McIlvaine Coronavirus Market Ale

Cummins and Dupont are Working Together to Help Address the Current Shortage of N95 Masks

U.S Army Research on Face Mask Media will be Helpful

People Should Not Walk/Run/Bike Close Behind Each Other

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Cummins and Dupont are Working Together to Help Address the Current Shortage of N95 Masks

The need for masks has skyrocketed in recent weeks due to the global pandemic, and Cummins will use its NanoNet® Media to help answer that need.

According to Amy Davis, Vice President of Cummins Filtration, with many of the world’s leading mask manufacturers in need of the critical materials to assemble the masks and struggling to meet demand, Cummins will use pre-existing filter technology in partnership with DuPont to help fill the supply void.

"Cummins is re-evaluating our supply base and manufacturing capabilities to identify how we can support our healthcare professionals who rely on critical personal protective equipment to do their jobs," Davis said. "Our NanoNet® Media can fill a key supply void and help address the mask shortage facing the United States and other countries around the world."

The project also aims to provide open source instructions that other healthcare systems and groups can use to create their own respirator masks.

Cummins’ NanoNet® and NanoForce® Media technology, which uses DuPont’s Hybrid Membrane Technology (HMT), can typically be found in air, fuel and lube filtration products used in heavy-duty diesel engines to prevent long-term engine wear, but also can be used in the N95 respirator masks worn by healthcare professionals to filter harmful airborne particles that can spread COVID-19.

The N95 designation means the respirator can block at least 95 percent of particles from entering the wearer’s nose and mouth. When Cummins’ NanoNet® Media was tested using an industry standard testing method, it exceeded the performance requirements for N95 designation. Cummins’ manufacturing facilities have since provided media samples to mask manufacturers across the globe to test its effectiveness.

While products featuring Cummins’ media will need to be vetted and approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the company is preparing to do its part to help relieve the burden facing the healthcare industry.

“We’re working as quickly as possible with healthcare regulators and other partners to help certify products with our materials, and prepare our manufacturing facilities to meet demand,” added Davis.

The first mask prototypes using Cummins’ donated media were assembled by University of Minnesota teams in March as part of an initiative to provide masks to M Health Fairview and other Minneapolis-based healthcare systems. As the COVID-19 outbreak escalated, the University of Minnesota realized their supply of N95 masks to protect healthcare workers would potentially run out in a matter of weeks.

To address this challenge, a team of designers, engineers, chemists, surgeons, anesthesiologist and apparel and clothing experts from the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Engineering in Medicine; Medical School; College of Design; College of Science and Engineering; and Center for Filtration Research Consortium (CFR) came together to address this projected shortage of critical personal protective equipment.

"The first thing we recognized from our experts in the Center for Filtration Research, who work directly with Cummins, is that not all filtration materials are created equal and that the Cummins material is an excellent alternative," said Jakub Tolar, Campus Health Officer and Medical School Dean at the University of Minnesota.

"We are tremendously grateful for the generous donation from Cummins of their filtration materials toward our mask effort. Since the arrival of the filtration media, we have been able to make rapid progress, and we now believe we have several viable mask options, including both a disposable and re-usable option. These designs show real promise in keeping our healthcare workers safe should standard medical supplies of N95 masks no longer be available,” continued Tolar.

While DuPont’s innovative and unique Hybrid Membrane Technology (HMT) is typically integrated with Cummins’ synthetic fibers to protect sensitive engine components, it has multiple other applications that can include filtration media used in N95 respirator masks.

DuPont’s Hybrid Membrane Technology goes beyond the limits of traditional semi-porous or nonwoven membranes for air and liquid filtration. Made using a proprietary spinning process, the hybrid technology materials are comprised of continuous sub-micron fibers. The end result is a “membrane-like” sheet structure that balances breathability and high filtration efficiency of particulates.

“We are proud to make our advanced technology available to help protect more caregivers on the front lines of this global health crisis,” said HP Nanda, Global Vice President & General Manager, DuPont Water Solutions.

“We thank our partner Cummins for transitioning the use of its production line to help address the global shortage of N95 mask materials, and we thank the experts at the University of Minnesota for their leadership in testing and designing several mask options for the benefit of many healthcare systems," Nanda added. "By working together—and innovating new applications of existing technologies and materials—we hope to slow the spread of this terrible virus."

The U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) Respiratory Protection Branch members investigated novel aerosol filtration materials for inclusion in the next generation respirator. Commercial particulate filtration technologies with high-efficiency and low-pressure drop have the potential to provide improved protection to the Warfighter while decreasing breathing resistance and thus reducing physiological burden.

A pressure drop of ≤5 mmH2O was selected as the goal for the development of next generation lower burden filters.

The aerosol filtration penetration requirement for the M61 filter is ≤0.01% (i.e., 99.99% efficiency) when measured at a constant flow rate of 25 L/min (equivalent to 50 L/min through the pair of filters). Each filter has an effective airflow area of approximately 60 cm2 , which results in a face velocity of approximately 7 cm/s when measured at 25 L/min. The particulate filter element of the M61 filter consists of pleated HEPA media and is roughly 6 mm thick. The market survey was limited to media with the potential of achieving efficiencies ≥99.97% (HEPA quality).

While this target is below the JSGPM requirement, efficiencies of 99.99% can be achieved through pleating the media, which reduces the face velocity and increases the collection efficiency of the filter. This reduction in face velocity increases the collection efficiency of the filter. In the case of flat sheet electrets (nonwoven electrostatic charged media), the thickness can be increased to meet HEPA requirements. Efficiency can be improved by other means to maximize the effective surface area, for example, by using larger and more efficient filter designs similar to those being considered for future integrated respirator/helmet systems.

To avoid eliminating promising media, the market survey did not take into consideration the thickness of the media; however, a total effective surface area of 250 cm2 was used as the basis for the 5 mmH2O pressure-drop goal to take into account the increased surface area realized by the emerging advanced filter designs. Taking these goals into consideration, a market survey was conducted to identify new HEPA quality filtration media with equivalent or greater capture efficiency and lower pressure drop than the particulate media currently used in military air-purifying respirator filters. Only commercial manufacturers were considered. Here are the conclusions.

As you can see from the depiction virus mists can travel through the air from one runner to another.

The typical social distancing rule which many countries apply between 1–2 meters seems effective when you are standing still inside or even outside with low wind. But when you go for a walk, run or bike ride you better be more careful. When someone during a run breathes, sneezes or coughs, those particles stay behind in the air. The person running behind you in the so-called slip-stream goes through this cloud of droplets.

The researchers came to this conclusion by simulating the occurrence of saliva particles of persons during movement (walking and running) and this from different positions (next to each other, diagonally behind each other and directly behind each other). Normally this type of modelling is used to improve the performance level of athletes as staying in each other air-stream is very effective. But when looking at COVID-19 the recommendation is to stay out of the slipstream according to the research.

The results of the test are made visible in a number of animations and visuals. The cloud of droplets left behind by a person is clearly visible. “People who sneeze or cough spread droplets with a bigger force, but also people who just breathe will leave particles behind”. The red dots on the image represent the biggest particles. These create the highest chance of contamination but also fall down faster. “But when running through that cloud they still can land on your clothing” according to Professor Bert Blocken.

Out of the simulations, it appears that social distancing plays less of a role for two people in a low wind environment when running/walking next to each other. The droplets land behind the duo. When you are positioned diagonally behind each other the risk is also smaller to catch the droplets of the lead runner. The risk of contamination is the biggest when people are just behind each other, in each other’s slipstream.

On the basis of these results the scientist advises that for walking the distance of people moving in the same direction in 1 line should be at least 4–5 meter, for running and slow biking it should be 10 meters and for hard biking at least 20 meters. Also, when passing someone it is advised to already be in different lane at a considerable distance e.g. 20 meters for biking.

With nearly 10,000 sterilization systems capable of processing 480 masks per day and the potential for three uses ASP can be adding the equivalent of 480 x 3 x 10,000 = 1.5 million masks per day for use by U.S. hospitals.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a decontamination process provided Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP) that could see as many as 4 million N95 respirators per day sterilized for re-use. That’s a significant potential dent in the ongoing shortage of supplies faced by medical professionals and frontline workers at healthcare facilities.

This decontamination process would open up re-use of N95 masks originally designed for single use, and it uses vaporized hydrogen peroxide gas to clean the respirators. ASP’s STERRAD series sterilization machines, which are covered under the EUA, are in use in around 6,300 hospitals already (they’re commonly used for sterilizing other pieces of clinical equipment but have not previously been intended for use with N95 masks) and there are around 9,930 in operation across the U.S., each with the capability of processing around 480 masks per day.

The FDA has previously cleared another similar system for N95 decontamination: Battelle’s vaporized hydrogen peroxide process. This new clearance greatly expands the reach and potential volume of decontamination that’s possible and should pave the way for others to follow.

ASP sterilization systems are used with many hospital devices. Jeremy Yarwood, VP of research and development says that all sterilization systems and disinfectant solutions that ASP provides have been tested against enveloped viruses, the family of viruses that includes coronavirus. Furthermore, some of our products, including CIDEX^® OPA, have been directly tested against coronavirus, and have been demonstrated to be efficacious.