Development of a peep (catpul) valve for ventilators a computational approach

A major manifestation of the Covid-19 virus is acute respiratory syndrome. This brought about the massive need for respiratory support devices. The pandemic caused shortages of these critical devices, such as PEEP valves, which every ventilator must have to make supporting Covid-19 patients possible. PEEP valves are used to create a positive exhalation end pressure to prevent the patient’s lungs from collapsing. This paper presents the developed a CATPUL PEEP valve designed to meet the South African and African continent markets. The CAD model of an AmbuPEEP valve and the CATPUL was designed with SolidWorks and CFD analysis was performed using Simscale software to characterise and compare the results of the two valves. The result of Ambu valve at 2mm valve opening was 1931 Pa pressure and29.74 m/s maximum flow velocity. The CATPUL recorded a maximum pressure of 1937 Pa and 29.77 m/s maximum velocity at the same valve opening. This shows that the designed valve outperformed the one on the market in terms of flow across the valve based on the computational analysis.