Breathing air compressors
The equipment category page: packages, panels, and monitors.
See breathing air equipment
Specialty: Grade D breathing air
Breathing Air Systems for Supplied Air Respirators
- Since 1978
- Sullair dealer since 1984
- 14 locations
- under 2 hour response
Grade D Spec Plate
- Standard
- OSHA 1910.134
- Quality
- CGA G-7.1 Grade D
- CO limit
- 10 ppm, monitored
- Sizing
- Per simultaneous user
- Since
- Brabazon specialty, 1978
What do I need to supply OSHA-compliant Grade D breathing air to my workers?
When a worker straps into a supplied-air hood, the air behind it becomes a life safety system, and OSHA 1910.134 says exactly what that means: at least Grade D air per CGA G-7.1, delivered by a breathing air compressor or a purification panel on plant air, with CO monitoring and fittings that cannot cross-connect, sized to the number of workers on air at once. The checklist below maps your application to the requirements and the equipment path.
The Grade D equipment stack
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Breathing Air Compressors
- Output
- Grade D per CGA G-7.1
- Sizing
- Per simultaneous user
- Styles
- Dedicated or converted plant air
- Range
- 1 to 20+ respirator users
-
Purification Panels
- Stages
- Coalescing, carbon, hopcalite
- Converts
- Plant air to Grade D
- Mount
- Wall panel or portable
- Points
- 1 to 6 user outlets
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CO and Dew Point Monitors
- CO alarm
- 10 ppm ceiling, Grade D
- Style
- Continuous with alarm relay
- Required
- On oil-lubricated supply
- Calibration
- Scheduled service
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Airline Connection Points
- Fittings
- Respirator-unique couplers
- Why
- Prevent cross-connection
- Layout
- At each work zone
- Pressure
- Regulated per respirator spec
45 + Years in Business
14 Midwest Locations
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Grade D compliance checklist by application
Pick the work your crews do on supplied air. The output is the compliance requirements, the monitoring you need, and the equipment path. A starting checklist for your written respiratory protection program, confirmed by an engineer.
Your Grade D checklist
Choose an application above to see the compliance checklist and equipment path.
Run the numbers yourself
- CFM calculator: add up the flow each supplied-air hood and mask draws to size the breathing air source.
- Air receiver tank calculator: size reserve storage so adding a worker on air never starves another mid-task.
- Compressed air leak calculator: find leaks on the feed system that eat into breathing air supply pressure.
What compressed air really costs
- 10% of US industrial electricity goes to compressed air Source: US DOE Compressed Air Sourcebook
- 20 to 30% of compressed air is typically lost to leaks Source: US DOE Compressed Air Sourcebook
- 75% of ten year compressor cost is energy, not purchase price Source: CAGI life cycle cost data
- under 2 hr average emergency response across our territory Source: Brabazon dispatch
Where supplied air is the right respirator
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Abrasive blasting
Supplied-air hoods for blasters in dust that cartridges cannot handle.
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Spray painting and coating
Airline respirators in booths with isocyanate coatings.
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Confined space entry
Supplied air where the atmosphere cannot be trusted.
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Tank and vessel work
Airline air for interior coating and cleaning crews.
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Chemical and pharma handling
Supplied air for powders and vapors beyond cartridge limits.
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Firefighting support air
Cascade and compressor systems supporting SCBA refill.
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Asbestos and lead abatement
Supplied-air respirators on high-hazard abatement work.
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Foundry work
Airline hoods in fume and heat around melt and pour.
What OSHA and CGA actually require
Four requirements carry almost every citation and every audit question about supplied air. None of this is gated behind a form.
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OSHA 1910.134 sets the rule
The respiratory protection standard requires that compressed breathing air meet at least Grade D per CGA G-7.1, and it assigns the employer the duty to prove it: couplings incompatible with other gas lines, moisture control, and CO limited to 10 ppm with monitoring or frequent testing on oil-lubricated compressors.
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The Grade D specification
CGA G-7.1 Grade D means oxygen 19.5 to 23.5 percent, condensed hydrocarbons at or below 5 mg per cubic meter, carbon monoxide at or below 10 ppm, carbon dioxide at or below 1000 ppm, and no pronounced odor. Every element of a breathing air system exists to hold one of those numbers.
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CO monitoring is the non-negotiable
An overheating oil-lubricated compressor can generate carbon monoxide and feed it straight to a hood. That is why 1910.134 requires a continuous CO alarm or frequent testing on oil-lubricated supply, and why every system we install carries a calibrated monitor wired to alarm, whatever the compressor type.
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Sized to simultaneous users
Each supplied-air respirator draws a nameplate flow, commonly 4 to 15 CFM depending on hood or mask type. The system is sized from the number of workers on air at the same time, at the pressure the respirator maker specifies, with reserve so adding one worker never starves another.
Featured setup for Grade D supply
Most installations land on one of two paths: a dedicated breathing air compressor package where no clean plant air exists, or a purification panel with coalescing, carbon, and hopcalite stages converting existing plant air to Grade D, always with a calibrated CO monitor wired to alarm. Both paths, with monitors and airline fittings, live on the breathing air equipment page, which pairs with this guide.
When a fixed breathing air system is the wrong buy: intermittent work
with one or two users, an occasional tank entry or a once-a-quarter coating job, is
often safer and cheaper on SCBA or cylinder cascade supply, which needs no compressor,
no monitor calibration cycle, and no standby maintenance. The crossover comes when
crews are on air weekly or user count grows: then cylinders become the expensive,
logistics-heavy option and a fixed system through
breathing air equipment wins.
Typical project: blast room breathing air retrofit
Getting a blast crew off cartridges and onto compliant airline hoods
A common scenario starts when a fabricator running blasters on tight-fitting cartridge respirators has a respiratory protection audit flag the exposure levels. A typical Brabazon project converts the existing plant air with a wall-mounted purification panel, hopcalite CO removal, a continuous CO monitor alarmed at 10 ppm, and two regulated airline drops with respirator-unique fittings in the blast room. Sized this way, the system passes the follow-up audit, and because the panel is specified with reserve, the shop can add a third drop later when it hires another blaster without re-engineering the source.
Breathing air support across the upper Midwest
Factory-trained technicians install, calibrate, and service breathing air systems from 14 branches. Find your nearest branch:
Questions engineers actually ask us
What does OSHA require for supplied-air respirators?
OSHA 1910.134 requires that compressed breathing air meet at least Grade D per CGA G-7.1, delivered through couplings that cannot cross-connect with other gas lines, with CO kept at or below 10 ppm using monitoring or frequent testing on oil-lubricated compressors. The employer owns proving all of it.
What is Grade D breathing air?
Grade D is the CGA G-7.1 specification OSHA references: 19.5 to 23.5 percent oxygen, hydrocarbon mist at or below 5 mg per cubic meter, carbon monoxide at or below 10 ppm, carbon dioxide at or below 1000 ppm, and no pronounced odor. It is the minimum quality for supplied-air respirators in general industry.
Can I run breathing air off my shop compressor?
Yes, through a purification panel that filters, removes CO with a hopcalite stage, and monitors the output, plus respirator-unique fittings so nobody plugs a hood into raw plant air. A panel converting existing plant air is often the most economical route for booths and blast rooms already piped for air.
Do I need a CO monitor on my breathing air system?
If the supply compressor is oil-lubricated, OSHA requires either a continuous CO alarm or frequent testing, and a continuous monitor is the only version that catches an overheating compressor in real time. We treat a calibrated CO alarm as standard equipment on every breathing air installation.
How many workers can one breathing air compressor supply?
Divide the compressor output by the respirator draw: hoods and loose-fitting helmets commonly pull 6 to 15 CFM each, tight-fitting masks less. A small dedicated package covers 1 to 3 users, and larger packages or converted plant air systems scale to 20 and beyond, sized at the respirator pressure spec.
Who installs Grade D breathing air systems in the Midwest?
Brabazon engineers, installs, and services breathing air compressors, purification panels, and CO monitoring from 14 locations across Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and Missouri, with calibration and filter service on a schedule your safety audit can point to. Breathing air is a listed Brabazon specialty.
Where to go next
Get your breathing air system specified
Tell us the application, the number of workers on air, and what compressor you have today. You get back the compliant equipment path, dedicated package or purification panel, with monitoring and service scheduled.