Email Enquiry

RPE Selection

Initial Email Enquiry –

I wonder if the other refinery members can help, I am looking for a recommendation on what type of Respiratory protective devices do the other refineries use when doing work inside their furnaces. Vanadium Pentoxide is our major concern. We have difficulty with face seal on normal filter masks and airline equipment from air supply is very difficult and slows down the work in the furnaces.

Please can the membership assist Rory in his quest for a solution to a specific RPE problem – ‘REPLIES TO ALL’ for shared learning purposes.

1st Response –

Firstly it has to be assessed whether the Furnace is a confined space and if it has the potential to be deficient in oxygen. If this is the case then only compressed air breathing apparatus will be suitable.

Vanadium pentoxide (CAS No. 1314-62-1) is the most commonly used vanadium compound and exists in the pentavalent state as a yellow-red or green crystalline powder of relative molecular mass 181.9. Other common synonyms include vanadic anhydride and divanadium pentoxide. It is a dust/particulate so will require particulate filtration. Before deciding on the levels of respiratory protection required it must be know what the level of dust is in the furnace that you are trying to protect against. There are certain measures that can be done to lower this level of dust such as vacuuming or exhuast ventilation before the work is done (although obviously consideraton has to be given to where this excess dust is going). From this dust level you will then know the protection factor of the apparatus you require to keep the workers exposure within the maxium exposure limits, both short term and long term.

The datasheets for this product recommend filtration products in accordance with the EN140, 141, 143 or 149 sould be worn.

EN140:

  • Half or quarter masks which cover the nose, mouth and chin, or just the nose and mouth.
  • The facepiece is generally a flexible rubber or silicone rubber material, and masks can usually be fitted with a range of replaceable filters which conform to the separate standards EN141, 143, 371, 372 (see below).
  • The maximum weight of filters to be fitted to half masks is 300 grams, since heavy filters are liable to disturb the faceseal and prove uncomfortable.
  • Half masks may be fitted with the EN148/1 standard thread fitting which allows the use of standard thread canisters, although this is unusual since standard thread canisters are frequently too heavy for this application.

EN141

  • Gas/vapour or combination filters. A combination filter is one that combines a gas filtering element with a particulate filtering element conforming to EN143 above. Gas/vapour filters are classified according to type and class.
  • GAS/VAPOUR FILTER TYPES
  • TYPE COLOUR CODE APPLICATION
  • A Brown Certain organic compounds with a boiling point above 65°C as specified by the manufacturer.
  • B Grey Certain inorganic substances e.g. Chlorine, Hydrogen sulphide, Hydrogen cyanide(excluding Carbon monoxide) E Yellow Certain acid gases e.g. Sulphur dioxide K Green Ammonia and certain organic ammonia derivatives NoxP3 Blue/White Oxides of Nitrogen (single use only) HgP3 Red/White Mercury and compounds
  • Since the filter adsorbent materials are usually different for each of these different types, it is clearly vital the correct filter is used for any given substance.
  • It is also important to appreciate that there are many substances for which filters are ineffective or inappropriate, e.g. Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Monoxide, Methane, Acetylene, Propane, inert gases such as Helium and Argon, as well as many Fluorocarbon refrigerant and anaesthetic gases (e.g. Chlorodifluoromethane). When working in environments where these substances are present in hazardous concentrations, air supplied respiratory protection devices must always be specified.
  • EN141 also classifies filters by capacity, with classes 1 - 3 being low, medium and high capacity, respectively.

EN143

  • Particulate filters which are effective against all dusts and fibres. Most are also effective against metal (e.g. welding) fume, liquid mists, bacteria and virus, although this should always be checked with the supplier of any individual filter. This standard describes only those filters to be fitted to EN140 half masks and EN136 full facemasks; the requirements for powered respirator filters are separately contained within the powered RPD standards.
  • There are three classes of particulate filter, P1: low efficiency, P2: medium efficiency and P3: high efficiency. Since the relative performance difference between these filters is rather large, it is very important that the correct filter class is chosen for any given application.

EN149

  • Disposable particluate respirators.
  • As you will see these are all basic types of PPE so if for comfort something more sophisticated was wanted then a tornado with a hood and particluate filters could be used.
  • Our respiratory protection guide which I also attach recomments particulate filtration and gives the exposure limits and this is the major factor in the customers risk assessement, ie what levels of Vanadium pentoxide will his workers be working in and that will dictate the relevant RPE to use. it is also worth saying that there are other forms of PPe that should be considered such as gloves, goggles etc and this can be seen in the datasheet.
  • View / download Respiratory Selection Guide (PDF doc.)
  • View / download Vanadium Hse Document (PDF doc.)
  • View / download Vanadium Pentoxide Datasheet (PDF doc.)


End of email correspondence on Topic to date.

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