Improving the quality and safety of the air breathed by our first responders

For BAUER, protecting the health of breathing air consumers has always been paramount. The company’s B-DETECTION PLUS online gas measurement system provides accurate measurements of the commonest hazardous substances associated with breathing air. However, a new threat now lurks in the form of viruses like SARS-CoV-2, as well as bacteria and moulds. These new dangers are particularly insidious because they are invisible and highly communicable – and cannot be measured by sensors. They can spread at lightning speed by contact or droplet infection. Inhaled in ambient air, they can pass through any commercially available standard air purification system. Even the high temperatures and pressure levels of the compression process have little effect on them because of their short exposure to the process.

BAUER KOMPRESSOREN has developed B-VIRUS FREE, a solution that eliminates viruses at the air intake stage. The system is designed to protect firefighters, medical staff and others from these hazards whenever they require respiratory equipment for their daily operations.

This new protective filter system reliably neutralises – depending on the charging rate of the compressor – up to 99.9% of the corona viruses, bacteria and special moulds from the intake air.

Brilliantly simple and wholly effective, the chemical- and ozone-free technology of the patent-pending B-VIRUS FREE System uses a special UV light source to destroy pathogens in the intake air flow before they can reach the compressor. The highly effective 254nm UV wavelength is absorbed by the pathogens’ DNA, where the photons destroy the bonds between the DNA strands of the viruses, bacteria and mould spores and effectively prevents them from reproducing.

B-VIRUS FREE can be ordered alongside any new BAUER system and is also easy to retrofit. The filter system is designed for flexible mounting to a wall and has a compact footprint for extra ease of handling and convenience.

Even when your compressor is operated and maintained in line with professional standards, critical conditions, which can occur between scheduled air quality tests, may cause breathing air to become contaminated with hazardous substances, including CO, CO₂ and VOCs. BAUER tackled this problem by developing its own in-house gas measurement system – the new B-DETECTION PLUS.

A gas measurement system has the purpose of measuring and monitoring all predefined gases in continuous operation. It ensures that breathing air cylinders are filled with ‘clean’ air only, and that firefighters and other emergency services personnel breathe nothing but air that complies with DIN EN 12021:2014 specifications.

It is available in three versions: B-DETECTION PLUS i (integral to the compressor unit), B-DETECTION PLUS s (a stand-alone unit for full-time online monitoring) and B-DETECTION PLUS m (a mobile version).