous contaminants to be blocked by the filter media with the mask or respirator. To ensure that, you want to ensure no gap between the mask/respirator and your facial skin. With facial hair, such as a beard, your mask or the respirator cushion will contact your beard first instead of your skin, leaving a gap for the contaminants to bypass the filter media to be sucked under negative pressure in the mask during inhalation.

So yes, with a negative pressure mask or respirator (APR), you must be clean-shaven to achieve the expected protection, and there is no question here, period.

Loose-fitting PAPRs are suitable for bearded people, or are they?

Loose-fitting PAPRs are designed not to rely on a tight seal for protection, instead, it relies on the blower in the PAPR to supply filtered air to the breathing zone.

To get it to work properly, the blower needs to produce all the flow for the wearer to breathe, and yes, if the PAPR can achieve it, it is indeed suitable for the bearded wearer or the wearer with facial hair.

Powered Air Purifying Respirator (PAPR) for bearded people

However, there may be a danger of misconception here that loose-fitting PAPRs are suitable for bearded wearers without considering the limitations. The fact is that the suitability is highly conditional and can be affected by several factors for a given application, such as:

How long is the facial hair and where is it located?
How powerful is the loose-fitting PAPR being used?
How is the airflow controlled? Will the flow get less when the built-in battery level is low?
How heavy is the physical work demanding on your breathing?
How dense are the contaminants?
What is the maximum exposure limit for the contaminants?

Most of these factors are related to the single most essential characteristic of PAPRs: Positive Pressure in the mask/breathing zone. As long as positive pressure is maintained all the time, there will be no leak issue from facial hair, as the air tends to be pushed out of the mask instead of being sucked in.

Now the question comes as to how positive pressure can be always maintained.

In a theoretical scenario, as long as the airflow generated from the blower in the PAPR is not less than the inhaled flow, positive pressure can be maintained. But in practice, for loose-fitting helmets, visors, or hoods, the leak paths can vary so that not all the flow from the blower can reach the breathing zone. Some may well leak out before reaching the breathing zone.

Therefore, the PAPR needs to be designed in such a way that, it generates flow more than what the wearer can breathe plus the flow leaked over the loose-fitting interface.

How much air can be generated from the PAPR is a matter of the blowing power of the PAPR; whereas, how much air you inhale depends on how hard you need to breathe to do your job.

The reality is that the maximum flow a PAPR can generate is limited and will also be reduced from its peak when the battery level becomes lower after a certain time of use.

Also, most loose-fitting PAPRs deliver constant flow. When the flow rate is high, so will the battery capacity, making the battery larger and heavier, and this will affect wearability and cost.

On the other hand, if your job is highly physical and causes heavy breathing, your inhaled air could outrun what the blower can deliver.

The other important factor to consider is the protection factor requirement of the PAPR for doing certain work. The concentration of the contaminants and the maximum exposure limit will determine the minimum protection factor of the PAPR. Typically, loose-fitting PAPRs have a lower protection factor than tight-fitting PAPRs. When the contaminant exposure limit demands a PAPR with a high protection factor, loose-fitting PAPRs may not be suitable, regardless of whether you have a beard or not.

So to make sure a given loose-fitting PAPR is suitable for any given application, especially for a bearded person, a careful assessment is needed case-by-case.

Can Tight-fitting PAPRs be used for bearded people?

When the flow capacity of the blower, the filter used, and the system leak are equal, tight-fitting PAPRs generally have a higher protection factor than loose-fitting PAPRs.

This is because during a negative pressure condition when the inhaled air outruns the air delivered from the blower, a tight-fitting mask will let in much less outside air compared with a partially sealed loose-fitting covering.

Typically, a tight-fitting mask is made of soft silicone rubber contacting the front of the face, and it is elastic enough to adapt to the contour of the face to achieve a good seal. In contrast, a loose-fitting covering typically uses elasticized fabric at the contact interface, and it may cover a much larger area, such as the head, the face, and the neck, than only the front of the face.

A tight-fitting PAPR has a much better seal over a relatively small area, whereas a loose-fitting PAPR has a partial seal over a rather large area, resulting in the leak from tight-fitting PAPAs being much less than from the loose-fitting PAPRs, hence the tight-fitting PAPRs have higher protection factor.

Now, if the beard is short enough such that the silicone cushion from the tight-fitting PAPR can still achieve a better seal than loose-fitting PAPRs, there is no reason why the tight-fitting PAPR can’t work as effectively if not better than a loose-fitting PAPR, given the loose-fitting covering has more leaks.

As an example, AYO WX HFM Standard Half-Face Mask PAPR System, which has a well-designed silicone facial cushion, was tested on a light-beard person achieving an average PortaCount fit factor over 2000 when powered on, similar to a clean-shave person under the same test conditions. The key reasons AYO WX PAPR can achieve this are due to its powerful peak flow of over 200 L/min, which is similar to most loose-fitting PAPRs, and also due to its positive pressure ensured by the responsive flow control that can quickly accelerate the blower output anytime when the inhalation increases.

So to answer the question, yes, a tight-fitting PAPR can be used with a light-beard person similarly to a loose-fitting PAPR, provided the facial cushion is well designed, the beard is reasonably short, the flow generation is powerful enough, and most importantly the ability to ensure positive pressure inside the mask.

Having said that, loose-fitting PAPRs are not suitable for high-exertion work with heavy breathing, as once the breathing outruns the blower, negative pressure will be created in the breathing zone, causing leaks to contaminants. In this situation, a tight-fitting PAPR is more appropriate, and loose-fitting PAPRs are normally limited to light to moderate workloads.

In Summary, here are our recommendations for bearded people

You must be clean-shaven when you wear a negative-pressure respirator.
You should be clean-shaven whenever you can even if you wear a PAPR.
If you must keep your beard, you must use a PAPR and make sure:
Trim your beard to a minimum for your lungs’ sake and your loved ones’ sake.
Use for works with light to moderate exertion.
Charge the battery in full before using the PAPR.
Avoid using blocked filters – change filters frequently.
Try to use a PAPR that can produce more air.
Try to use a PAPR with a minimum leak path and an elastomeric mask cushion.
Try to use a PAPR with powerful and intelligent breath-responsive flow control like an AYO WX.

Shop AYO WX Around-neck Modular PAPR Series here.

How to Protect from Silica Dust Effectively

by admin | Oct 17, 2023 | Industrial Protection Blog

The Health Risk of Breathing in Silica Dust

Silica is a natural substance found in most rocks, sand, clay, and in products such as bricks and concrete. Some of the dust generated is known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS). This dust is invisibly fine, can reach deep inside the lungs, and can cause permanent lung damage before symptoms develop. Significant exposure to RCS can cause silicosis, which is irreversible and may continue to worsen even after exposure stops. Exposure can also cause other serious diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.

Silicosis

The scarring of the lung tissue caused by RCS causes a loss of lung function, usually over a period of years. In the early disease stages, there are often no symptoms. However, shortness of breath can develop which can eventually impact the ability to walk even short distances.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

COPD is a long-term illness that develops gradually over several years. The lungs are permanently damaged making it difficult to breathe.

High-risk occupations

These include quarrying, slate works, foundries, potteries, stone working, construction (when cutting or breaking stone, concrete, or brick), and industries using silica flour to manufacture goods.

In some parts of Australia, one in four stone workers have silicosis because of silica dust.

Options for the Protection

Engineering Controls: Use automated cutting equipment as much as practicable.
Water suppression: Use tools that are fitted with water attachment as much as practicable.
Local Exhaust Ventilation: Use tools that are designed for local dust extraction as much as practicable.
Use effective Respiratory Protection Equipment (RPE)

What Kind of RPE Should Be Used?

RCS dust can accumulate when it goes deep into the lungs. So there is no safe limit of exposure when cutting stones is your daily work year after year. The safest way is to wear the highest protection RPE on a daily basis in addition to engineering control, water suppression, and local exhaust ventilation.

Powered Air-purifying Respirator (PAPR) is the best option for protection from silica dust compared with paper masks and Air-purifying Respirator (APR). This is because:

Paper masks have unreliable facial seals even though the mask may appear to fit well initially: the seals may break with facial movement and sweat, especially when doing tough physical jobs. While you concentrate on doing your jobs, it is unlikely you will mind your mask fitting to ensure there is no leak most of the time, leaving you vulnerable to hazardous dust.
Most APRs have better seals thanks to the elastomeric mask cushion. However, inevitably, leaks will still be present although less than in paper masks. Due to negative pressure inside the mask, dust can be sucked in through the small gaps. Besides, being non-powered means your lungs need to work harder to overcome the resistance of the filter. For physically demanding jobs, frequent breaks and rest are often needed.
PAPRs can provide more reliable protection: the pressure inside the mask is positive, meaning the air tends to be pushed out from inside the mask preventing outside dust from getting in. In addition, the blower in the PAPR does the hard work to suck the air through the filter without your extra effort to breathe, making your tough job easier, especially in hot conditions.

Why Aimwell AYO WX Around-neck Series PAPRs are Ideal RPEs for Stone Workers?

Due to high cost, heavy weight, bulky sizes, troublesome hose, belt, and difficulty to use and buy, PAPRs are less used by stone workers in situations where PAPRs would provide the best protection.

Not anymore, AYO WX can remove all these obstacles.

Invented, designed, and fine-tuned in Australia, AYO WX HFM Half-Face Mask PAPR System is a state-of-the-art PAPR that stands out from the rest in that:

It has a very high protection factor: PAPR P3
It has a very high fit factor: demonstrated by superb results from PortaCount Fit Testing.
The around-neck structure eliminates hassles associated with hoses and belts, while being compatible with common PPEs, such as hard hats, goggles, earmuffs, etc.
Lightweight and low-profile: Easier for doing tough jobs.
It is very comfortable to breathe: thanks to the breath-responsive airflow control.
Long battery life: 8 – 16 hours per full charge.
Very long service life: Battery replaceable.
Very easy to operate, clean, and maintain.
Designed for flush-wash after use in heavy dust.
Very low running costs: With low-cost pleated pre-filter, no need to change the higher-cost HEPA filter frequently.
Very affordable price – a faction of most PAPRs on the market.

In short, Aimwell AYO WX Around-neck series PAPRs are the only PAPRs to date that are finally within reach by most stone workers.

Quick Steps to Use AYO WX HFM Half-Face Mask PAPR System

Charge the battery before use.
Fit the mask assembly first and tighten the strap at the back of the neck.
Remove the Guard Link from the Main Unit, wake it up by pressing its On/Off button, then slide the Main Unit down against the back of your head until it rests on the two supporting hooks of the head strap.
Push-fit the mask to each end of the Main Unit.
Pull the buckles of the head strap over the rubber neck pad.
Then breathe and off you go!

Shop AYO WX PAPR Systems here