McIlvaine Coronavirus Market Ale

KLC Kinglandclean Provides Elevator Air Purifying System with High Efficiency on the Coronavirus

Restaurants in Hong Kong Install Partitions and take Other Measures to Mitigate the Virus

KLC Kinglandclean Provides Elevator Air Purifying System with High Efficiency on the Coronavirus

The system uses an approximation of laminar downflow of HEPA filtered air using a vertical module on the wall of the elevator.

Purified air is discharged from the top of the module and flows along the ceiling and then downward. It then enters the intake near the floor of the elevator.

The efficiency of the filter with PTFE coating is in the ULPA range u-15 which is higher than the typical HEPA. This is important because new evidence shows that the virus is traveling in small aerosols. The virus size is close to 0.1 microns.

Classification	Filter Type	Percentage efficiency at MPPS
H13	HEPA	≥ 99.95
H14	HEPA	≥ 99.995
U15	ULPA	≥ 99.9995
U16	ULPA	≥ 99.99995

The vertical module lends itself well to elevators but would be equally well suited for many enclosed spaces.

In our May 5 Alert we covered the KLC isolation chamber. The company is a major supplier of air purification products and is home based in China. It focuses on air purification and cleanroom equipment.

The elevator vertical module design could be used in confined spaces but also in partitioning non confined spaces. For example a restaurant could segment its dining area with partitions and include one these filter modules in each section. Since offices frequently already have partitions the filter modules could be installed with little labor cost.

As McIlvaine has documented in previous alerts the partitions by themselves will be no more effective on viruses than they would be on cigarette smoke. So the additions of vertical filter modules would make the restaurant quite safe. There could be three or four tables in one partitioned area as long as the air flow patterns are optimized.

Another alternative is ceiling filters and downward laminar flow. With HEPA filters placed strategically in the ceiling and returns located at floor level around the periphery and between the cashier and customer the clean air flow will even more effective than if partitions were utilized.

Most airlines have efficient HEPA filters and downward relatively laminar air flow around passengers. In a previous Alert we showed plans to also add partitions. The result will be relatively safe eating and travel for passengers. So the restaurants can learn from the airlines.

Restaurants in Hong Kong Install Partitions and take Other Measures to Mitigate the Virus

Restaurants in Hong Kong are installing some plastic partitions. There is often someone at the door to check temperatures. Masks and other PPE are worn by the restaurant workers. Procedures at several restaurants are shown in the following

Restaurants are installing glass partitions which may do more harm than good. They may protect others from a sneezer but everyone breathes. New evidence shows that breath generates droplets with virus which like cigarette smoke will move with air currents.

Sapore Italiano Ristorante in California is preparing for dine in customers with a number of changes including glass partitions between tables.

During the pandemic, co-owner Elio Durzo has started preparing his dining room for the day customers return. No doubt, business will be much different.

"We cannot be very Italian anymore," Elio Durza, co-owner said. "We cannot hug each other."
The usual embraces will soon be replaced by eight feet of separation. New glass partitions between each dining table have been secured to ensure safety.

Beyond the glass barriers, Durzo is switching to paper menus, paper napkins, and other material meant for one-time-use. Customers will see staff in masks and gloves and notice staggered reservations. "I'm going to seat the customer like 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Then 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., 9:30 p.m.," Durzo explained. He's also introducing no-contact payment.

Michael Stewart, who owns 717 South and Ava, in Tampa Fla , said those restaurants had undergone significant physical restructuring inside, including glass partitions between booths. And 717 South is taking advantage of a newly-launched economic recovery plan that temporarily allows restaurants to expand their outdoor seating into areas that otherwise would be considered public rights-of-way, like sidewalks or alleys, as well as privately owned parking facilities.

Other safety measures taken at the restaurants include single-use menus and single-use paper tablecloth toppings, sanitizing stations throughout and staff that are required to do temperature checks and health screenings before clocking in.

“We were ready to go,” said Adam Pawlak, Executive Chef and owner of Egg & Flour Pasta Bar.

Adam says they’ve kept busy getting ready for the day they can reopen by installing personal safety partitions for customers made of clear PVC and hung from the ceiling.

“Airborne contaminants - a sneeze, a cough, whatever that may be, is going to be stopped by the safety partition,” says Tony Goff, president of Goff Enterprises and Egg & Flour restaurant partner.

Goff Enterprises usually does industrial space partitioning for the automotive, pharmaceutical, and food processing industries, but Tony says this product is the first of its kind in any restaurant anywhere and is easy to install and maintain. “When we heard that people need to remain separate, as in keep 6 ft apart, we thought we could really help with creating the separation without actually having people be physically separated,” said Goff.

Once they’re back in the restaurant, in addition to regular cleaning and sanitizing, customers will not only stand six feet apart due to stickers on the floor, but because of the partitions, they’ll be able to avoid any contact with all other people except for the person who hands them their pasta. They hope this, in addition to everything they do, helps show their clientele they care and are ready to come back safer and stronger than ever.

“With these partitions they can still enjoy the space, and have fun, and have a night out, and feel like they can relax and enjoy themselves instead of coming in here with a mask, getting it to go, and running out right away,” said Pawlak.

“It’s just important to our company to get everyone back to some semblance of new normal as quickly and as safely as possible,” said Goff. “And that’s what this product is all about.” Egg & Flour doesn’t yet have a set reopen date, but they say that when they do, they hope the community comes out to support them, knowing they’ll be safe.

Complying with OSHA's latest guidelines on preparing spaces for COVD-19, Goff partitions safely provide a physical barrier to reduce exposure to hazards without relying on worker or visitor behavior alone.

The Personal Safety Partitions help prevent the spread of airborne contaminants and viruses to provide guests or employees a safe and comfortable space to live, dine or work in. The following partitions if accompanied by laminar flow HEPA filtered air would be very protective.

Thailand has been more successful than the U.S at curbing COVID cases. Part of the reason is protective measures taken by restaurants.

A waiter in a face shield serves a customer while people eat in between plastic partitions, set up to contain the spread of COVID-19, at a hotpot restaurant in Bangkok.

Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning filters, along with other strategies, help to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, while removing other air contaminants that may have health effects.

That’s according to ASHRAE, which has reacted to what it called “widening false statements surrounding HVAC systems.”

“ASHRAE officially opposes the advice not to run residential or commercial HVAC systems and asserts that keeping air conditioners on during this time can help control the spread of the virus,” the group stated.

ASHRAE has published two statements to define guidance on managing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 as it relates to the operation and maintenance of HVAC systems in buildings. With regards to airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19, ASHRAE stated the following: “Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through the air is sufficiently likely that airborne exposure to the virus should be controlled. Changes to building operations, including the operation of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems, can reduce airborne exposures.”

In its second statement, on the operation of HVAC system, to reduce SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 transmission, ASHRAE noted that the ventilation and filtration provided by HVAC systems can reduce the airborne concentration of SARS-CoV-2, thereby reducing the risk of transmission through the air.

“In general, disabling of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems is not a recommended measure to reduce the transmission of the virus,” ASHRAE continued. ASHRAE has created the Epidemic Task Force, comprised of leading experts to address the relationship between the spread of disease and HVAC in buildings during of the current pandemic and future epidemics.

“In light of the current global pandemic, it’s critically important that ASHRAE responds with guidance on mitigating the transmission of the virus, as well as ventilation and filtration recommendations,” said 2019-20 ASHRAE president Darryl K. Boyce, P.Eng. “ASHRAE has a significant role to play in ensuring safe and healthy building environments and these statements offer the expert strategies needed at this time.”

Expanded guidance is available on ASHRAE’s COVID-19 Resources webpage at ashrae.org/COVID19.