High Security Filtration system for protecting buildings from airborne chemical, biological, and radiological hazards

Buildings are vulnerable to airborne chemical, biological or radiological (CBR) hazards. Toxic agents released in a building or into an air intake would spread rapidly throughout the building via ventilation system. To improve the security of building occupants a novel low pressure drop protective filtration system was developed for continuous removal of toxic agents from the supply air. The protective filter consists of electrically enhanced particle filter to remove liquid and solid toxic aerosols combined with a chemical filter to remove gas phase agents. The performance of the high security filter was measured in laboratory tests and compared with conventional filters. The results showed that the new filter provides high removal efficiency for particulate and gaseous contaminants at a much lower pressure drop than present solutions. With the aid of the new filtration system, protection against toxic agents can be flexibly and cost-efficiently increased in specific high-risk areas in a building.