Powered air-purifying respirator

A powered air-purifying respirator with a belt-pack filter-blower that feeds air to the elastomeric mask.
A PAPR, gown, and biosafety cabinet in use in a BSL-3 laboratory. All parts of the PAPR are visible: the waist unit holding the fan, filter, and battery; the hose; and the mask, in this case a flexible, loose-fitting one.
A seated woman wearing a U.S. Air Force combat uniform and a black plastic mask
A PAPR with a rigid, tight-fitting mask

A powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) is a type of respirator used to safeguard workers against contaminated air. PAPRs consist of a headgear-and-fan assembly that takes ambient air contaminated with one or more type of pollutant or pathogen, actively removes (filters) a sufficient proportion of these hazards, and then delivers the clean air to the user's face or mouth and nose. They have a higher assigned protection factor than filtering facepiece respirators such as N95 masks. PAPRs are sometimes called positive-pressure masks, blower units, or just blowers.