The fear of terrorist attacks against civil targets has increased recently. One of the most frightful scenarios is the use of airborne chemical, biological or radiological (CBR) weapons against unprotected civilians. Of particular concern are airports where such an attack may cause extensive injury and severe impact on the aviation industry and the whole economy of the European Union. High efficiency filtration is one of the few measures that can be implemented in advance to reduce the consequences of intentional CBR agent release. However, due to the high pressure drop, large space requirements and the high initial and operating costs the present high efficiency filters are not practical solutions for existing buildings. Moreover, their installation would need costly and time-consuming renovation of the whole ventilation system. The AIRSECURE system will improve the security of passengers and workers at airports by a comprehensive approach including risk analysis for identifying the high-risk areas, novel protective filtration systems, proper air distribution, and detectors for early warnings of threat.
The main idea of the AIRSECURE solution is to combine promising new filtration technologies for removal of both particulate and gaseous hazardous agents with a protective filtration unit. These distributed units can be flexibly and quickly installed in the supply air of the high-risk areas. The very low flow resistance of the filter allows its installation without extensive modifications to the ventilation systems. New particle detectors will be developed to monitor the performance of the filtration system for maximum security. The optimum number and location of both particle and gas detectors and protective filtration systems are based on risk analysis. The secure air-filtration and advanced warning systems can deter the attacks, and reduce the effects of a CBR agent release by removing the toxic agents from supply air of the building.