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The MCAS 80 (Multi-Chamber Air Sterilization) is a unique multi-chamber NBC (Nuclear, Chemical, Biological) air filtration unit designed to remove or kill all nuclear-biological-chemical agents known. Pre-filtering occurs in chamber one, gas agent testing occurs in chamber two, chamber three is for mechanical filtration, and chamber four is where viruses, molds, and bacteria are killed by ultraviolet radiation.
Underground Home/Sealed Room/Fallout Shelters Multi-Chamber Air Sterilization Photos
Home Fallout Shelter Multi-Chamber Air Sterilization Drawings
For more information about the Multi-Chamber Air Sterilization Whole House System (MCAS-80) please contact Walton McCarthy here
 MCAS80 Whole House Sterilization
Product Summary
The MCAS is a unique MULTI chamber nbc air
filtration unit designed to remove OR KILL ALL NUCLEAR-BIOLOGICAL-CHEMICAL
AGENTS KNOWN. pre-filtering occurs in
chamber one, gas agent testING OCCCURS IN CHAMBER TWO, chamber three is FOR mechancial
filtration, and chamber four is where viruses, MOLDS, AND BACTERIA are killed
by ultraviolet radiation.
 MCAS80 Air Filter Kills ALL Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Agents
 MCAS80 Air Filter Kills ALL Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Agents
 MCAS80 Blower
The outside contaminated air enters the MCAS at
the pre-filter chamber consisting of a stainless steel micronic mesh to remove
large particles in the air that are 125 microns and larger. The smallest particle that the human eye is
able to see is 40 microns in diameter.
This pre-filter is removable and washable and greatly extends the life
of the next filtration stage. The
cover of the filter chamber has a visual inspection port (VIP) which has
two functions. First, by removing the
pipe plug, it allows a safe way of inspecting the pre-filter to see if it is
dirty and restricting the air flow.
Second, with a common spray bottle, it allows a way of introducing a
spray mist of hypochlorite and water to make the pre-filter moist so
contaminated dust does not fly around.
Once the pre-filter is moist, it can be removed, washed, and replaced.
 MCAS80 Pre-Filter
Under the pre-filter is chamber 2
containing the GATP (Gas Agent Test Port) where the incoming
air can be tested for chemical agents using the standard ARMY M256A test kit
(included). A 4 inch NPTM (national pipe
thread male) plug is unscrewed and the test card lays on the floor of this
chamber. Since the whole filter system
is under negative pressure there is no risk of contamination but rubber gloves
are used. The test port is also a way of
accessing the wing nut of the acme rod to remove the filter stem to replace the
filter sleeve.
Stage 3 HEPA
 MCAS80 Gas Agent Test Port
 MCAS80 Filter Sleeve
Contaminant
|
Particle Size -microns
|
Pollen
|
10-100
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Human Hair
|
50-100
|
Plant Spores
|
10-50
|
Fly Ash
|
1-100
|
Fungal Spores
|
2-8
|
Insecticide Dusts
|
3-10
|
Anthrax Spore
|
1 x 4
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Bacteria
|
0.1 - 50
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Lung Damaging Dust
|
0.5 - 5
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Tobacco Smoke
|
0.01 - 1
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Burning wood smoke
|
0.2 - 3
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Carbon Black
|
0.01 - 2
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Fumes
|
0.001 -1
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Viruses
|
.02 - .25
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Stage 4 Carbon Filter
A
mechanical filterxe "mechanical filter", such as a HEPA filter, is not able to remove
radioactive iodine gas. For this contaminant, an activated and impregnated
carbon filter must be employed. The carbon filter purifies the air by processes
called physical adsorption and chemical adsorption.
Physical
adsorption xe "adsorption "is a process where activated carbon is used to
perform a physical straining of contaminants, based on the molecular force,
much like a coffee filtering process but using a much finer filter. Carbon is
used because it has an extremely fine pore structure, much smaller than a HEPA
filter, and contains tremendous surface area.
For some types of carbon, a volume of l quart contains a surface area of
9 million square feet. This makes adsorption efficient and practical.
Chemical
adsorption is a process where impregnated carbon xe
"impregnated carbon "is used in the filter. Impregnated carbon has
been treated with specific chemicals which have an affinity to attract and
thereby remove specific toxins or gases.
There is a specific carbon to remove radioactive iodine gas and the
efficiency of removing the contaminant is based on the amount of time the
contaminant is in contact with the carbon. This required period of time
necessary to remove the contaminant is known as the residence time. Radioactive
iodine gas requires a residence time of 0.35 seconds.
The filter sleeve has two layers
of carbons. The first layer consists of activated carbon which removes
radioactive iodine gas generated from a nuclear explosion or nuclear power
plant accident. This filter makes it unnecessary to take Potassium Iodine to
block the absorption of radioactive iodine into the human thyroid. Iodine tablets only work if they are taken 24
hours in advance of breathing the radioactive iodine gas. The second layer of carbon is called
Whetlerite/TEDA Carbon and is specifically designed to remove chemical warfare
agents. The required resonance time is 0.35 seconds. Both carbons are designed for a minimum of
0.4 seconds.
Burning
forests produce toxic gases xe
"toxic gases "such as: nitrogen oxides, benzene gas, toluene
gas, and carbon dioxide. Toxic gases produced from burning plastics and
industrial chemicals are known as pyrotoxins. These pyrotoxins are: nitric acid
gas, chlorine gas, chlorinated dioxin gas, hydrochloric acid gas, acrolein gas,
and sulfuric acid gas. These gases would be dangerous primarily in the
immediate blast area for a number of days.
These toxins can be removed from the fresh air supply using a carbon
filter designed to remove acid gas. This stage requires an impregnated carbon
filter specifically designed to remove these acid gases. Complete filtering
requires a residence time of 0.35 seconds. 1 The activated carbon in the filter sleeve will
filter out these acid gases.
A
chemical warfare filter functions like impregnated carbon in the radioactive
iodine gas filter. The particular carbon
that must be used is called "Whetlerite Carbon", meeting military
specifications Mil-C-0013724C (EA) Grades 1 to 4, and is used in military blast
shelters. This carbon has been impregnated with copper, chromium, and silver to
specifically remove: carbon sulfate gas, cyanide gas, phosgene oxime gas,
mustard gas, phosgene gas, cyanogen chloride, sarin gas, soman gas, VR-55 gas, VX
gas, and other chemical warfare agents. It is extremely efficient, lasts many
years, and is very expensive. Complete
filtration requires a residence time of 0.35 seconds.
STAGE 5
POST CARBON FILTER
The
outside layer of the carbon filter is the "post filterxe
"post filter"". When air is drawn through a carbon filter,
some very fine particles of carbon are removed and deposited outside of the
filter. Because they are extremely fine, they get into everything just by air
movement within the shelter or house; thus, they are easily inhaled. These particles are called "carbon
fines" and are contaminated and must be kept within the filter. This is accomplished by using a micronic
fabric on the outside layer of the filter sleeve to contain the carbon fines
within the filter.
Stage 6 Ultraviolet Radiation
 MCAS80 HEPA
Viruses
are tiny geometric structures that can only reproduce inside a living
cell. They range in size from 0.02 to
0.25 microns. When they are outside a
living cell they are dormant but when it enters a host cell, it begins to
generate more virus particles. Bacteria
are one cell living organisms with an average size of 1 micron that does not
need a living host. Many bacteria are
beneficial to humans and necessary for the breakdown of organic wastes.
Killing Organisms
Many
viruses and bacteria are so small that they are not able to be filtered
physically by a HEPA or effectively adsorbed by the Carbon filter. Virtually all biological warfare agents can
be removed by filtering out what they are carried on such as a dust particle or
aerosol droplet. Viruses however, are
usually in the gaseous state and need to be killed by ultraviolet radiation (UVC)
or ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) which is an ultraviolet light on
the C scale, specifically at a wavelength of 254 nm which does not generate
ozone. The amount of energy required to
completely kill an organism such as a virus, bacteria, mold, etc is called the
Kill Energy which varies with each organism. The ultraviolet light under the
filter sleeve stem develops extremely high kill energy by slowing the air flow
as it flows through the stainless steel UV Chamber allowing more exposure time
to assure that the kill rate is absolute. Exposure time is based on light intensity
multiplied by time. The exposure imposed
on any organism in the MCAS-40 UV chamber is 11,200 uwsec/cm2. (microwatts/sec/square centimeter)
Ultraviolet
Radiation Dangers
UV
radiation does have two dangers. When
exposed to bare skin it will produce a sunburn (radiation burn) and it is also
damaging to the human eyes and can result in conjunctivitis (inflammation of
the mucous membranes). When changing the
bulbs, the UV light must be turned off to avoid these dangers. Near the bottom of the MCAS is a visual site
glass to visually verify if the ultraviolet light is on. This glass sight port is thick enough to
prevent any appreciable radiation negatively affecting nearby occupants.
AMOUNT
OF GERMICIDAL SHORTWAVE (254nm)
ULTRAVIOLET
RADIATION NECESSARY FOR
COMPLETE
DESTRUCTION OF VARIOUS ORGANISMS
Bacteria
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UV Dose
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Bacteria
|
UV Dose
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Agrobacterium
lumefaciens 5
|
8,500
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Pseudomonas
aeruginosa (Environ.Strain) 1,2,3,4,5,9
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10,500
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Bacillus
anthracis 1,4,5,7,9 (anthrax veg.)
|
8,700
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Pseudomonas
aeruginosa (Lab. Strain) 5,7
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3,900
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Bacillus
anthracis Spores (anthrax spores)*
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46,200
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Pseudomonas
fluorescens 4,9
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6,600
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Bacillus
megatherium Sp. (veg) 4,5,9
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2,500
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Rhodospirillum
rubrum 5
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6,200
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Bacillus
megatherium Sp. (spores) 4,9
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5,200
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Salmonella
enteritidis 3,4,5,9
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7,600
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Bacillus
paratyphosus 4,9
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6,100
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Salmonella
paratyphi (Enteric Fever) 5,7
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6,100
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Bacillus
subtilis 3,4,5,6,9
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11,000
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Salmonella
Species 4,7,9
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15,200
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Bacillus
subtilis Spores 2,3,4,6,9
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22,000
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Salmonella
typhimurium 4,5,9
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15,200
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Clostridium
tetani
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23,100
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Salmonella typhi (Typhoid Fever) 7
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7,000
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Clostridium
botulinum
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11,200
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Salmonella
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10,500
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Corynebacterium
diphtheriae 1,4,5,7,8,9
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6,500
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Sarcina lutea 1,4,5,6,9
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26,400
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Dysentery
bacilli 3,4,7,9
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4,200
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Serratia marcescens 1,4,6,9
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6,160
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Eberthella
typhosa 1,4,9
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4,100
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Shigella
dysenteriae - Dysentery 1,5,7,9
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4,200
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Escherichia coli 1,2,3,4,9
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6,600
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Shigella
flexneri - Dysentery 5,7
|
3,400
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Legionella
bozemanii 5
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3,500
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Shigella
paradysenteriae 4,9
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3,400
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Legionella
dumoffill 5
|
5,500
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Shigella sonnei 5
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7,000
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Legionella
gormanil 5
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4,900
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Spirillum rubrum 1,4,6,9
|
6,160
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Legionella
micdadei 5
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3,100
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Staphylococcus
albus 1,6,9
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5,720
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Legionella
longbeachae 5
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2,900
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Staphylococcus
aureus 3,4,6,9
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6,600
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Legionella
pneumophila (Legionnaire's Disease)
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12,300
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Staphylococcus epidermidis 5,7
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5,800
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Leptospira
canicola-Infectious Jaundice 1,9
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6,000
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Streptococcus
faecaila 5,7,8
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10,000
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Leptospira
interrogans 1,5,9
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6,000
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Streptococcus
hemolyticus 1,3,4,5,6,9
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5,500
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Micrococcus
candidus 4,9
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12,300
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Streptococcus
lactis 1,3,4,5,6
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8,800
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Micrococcus
sphaeroides 1,4,6,9
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15,400
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Streptococcus
pyrogenes
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4,200
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Mycobacterium
tuberculosis 1,3,4,5,7,8,9
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10,000
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Streptococcus
salivarius
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4,200
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Neisseria
catarrhalis 1,4,5,9
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8,500
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Streptococcus
viridans 3,4,5,9
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3,800
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Phytomonas
tumefaciens 1,4,9
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8,500
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Vibrio comma (Cholera) 3,7
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6,500
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Proteus vulgaris 1,4,5,9
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6,600
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Vibrio cholerae 1,5,8,9
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6,500
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Molds
|
UV Dose
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Molds
|
UV Dose
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Aspergillus
amstelodami
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77,000
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Oospora lactis 1,3,4,6,9
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11,000
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Aspergillus
flavus 1,4,5,6,9
|
99,000
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Penicillium
chrysogenum
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56,000
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Aspergillus
glaucus 4,5,6,9
|
88,000
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Penicillium
digitatum 4,5,6,9
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88,000
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Aspergillus niger (breed mold) 2,3,4,5,6,9
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330,000
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Penicillium
expansum 1,4,5,6,9
|
22,000
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Mucor mucedo
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77,000
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Penicillium
roqueforti 1,2,3,4,5,6
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26,400
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Mucor racemosus (A & B) 1,3,4,6,9
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35,200
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Rhizopus
nigricans (cheese mold) 3,4,5,6,9
|
220,000
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Protozoa
|
UV Dose
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Protozoa
|
UV Dose
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Chlorella vulgaris
(algae) 1,2,3,4,5,9
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22,000
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Giardia lamblia (cysts) 3
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100,000
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Blue-green Algae
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420,000
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Nematode Eggs 6
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40,000
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E. hystolytica
|
84,000
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Paramecium
1,2,3,4,5,6,9
|
200,000
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Virus
|
UV Dose
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Virus
|
UV Dose
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Adeno Virus Type
III 3
|
4,500
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Influenza
1,2,3,4,5,7,9
|
6,600
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Bacteriophage 1,3,4,5,6,9
|
6,600
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Rotavirus 5
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24,000
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Coxsackie
|
6,300
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Tobacco Mosaic
2,4,5,6,9
|
440,000
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Infectious Hepatitis 1,5,7,9
|
8,000
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0
|
0
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Yeasts
|
UV Dose
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Yeasts
|
UV Dose
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Baker's Yeast
1,3,4,5,6,7,9
|
8,800
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Saccharomyces
cerevisiae 4,6,9
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13,200
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Brewer's Yeast
1,2,3,4,5,6,9
|
6,600
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Saccharomyces
ellipsoideus 4,5,6,9
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13,200
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Common Yeast Cake
1,4,5,6,9
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13,200
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Saccharomyces
sp. 2,3,4,5,6,9
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17,600
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1. "The Use of Ultraviolet Light for Microbial
Control", Ultrapure Water, April 1989.
2. William V. Collentro, "Treatment of Water with Ultraviolet Light -
Part I", Ultrapure Water, July/August 1986.
3. James E. Cruver, Ph.D., "Spotlight on Ultraviolet Disinfection",
Water Technology, June 1984.
4. Dr. Robert W. Legan, "Alternative Disinfection Methods-A Comparison of
UV and Ozone", Industrial Water Engineering, Mar/Apr 1982.
5. Unknown
6. Rudolph Nagy, Research Report BL-R-6-1059-3023-1, Westinghouse Electric
Corporation.
7. Myron Lupal, "UV Offers Reliable Disinfection", Water
Conditioning & Purification, November 1993.
8. John Treij, “Ultraviolet Technology”, Water Conditioning &
Purification, December 1995.9. Bak Srikanth, “The Basic Benefits of
Ultraviolet Technology”, Water Conditioning & Purification, December 1995
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STAGE 6 BLOWER
 MCAS80 Ultra-Violet
MCAS-80 INSTALLATION
The MCAS can be placed in the
attic, basement, or mechanical room or anywhere the distribution ducts can
reach other rooms. The MCAS-80 will work
with up to an 18,000 ft3
structure.
Inlet air is taken from outside
the house using the stainless steel intake manifold that is supplied with the
MCAS. This requires drilling a 3 inch
diameter hole through an outside wall.
Outlet air exits the structure
through infiltration leaks in the house and the supplied stainless steel air
outlet manifolds. Infiltration occurs
through the perimeter of doors, windows, electrical boxes on outside walls and
ceilings, and anywhere air can penetrate and navigate around a hole or
fixture. The one inch diameter air
outlet manifolds are installed high
on the wall to vent heat and spent air.
The valves on the outlet manifolds are adjusted to maintain at least 0.1
inch water gage static pressure inside the structure.
For more information about the multi-chamber air sterilization product line contact Walton McCarthy here.
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