Powered air purifying respirator PAPRs

A powered air purifying respirator - or PAPR - is a positive pressure respiratory protective equipment. The breathing effort is reduced or even zero because a motorized ventilator delivers filtered air directly into the facepiece through a corrugated tube. The main advantage of this type of device is the reduction of the respiratory effort, so it is particularly suitable and preferred for long or strenuous work.

A PAPR consists of 3 elements: The motor, usually attached to the belt in the back, so that its light weight does not encumber its user. The filtered air passes through a flexible and sealed corrugated hose. The respiratory protection filter, placed in front of the engine responsible for sending filtered air into the face piece, some models are using several filters simultaneously. The facepiece, half mask, full mask, full PAPR hood with or without helmet, welding shield, etc.

A powered air purifying respirator is able to filter up to 40 times the OEL (occupational exposure limit value of a pollutant), it is therefore a high performance respiratory protection device with a large range of face parts adapted to many applications, various uses and activity fields. However, like all air purifying devices, PAPRs can only be used when the air has a minimum oxygen volume of 19.5%.