Manual Filter-Ventilation Device for Everyone

Update (April 9, 2012)

At the present time, an adjustment in the size of filter-ventilation unit to the dimensions of the newly available filters is underway, which in real conditions will have a greater lifespan. By May, we should have a sample video placed here.

It is common knowledge that in the event of thermonuclear, chemical or biological warfare, people in contaminated areas should wear protective masks with the appropriate filters and possibly also other protective equipments for a certain period of time. In most countries of the world, the majority of people over the age of 18 must buy their own mask including appropriate filters in advance. It is expected that in case of a war threat to the State or of a state of war protective masks, jackets and “carry-cots” for children and a very small part of the adult population would be issued. Only few countries plan to issue protective masks with filters to the “whole” population.

Timely and correct putting on a protective mask with the appropriate filter does not necessarily mean ending the problem of contaminated air. Besides the mask, it might often be necessary to put on protective suit. The tolerability of the protective masks and child protective jackets and "carry-cots" is usually only in the range of hours (6–24) and not days. The time for which a filter can be used depends on its type, on the concentration and type of the contaminant, the amount of dust in the surrounding environment, the amount of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the filtered air, on physical exertion, time spent in the contaminated area, respiration rate, etc. So a filter is safe to use from tens of minutes to several hours; under relatively “favorable” conditions, it might last even a couple of days. It is evident from the above that a protective mask, jacket or “carry-cot” serves only for a relatively short stay in the contaminated area.

In most countries, undamaged and fully equipped fallout shelters are, theoretically, capable of providing shelter to a part of the population for 1 to 4 days. This depends especially on the number of sheltered persons, on the concentration and type of the contaminants in the atmosphere, on supplies (located inside the shelter) of spare collective filters and pre-filters, supplies of fuel for the genset, amount of soda lime or other chemical used to capture CO₂, the number and size of full oxygen bottles needed to maintain a certain percentage of oxygen in the air, an adequate amount of drinking water and, of course, the presence of trained staff in the shelter. We should add that the capacity of the shelter is given as the number of people that can be seated.

It is obvious that the biggest problem is supplying the shelter with safe air. We can bring in air from outside using the filter-ventilation device with the appropriate filters or we can switch to a closed internal circuit. An external circuit is not suitable, especially in circumstances when there is heavy smoke, high concentration of CO₂ and CO or a large concentration of chemical warfare agents or radioactive substances outside, because this could cause very quick clogging of the filters. Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide would penetrate the filters easily. If there were not enough reserve filters, it would be necessary to switch to the internal circuit – that would be associated with a rise in CO₂ levels and of temperature in the shelter. A large amount of soda lime is needed to capture carbon dioxide. Of course, concurrently with the CO₂ capturing we should supply oxygen (O₂) and maintain its minimal concentration at a safe level. The capacity of the oxygen bottles would run out very quickly, even in well-equipped shelters. It would be also possible to oxidize the air chemically, but we would require tons of chemicals. This means that a fully occupied shelter running uninterruptedly on an internal circuit would be usable for just one or two days. After that we would not probably have enough chemicals to absorb CO₂ and no more supplies of compressed oxygen in the oxygen bottles. It is also important to understand that the more spare collective filters, soda lime, barrels with fuel for the genset and oxygen bottles there are in the shelter, the less space for people.

We could claim therefore that civilians would be able to stay in the shelters as long as they had enough drinking water, the appropriate filters and working genset or manual filter-ventilation device. In most cases, people would have to leave the shelters after four days and, if necessary, move to uncontaminated areas. This might be very difficult in reality, because the speed of such move would depend on many circumstances (the passableness of roads, the size of the contaminated area, the concentration and type of the used chemical warfare agents, poisons (toxins) or biological warfare agents, the weather, the operability of army units and rescue services, the eventual radiation level on the terrain, the age, gender and health status of the transferred individuals, the discipline of the civilians and their knowledge about protection against weapons of mass destruction, a sufficient number of protective masks with the appropriate filters and of protective suits, etc.).

It is improbable that a nuclear, chemical, biological or toxin attack would take place completely out of the blue. Such an attack would most probably be preceded by rising international tension (more information is in the article What Lies Ahead in 2011 and 2012 and in the sections titled World Developments and News) surely perceptible for at least several days before any attack (depending of course on the type and quality of the used information sources, on how old the information would be and on how it is evaluated). Since the equipment of most nuclear shelters is designed to protect people for a few days only, it could be expected that people would not be allowed in until shortly before an impending attack. The attack could be carried out very quickly and in some cases there might not be more than several minutes before the shelters close. At night, of course, it would be much more difficult to get to a nuclear shelter. The possibility of an electromagnetic impulse, the destruction of a power plant, etc., causing a power outage in our area should also be taken into account. In such a case we would have to rely on warning sirens (if they are still working) or on our own judgment.

Is there any way whatsoever of securing effective air filtration for civilians who are not in a fallout shelter? The answer is yes. Besides short-term solutions like protective masks, “carry-cots” and jackets, some individuals may be able to purchase large filter-ventilation devices like those used in fallout shelters. The disadvantage of such devices is theirs enormous weight, dimensions and price. Also the filters for these devices weigh dozens of kilograms. A sufficient amount of fuel has to be at hand for the diesel aggregate. There are, however, also smaller filter-ventilation devices not dependent on electrical power – the military hand-operated filter-ventilation devices coupled to collective filters. Operating these devices, though, requires a lot of muscle. The weight of such devices including the collective and dust filter is never less than 80 to 100 kg (176–220 lb). If there are several healthy and strong individuals around, who can take turns operating the hand-operated filter-ventilation device, then the problem is not so big. But it would be unrealistic to presume something like this in the case of an ordinary family. What the army or rescue services can do is out of question for ordinary civilians.

The developments in the world being such as they are, thus we started searching for a filter and ventilation device for our private needs that could be used for a long time in real warfare conditions. Before starting to browse the web and making inquiries among the people we knew, we drafted a list of filter and ventilation device parameters we considered essential. They included, for example, high reliability, absolute independence of electrical power, possibility of being operated by just one person – even if that person were ill, very tired or had suffered minor injury (in other words low energy demands of the operator), light weight, small size, possibility of being used in the event of a nuclear, chemical, biological or toxin attack and also during landfill fires or chemical plant accident, etc., easy maintenance, safe operation, possibility of being easily transported by one person, rapid assembly and readiness for use from a dismantled state and easy and quick change of filters by one person even if that person were very tired, ill or had some minor injury. You will not be surprised to hear that we did not find any such device. So we decided to make it.

The creation of a filter-ventilation device meeting our stringent requirements was rather demanding. During development and production we invented some useful accessories and included them, one by one, into the product. When after some time we found out that people were with great difficulties starting to make various kinds of filter and ventilation devices driven by diesel aggregate with the option of manual drive at home, we decided to start offering our device to the public.

All handymen who make a filter-ventilation device at home we praise and keep our fingers crossed for them. We would just give them one good advice that not all companies producing and selling activated carbon filters sell them quality activated carbon or filter. There are many types of activated carbon, each suitable for a different use. For example, non-standard activated carbon is used to capturing of a number of chemical warfare agents, which is moreover specially impregnated; the size of the compressed activated carbon, the thickness of its layer in the filter, the filter size etc. is also important. If we were to buy some commonly available activated carbon designed for use against certain industrial pollutants, it would either have no effect at all, or only a very limited one against current chemical warfare agents. Unfortunately, this is something we would not find out until it was too late. To recognize a quality filter is not simple, and often almost impossible. We are lucky however to cooperate with a company with decades of experience in producing, besides other things, filters of a very high quality both for military and civilian use.

People should also know how to recognize when a filter needs replacing. Most current chemical warfare agents cannot be detected by smell (or sometimes when the concentrations are high) and a filter replacement that is done too late could in some cases be futile as well. When you ask a producer of an activated carbon filter about filter life in real conditions, he mostly brush you off by claiming that it depends on many circumstances, like for instance wind velocity and direction, temperature, type of chemical (warfare) agent present in the atmosphere, … He is right, of course, but this is not information that would be of any use to anyone. That is why we will attach recommendations to our filter-ventilation device for people to have at least an approximate idea of how long a filter ought to serve under unfavorable circumstances in a given area. We believe it is better to replace the filter when it reaches two-thirds of its life than to do so a couple of hours after.

The enhanced version will also offer an option of purchasing, for example, engine (including accessories), with which you can power the entire device from the 12V accumulator. Also the whole device can be used for accumulators charging too.

Our filter-ventilation device contains several conveniences which place it among the absolute top in filter-ventilation devices designed especially for ordinary civilians. Without exaggeration, this device represents a completely new generation of filter-ventilation devices designed for the most demanding conditions where there is no certainty of permanent access to a power source and where the demands on air filtration are extremely high. It can be used to air filtration not only by healthy, rested, strong and well-fed adult individuals, but also by old, sick and lightly injured people and even by children. Thanks to this filter-ventilation device, ordinary civilians will have easy access to safe air and will thus often be protected against harmful air just as well as generals, commanding officers or various prominent persons hiding in shelters equipped with military filter-ventilation devices.

Besides air filtration, the device can be used also for normal ventilation, i.e. when the air outside is clean and we just need to provide air exchange. The use of our filter-ventilation device is not only limited to protection of people during a war conflict. It can be used also to provide clean air for the protection of various animals in smaller stables, barns and the like. Use at other times than during armed conflict is advisable especially in areas where there is a possibility of industrial accidents in chemical plants, nuclear power stations, oil refineries, gasworks, fertilizer storage facilities, chemical warehouses, landfill fires, forest fires, and also in regions with more frequent movement of truck tanks transporting various toxic substances, …

As soon as this device is ready for sale, it will be presented to the public on video on our web pages, approximately at the end of March 2012. However, the condition for publishing the illustration video is the completion of the process of protection of our several patent claims, which are associated with this device. We still have to complete the procedure related to the issue of export of this device beyond the territory of the Czech Republic with the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Nevertheless, we have started accepting preliminary and unbinding orders for this device. The manufactured items will be always sold according to a waiting list.

The price has not yet been finally set. We tentatively assume that it should be around CZK 43,000 (approx. USD 2,250 or EUR 1,750 – depending on the current rate of exchange of the Czech crown on the date of payment), inclusive of two pre-filters – the ULPA filter of class 15 (filter-ventilation units are commonly supplied with HEPA filters of class 14) and the main filter with specially impregnated activated carbon. We have set the price low to make this device affordable for ordinary civilians and not only the prominent persons. Payment can be then made in cash, by bank transfer, payment card or through PayPal. An invoice will be issued of course.

At the same time we will eleborate a free of charge analysis for you from which you will know what the minimal number of filters you should have in reserve for different spans of filtration; the calculations will be made with regard to the number of sheltered occupants, the size of the rooms designated for their sheltering, the distance of individual possible targets of attack from your shelter, the location of the expected place of your sheltering (on a hill, in a valley, in a forest, etc.). The season will also be taken into account. The assessment of the danger resulting from a possible chemical attack near your location will take into account expected concentrations (and their changes in time) of the most dangerous chemical agents in your area. The calculations will be made for such atmospheric conditions that would present the greatest danger to you.

Anybody interested in this filter-ventilation device will be able to try it out on our premises wholly without obligation to buy. We recommend to take your children with you so that they can try it out too. After returning home the facts will be discussed in the family circle and on their basis a decision will be made whether to buy the device.

We recommend you to attend at least two of our special courses – Protection against WMD and Protection against Nuclear Weapons. These courses will provide you with the necessary knowledge about the effects of weapons of mass destruction and protection against them.