Advanced Water Protection System (AWPS)

Category: Worker Health & Safety > Personal Protective Equipment > Heat & Cold Protection
Reference # : OST No 75 Model No : AWPS

AWPS is a low pressure (40 psi), liquid-air-based, self-contained breathing and cooling system having a National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 2-hr. duration rating. It consists of the primary life-support components mounted in a backpack. The backpack is combined with the following: · A respirator, · A full-body LCG, · Outer garment options of either a splash suit or a totally encapsulated vapor-protection suit, and · Communications equipment. A durable/reusable material, Chemfab "Challenge 6400," met the requirements for the Level A vapor-protection suit. A disposable material was selected for the Level B liquid-splash-protection suit fabricated by Mar-Mac Manufacturing. Mar-Mac Manufacturing was chosen because of its access to and experience with the material, which is available from E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., Inc., as well as its specialized protective clothing heat-sealing capabilities. All components are commercially available. The heart of the system is the PLSS, which could also be used with many currently available protective garments. The backpack includes the vacuum-jacketed vessel or dewar, which contains the cryogenic liquid air The liquid air is vaporized and warmed in a heat exchanger, cooling the water supplied to LCG. The warmed air is regulated to the appropriate pressure and delivered to the facemask and regulator. The cooled water circulates through the tubes and patches of the full-body LCG, removing heat from the user, with the warmed water returned to the heat exchanger. The cooling supplied to the user varies automatically with the user's breathing rate and can be controlled manually by increasing the hydrogen flow through the heat exchanger. A recharge station is required to fill the dewar on AWPS with liquid air. The system uses liquid nitrogen to convert compressed breathing air into subcritical liquid air and can be added to most existing SCBA recharging systems.

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Limitations

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Worker wearing the Advanced Worker Protection System

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