Dry Heat as a Potential Decontamination Method on the Filtration Efficiency of Filtering Facepiece Respirators
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Filtering Facepiece Respirator Description
2.2. Heat Pretreatment
2.3. Filtration Efficiency Measurement
2.4. Microstructure of the Respirator Filter
2.5. Experimental Data Processing
2.5.1. Filtration Efficiency
2.5.2. Microstructure
2.5.3. Establishment of a Neural Network Model
3. Results
3.1. Filtration Efficiency
3.2. Microstructure
3.3. Model Building
4. Discussion
4.1. Variation of Filtration Efficiency
4.2. Changes in Microstructure
4.3. Feasibility of Neural Network Method Application
4.4. Feasibility of Dry Heat Disinfection
5. Conclusions
- (1)
- Heating temperature and duration will affect the respirator filtration efficiency. As the temperature and time increased, the decline in respirator filtration efficiency became more obvious.
- (2)
- Through the SEM images, it is clear that excessive temperature led to the increase in the fiber distribution inhomogeneity and the pore distribution range, reducing the filtration efficiency of the respirator.
- (3)
- The NARX neural network model exhibited an ideal fit. The model showed that the effect of dry heat treatment at 80 °C and 90 °C on the filtration efficiency of the respirator was limited when other factors were not considered. The respirator may have a surplus of filtration efficiency in the production process, therefore, the respirator may continue to be used after thermal disinfection at a certain temperature and duration. According to the predicted data of the neural network, it can be inferred that at 100 °C for 0.25 h, and above, the filtration efficiency of the respirator will no longer meet the requirement of GB 2626-2019.
- (4)
- The initial filtration efficiencies of different respirators are inconsistent, which will lead to different reductions in the filtration efficiency caused by dry heating. According to our experimental results, the heating disinfection temperature can be between 70 °C and 90 °C, and the heating time can be between 30 min and 2 h.
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Particle | Concentration | MMD * | NMD * |
---|---|---|---|
DOP | 50–200 mg/m3 | 0.33 μm | 0.20 μm |
NaCl | 12–20 mg/m3 | 0.26 μm | 0.075 μm |
Training Regression (R) | Validation Regression (R) | Test Regression (R) | All Regression (R) |
---|---|---|---|
0.86 | 0.90 | 0.88 | 0.87 |
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Jin, Z.; Sun, C.; Wu, W.; Yang, X. Dry Heat as a Potential Decontamination Method on the Filtration Efficiency of Filtering Facepiece Respirators. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 7167. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127167
Jin Z, Sun C, Wu W, Yang X. Dry Heat as a Potential Decontamination Method on the Filtration Efficiency of Filtering Facepiece Respirators. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(12):7167. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127167
Chicago/Turabian StyleJin, Zhixu, Chenchen Sun, Wending Wu, and Xiaobing Yang. 2022. "Dry Heat as a Potential Decontamination Method on the Filtration Efficiency of Filtering Facepiece Respirators" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 12: 7167. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127167