N. Y. State Fire Academy Stresses Need for Pure Air
The New York State Academy of Fire Science was founded nine years ago to provide advanced training for both paid and volunteer fire fighters from throughout the state. Between 2500 and 3000 students attend the 50 courses held at the academy each year. Along with advanced fire fighting techniques, the courses stress the maintenance and operation of fire fighting equipment.
Increasingly over the years, attention has focused on compressor and breathing apparatus programs. The academy likes to emphasize the importance of training the fire fighters to use their breathing apparatus, and thinks the message is finally beginning to sink in.
Purity of air a concern
Ensuring the purity of the air used to fill breathing air bottles is another major concern. There has been an awful lot of bad air coming from compressors. There’s a lot of moisture and a lot of oil carryover. In one firehouse, it was discovered that the insides of their bottles were coated with oil. They had been using only a charcoal filter, which wasn’t sufficient to do the job.
Impurities in breathing air can affect not only the health of fire fighters but their comfort as well. Along with oil and water, deadly carbon monoxide may be present. Foul tastes and odors— aside from being objectionable—may signal the presence of toxic contaminants. Breathing air free of impurities and bad tastes and odors allows fire fighters to perform more effectively and for longer periods of time.
The fire academy purchased a multifunctional purification system, which it now uses for demonstration purposes as part of its training program. The system, a Del-Monox purifier model 1035 rated for pressures up to 5000 psig, is installed between the compressor and a cascade system of storage bottles. The various contaminant-removal stages are combined in a single replaceable cartridge housed in a high-strength steel vessel. The unit is bolted to a wall or equipment racks and then connected to the compressor and the cascade system.
Three stages of purification
In the first stage of purification, air is filtered to remove particulates, oil droplets and fine oil mists. In the second stage, moisture is removed by desiccant drying. This not only prevents rusting of pipe lines, cascade bottles and tanks, but also protects the catalyst in the third stage, which chemically converts deadly carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. The fourth stage removes unpleasant tastes and odors.
One of the features of the purifier is an indicator which changes color from green to yellow to show when the cartridge must be replaced. Purifying capacity is affected by the water-absorbing capacity of the desiccant protecting the catalyst. As long as the indicator is green, the catalyst is active and will continue to convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. As soon as the green color begins to fade toward yellow, a new cartridge must be placed in the vessel. Replacing the cartridge is accomplished easily without the need for special tools.
At the New York State Academy of Fire Science, the system is used as a typical example of an effective compressed air purification system, and it helps to bring home the point that raw air directly from compressors cannot be relied upon to meet breathing air standards. In New York State and elsewhere, fire departments are turning away from relying on outside sources to fill their breathing air tanks. And they’re paying more attention to the quality of breathing air produced by their own compressors. As the fire fighting environment becomes increasingly hazardous, fire companies are moving to meet the challenge of preparedness.
