Coronavirus Technology Solutions

May 29, 2020

San Francisco Now Requires Masks in Any Public Place

Lydall has Multiple COVID Initiatives Including Long Term Meltblown Contract with 3M

Meltblown Price Still High

Europe will Increase Meltblown Production from 17 tons per day in March to 51 tons per day in December

Sciessent Antimicrobial Used in Hanesbrands Masks

Teho Filter Using Ahlstrom Media for N88 Masks in Finland

Automation is a Partial Solution to COVID in Meat Processing Plants

Some Move Toward Mechanization in the U.S Meat Industry

Twenty-five High Speed Surgical Mask Lines Ordered in Italy

AAF Advises Consideration of Membrane ULPA Rather Than Microfiberglass

Jacob Holm Partnering with Under Armour

Battelle H2O2 System is Now Thought to be Good for Only Three Mask Uses

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San Francisco Now Requires Masks in Any Public Place

The City of San Francisco is now requiring that individuals wear masks whenever they leave their homes and interact with people outside their households. The city previously only required masks in mostly indoor situations, but it now mandates that individuals wear masks when exercising less than 30 feet from others or when passing people on the sidewalk.

During a Thursday press conference, Mayor London Breed stated that businesses have the right to turn away any individuals who are not wearing masks but asked that individuals not confront non-mask-wearers.

Lydall has Multiple COVID Initiatives Including Long Term Meltblown Contract with 3M

Lydall actions relative to COVID were presented along with 1^st quarter results earlier this month. “When it first became apparent that COVID-19 would have a significant impact on the global economy, we acted rapidly and decisively to safeguard the health and safety of our global workforce and the sustainability of our business,” Sara A. Greenstein, President and Chief Executive Officer, said. “We immediately responded to the large unmet need and global shortage of supplies for front line and first responder personnel and re-prioritized our manufacturing capabilities in North America and Europe to produce filtration products used in N95 respirators, surgical and medical masks, and medical wipes, pads and gowns. In response to our automotive customers ceasing operations in the U.S. and Europe late in the quarter, we quickly ramped down production at our Thermal Acoustical Solutions facilities in these geographies.”

Ms. Greenstein continued "Lydall's mission is to create a cleaner, quieter, and safer world as we have been doing for the past 150 years. COVID-19 highlights the enduring role the Company has played in delivering life-saving capabilities in specialty filtration. As experts in filtration, we have been in regular contact with the highest levels of the U.S. government, and in contact with leaders in Canada, Europe, and the United Kingdom to provide solutions and expertise to help in the fight against COVID-19. "In response to the global shortage of personal protective equipment (or PPE), we have re-deployed people and assets, and have significantly increased production of filtration materials.

 “In May, we secured a major long-term agreement with Honeywell to supply meltblown filtration media for their N95 mask production facilities. Our proven technical and production capabilities were key factors in our selection. As a result, we have already committed additional capital to acquire a new meltblown production line to satisfy this and related demand. We also recently developed a new application for nonwoven materials used in medical gowns and secured an order from the New York Department of Health for this product. "April volumes for Performance Materials' Filtration subsegment increased 20% compared to the prior year, reflective of the demand for PPE. April volumes in the TAS business were down almost 90%.

Our China sites were back in operation in the first quarter of 2020, while our European automotive sites have started to slowly ramp up to support customer requirements. In North America, Ford, GM and FCA have announced plans to resume production on May 18. We are ready to support this re-start and have completed a reduction in force program in TAS to provide a leaner fixed cost structure as demand comes back.

"In summary, despite substantial headwinds in the quarter, we reacted quickly to this crisis, delivered sequential margin expansion and strong cash flow, and have enhanced our liquidity. Lydall's long history and product application expertise as a trusted supplier of specialty filtration solutions will be a cornerstone of our long-term strategic vision, with the current crisis accelerating our focus on our filtration and engineered materials businesses."

Meltblown Price Still High

One Hong Kong trader was recently offering to pay €100 per kilogram – ten times the pre-crisis price, Pierre Wiertz, head of EDANA, the European Nonwovens and Disposables Association, told the press.

Sanne van der Lugt, a China researcher at the Dutch Clingendael Institute, added that the price of meltblown in China now stands at Rmb400,000 ($56,500) a ton – twenty times its pre-crisis price. China is making two million N95 standard protective masks a day and could be making a lot more, but for its shortage of meltblown material.

Europe will Increase Meltblown Production from 17 tons per day in March to 51 tons per day in December

Europe will increase meltblown production by 34 tons per day in the next 7 months. Compare this to Sinopec who built 10 lines for 18 tpd production in just 4 months. This would give Europe  capacity to produce 50 million surgical masks or 15-20 million N95 masks per day. There are 741 million people in Europe.  If 500 million people need a new mask every five days, then Europe needs to produce 100 million masks per day. Assume that high efficiency masks will be needed. In this case Europe will only be able to supply 20% of its needs by year end.

Innovatec, a family-owned firm based in Troisdorf, Germany, is the largest producer of meltblown fabrics in Europe, estimated to have more than 50% of the continent’s capacity.

’I’d never have thought meltblown could become such a prized commodity,” Christian Klöber, Innovatec’s owner, told the FT. “The prices some Asian buyers are offering us are just eye-watering.”

The company is well-placed to meet the rising domestic demand for materials, having ordered a new meltblown production line last year and after the coronavirus crisis broke, investing in two more. This will enable it to cover 85% of German demand and enough for four billion face masks per year.

While Germany has not made its own masks in the past, relying on imports from China and elsewhere, the German government has now put the entire industry out to tender, guaranteeing prices until the end of 2021.

Around 50 German companies have secured a place on the scheme to produce ten million specialized N95 masks and 40 million operating room standard masks a week from August. 

Also based in Troisdorf, is Reifenhäuser Reicofil, the leader in meltblown production technology. Around 75% of all hygiene and medical nonwoven fabrics worldwide are estimated to be made on Reicofil lines.

“When you start thinking how many production lines will be needed to meet demand, your head starts spinning,” said managing director Bernd Kunze. “We have been inundated with orders from Europe, Asia and the US and have dramatically increased our delivery frequency in response. Before, it would take us at least eight to nine months to supply a production line, now we’re doing it in three-and-a-half to six months.”

Reicofil will benefit from a new subsidy regime being put together in Berlin, under which the government will cover 30% of the cost of a meltblown production line, as long as the manufacturer pledges to sell exclusively into the German and European market by the end of 2023.

EDANA estimates that Europe is set to triple its output of meltblown between March and the end of the year, from 500 tons a month to 1,500 tons.

Sciessent Antimicrobial Used in Hanesbrands Masks 

Sciessent has partnered with both healthcare and non-healthcare manufacturers to develop and gain regulatory clearance for masks containing Agion Antimicrobial for use in healthcare settings.

Sciessent has helped two suppliers obtain approval for  the anti-microbial masks—one with a traditional medical device manufacturer following the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in the early 2000s, and another this year with a manufacturer from outside of the medtech industry—comparing and contrasting the two from an FDA regulatory process perspective.

Following the 2003 SARS outbreak, medical device manufacturer Nexera made the decision to develop a N95 respirator mask constructed from Foss Performance Materials’ Agion Antimicrobial treated polyester fiber. As a medtech company, Nexera had experience with FDA review for its devices so it understood what the process entailed. The company looked to Sciessent as its supply partner to help with regulatory considerations related to the antimicrobial.

Because Nexera had developed the mask in response to SARS, as a product that could help in future respiratory virus outbreaks, the Nexera and Sciessent teams had ample time for pre-planning prior to FDA submission. This included the opportunity to develop data to support the mask’s antimicrobial claims. Working together, the teams successfully obtained FDA clearance for Nexera’s SpectraShield 9500 N95 respirator mask, and later leveraged additional data to secure an updated 510(k) with cleared claims to inactivate viruses by 99.99 percent in five minutes.

Sciesent also worked with Hanesbrands. While the FDA is leveraging its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to accelerate the timeframe for clearance of products to address the COVID-19 crisis, and this is certainly a benefit to companies producing PPE, Hanesbrands still had to meet the agency’s requirements. Sciessent served as a collaborative partner in these efforts with medical device expertise, a wealth of data, and extensive experience in navigating the FDA’s regulatory review pathway.

Unlike the premeditated work with Nexera to develop a mask following the SARS outbreak nearly two decades ago,  work with Hanesbrands required that the team leverage existing knowledge and experience to quickly fill-in various information gaps. Instead of developing a product from the ground up, Hanesbrands was repurposing its knitted cotton fabrics treated with Agion Antimicrobial to develop its masks.

Sciessent supported Hanesbrands in their interactions with FDA. Given the urgent need to address the PPE shortage, it appeared communication was far more open and frequent with the agency under the EUA directive. The correspondence and exchange of information between Hanesbrands and FDA moved quickly. In this circumstance, the FDA did not clear specific efficacy claims; in fact, the agency said no efficacy claims could be made.

Having worked closely with the FDA with Nexera for its N95 mask and with other medical device manufacturers for their products, Sciesent  was able to pivot quickly and apply its understanding of the regulatory process to the Hanesbrands situation. It was also able to leverage the data on safety and efficacy, including viruses from the Nexera mask’s second 510(k) clearance, to help fast track the Hanesbrands mask clearance. As a result, FDA cleared Hanesbrands’ mask in a matter of days, enabling the company to quickly transition its operations to relieving the PPE shortage.
 

Teho Filter Using Ahlstrom Media for N88 Masks in Finland

Ahlstrom-Munksjö is supplying facemask material from its plant in Tampere to Teho Filter for the assembly of masks. The masks will be available in May-June in the stores of Finland based retailer S Group. The filtration efficiency of the face mask material of 88% has been verified by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. It is substantially higher than the roughly 20-40% efficiency of masks made from cloth; the company claims. The filtration efficiency of a mechanical filter media remains intact over time compared to electrostatically charged materials the efficiency of which may decrease in humid conditions, Ahlstrom-Munksjö adds.

“We work with determination in order to enhance the supply of face masks for consumers in Finland. At the same time, we are further supporting the reopening in Finland once the corona pandemic restrictions loosen,” states Otto Kivi, Sales Manager at Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s Filtration business.

The company announced in April that it would start the production of facemask materials in Tampere, where its plant is capable of producing material for more than 10 million masks in the short-term and has the ability to increase capacity to about 30 million masks per month. Earlier in May, the company announced a similar co-operation on facemask supply with other Finnish players.

” We are also very pleased about the continued product development in Tampere: our production now meets the filtration efficiency requirements of surgical face mask materials. Currently, we are working together with our customers to develop a product that meets the European Standard EN 14683 for surgical masks. The availability of various protective gear is vitally important,” Kivi continues.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö has long-term and in-depth knowledge in the production of protective materials for the healthcare industry. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the company has increased its offering in protective fabrics and expanded the production of face mask materials globally to support the healthcare sector.

Automation is a Partial Solution to COVID in Meat Processing Plants

Inside Europe’s largest pig slaughterhouse, the only visible sign that there’s a global pandemic going on is in the break room, where every other chair has been spirited away to leave conspicuous gaps between any would-be socializers. Otherwise, it’s business as usual. That’s because, at this meat plant, robots do most of the work.

The operations were described in a recent Wired article. Automated partitions nudge a few pigs at a time, out of the pens and into a gas chamber where a blast of CO₂ knocks them out. Moments later, they spill onto a conveyor belt where a worker wearing a waterproof apron and elbow-length gloves cuffs one of each pig’s rear feet to a moving production line, which hoists the animal overhead. Another worker inserts a knife into the pig’s carotid artery, and an attached vacuum hose siphons out the blood. That’s when the robots really take over.

An infrared laser-emitting robot first measures each pig carcass. Next up, the so-called rectum loosener robot uses computer vision to identify the pig’s tail, cuts a 4-inch hole around it, and extracts whatever poop is inside. Then the feces-free carcass moves into a cabinet-like robot, where a large, circular blade splits the pig from sternum to ham. Next, each one moves onto a mechanized, autonomous organ remover, tendon slasher, and finally, the spine splitter. Ten minutes. Six robots. Minimal human supervision. By midnight, when the second (human) shift calls it quits, 18,000 pigs will have passed through this gauntlet of actuated steel and knives.

Danish Crown’s Horsens facility isn’t just one of the largest pig slaughterhouses in the world, it’s also, by most accounts, the most modern. (And the most transparent—in pre-pandemic times, it hosted hundreds of visitors a week. Today you can still take a virtual tour.) But heavy automation is a feature of all 18 of the company’s in-country meat processing facilities. And it’s one reason that might explain how Denmark’s slaughterhouses have so far escaped becoming Covid-19 hot spots. According to a Danish Crown spokesperson, among the company’s 8,000 employees in Denmark, fewer than 10 workers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. None of its slaughterhouses there have had to close or slow down production.

There are likely other explanations and contributing factors, too—like Denmark’s early adoption of lockdown measures and its robust nationalized health care system. But scientists who study the meat industry say the rest of the world should take note. The new realities of social distancing mean rethinking the layout of all kinds of workplaces, including slaughterhouses. In the US, these facilities are characterized by cramped, loud, icy conditions that make it easier for the coronavirus to stay alive and jump from person to person. Robots could help keep workers safe and meat plants running.

Some Move Toward Mechanization in the U.S Meat Industry

In the U.S., poultry production has been getting steadily more mechanized for decades—going from 3,000 chickens processed per hour in 1970 to 8,000 in 1980 and 15,000 today. The birds’ smaller bodies mean companies need less capital investment to automate their production lines. But it’s only in the past 10 years or so, says Shai Barbut, a professor of meat science at the University of Guelph in Ontario, that pork and beef processors have started to catch up. In 2018, a pork plant opened in Coldwater, Michigan, with automated cutting and packaging robots that enabled the company that operates it, Clemens Food Group, to produce the same volume of pork with 300 fewer workers. Tyson Foods also began investing in robots for its pork plants, primarily to combat labor shortages.

Getting robots to do the job of human butchers isn’t trivial. Like lettuce and apples, animals come in all shapes and sizes. And though farmers can try to make them as genetically similar as possible and feed them the same amount of food, two pigs will never be identical in the way two smartphone batteries are.

“https://www.wired.com/story/covid-19-makes-the-case-for-more-meatpacking-robots/

Twenty-five High Speed Surgical Mask Lines Ordered in Italy

Fameccanica.Data S.p.A, a joint venture between Angelini Holding and Procter & Gamble, recently launched the Fameccanica Protective Mask machine (FPM).

The machine was at the center of an agreement between Fameccanica and the Italian Government for the fight against the propagation of Coronavirus (COVID-19), signed on May 2. The agreement provides for the supply of 25 high-speed production lines for surgical masks.

"This project is based on an extraordinary industrial, technological and human commitment and was born in a logic of service to the country in a moment of extreme difficulty. We were quick to design an innovative technology which combines speed standards with the product's ability to overcome the limits of finding raw materials," comments Alessandro Bulfon, general manager of Fameccanica. "This puts us in a position today to face the country's reopening phase and tomorrow to deal any other emergency health situation."

The FPM machine places Italian technology and initiative at the service of the emergency both for Italy and for other countries in the world. The high speed and ability to process a wide range of materials, as a matter of fact, can respond widely to the internal demand for surgical protective devices, making the national production chain independent.

Technology:
• Fastest machine in the world with over 45,000 mask/hour production speed (800 pieces/min)
• Fast and easy product size change
• Short-time installation and start-up
• One-operator process
• Patented product, process and technology
• Energy consumption optimization

AAF Advises Consideration of Membrane ULPA Rather Than Microfiberglass

Particles that are 0.5μm in size or smaller tend to follow increasingly erratic paths as particle size decreases, a phenomenon known as the diffusion effect. As such, HEPA and ULPA filters are often rated according to their most penetrating particle size, or the size of particles that most readily pass through them. As depicted in this line graph, filters that achieve the same efficiency rating, in this case ULPA filters rated at 99.999%, are not necessarily equal in their MPPS performance.

Microglass media filters still have their place, such as high-temperature applications. However,
membrane media offers compelling reasons to make a switch in HEPA and ULPA filter media. 

• When purchasing HEPA and ULPA filters from AAF Flanders, media production, testing, and packaging are all performed in an ultra-modern ISO-Certified controlled environment, eliminating the potential for contamination during the manufacturing process.
• Microglass media frequently suffers damage during shipping, handling, installation, and testing, leaving cleanroom operators exposed to contamination risks from leaks that may escape the attention of the naked eye. Membrane media clearly outperforms microglass media in terms of tensile strength, abrasion resistance, and burst pressure.
  
  
• Membrane media offers a lower differential pressure than microglass media. Not only does this trait improve the energy efficiency of HVAC equipment, but it also reduces the wear and tear on this equipment.

Jacob Holm Partnering with Under Armour

Jacob Holm, the manufacturer of Sontara  nonwoven fabrics in Nashville, TN, partnered with global sports performance brand Under Armour headquartered in Baltimore, MD, to produce much needed personal protective equipment including face masks and isolation gowns. The partnership has involved more than 50 Under Armour teammates who created a new mask design and contributed to a 65% increase in Sontara production since March.

Sontara has been creating medical-grade fabrics for more than 45 years. In the last month, they have seen a multifold increase in demand for healthcare fabrics, requiring a 65% increase in production in March over their 2019 projections and leading to the hiring of 67 new production employees.

“This situation is unprecedented," says CEO Martin Mikkelsen. "However, for Jacob Holm as a company, the only way forward is to lean in to what we know and use the full force of our experience to help contain the spread of COVID-19 and make a positive impact on the well-being of our communities.”

As proof of this effort, two of Jacob Holm’s five manufacturing sites reported record production volumes last month. To support this effort, Jacob Holm hired relatives and friends of current employees who were furloughed or laid off.

Under Armour is now converting Sontara material into its one piece, no sew mask design. The mask acts as a first level of defense, reducing virus laden moisture and droplet spread from the wearer, and preventing face touching by the wearer.

Sontara has increased mask and gown production partnerships across the U.S. and Europe and has donated the equivalent material of well over a million masks through Spain and France.

Battelle H2O2 System is Now Thought to be Good for Only Three Mask Uses

It sounded like a great deal: The White House coronavirus task force would buy a defense company’s new cleaning machines to allow critical protective masks to be reused up to 20 times. And at $60 million for 60 machines on April 3, the price was right.

But over just a few days, the potential cost to taxpayers exploded to $413 million, according to notes of a coronavirus task force meeting obtained by NBC News. By May 1, the Pentagon pegged the ceiling at $600 million in a justification for awarding the deal without an open bidding process or an actual contract. Even worse, scientists and nurses say the recycled masks treated by these machines begin to degrade after two or three treatments, not 20, and the company says its own recent field testing has only confirmed the integrity of the masks for four cycles of use and decontamination.

Nurses in several places across the country now say they are afraid of being at greater risk of acquiring COVID-19 while using N95 masks, which they say often don’t fit correctly after just a few spins through a cleaning system that uses vapor phase hydrogen peroxide to disinfect them.

NBC has gathered information on problems with the task force’s methods. Working without external oversight, it has pumped billions of dollars into hard-to-trace contracts for COVID-19 supplies that often don’t pan out as advertised.

Battelle stands by its 2016 study of its technology, which used manikins rather than human subjects to determine whether masks lost their fit or were permeated by particles after 20 uses, according to company officials who responded to NBC News’ inquiries in an email. But the company also said it has only verified the purity of masks for four uses in field testing at Massachusetts General Hospital since the machines were built to respond to a pandemic. That puts health care workers in the position of being the first living experimental test subjects.

“To date, Battelle has received and tested samples representative of four actual use cycles from MassGen,” Will Richter, Battelle’s principal research scientist, said. “The goal of this assessment is to determine the impact of actual wear.”

Battelle’s sanitizers were mobilized by a task force designed to execute on Trump’s demands, despite reservations about safety and cost.

Technically, the Defense Logistics Agency, an arm of the Pentagon working with the task force, gave Battelle a “contract letter,” which allows for details of a deal to be finalized after the work starts. When DLA officials submitted a legally required justification explaining the parameters of the deal this month, they wrote that the "maximum dollar value" is now $600 million.

The company says it might not hit the cap.

“As demand ebbs and flows at various sites across the country, Battelle will adjust its staffing accordingly and will bill the government only the actual costs incurred,” company spokesperson Katy Delaney said. “If the contract costs are less than the ceiling cost, then the government will not spend up to the ceiling.”

DLA spokesman Patrick Mackin said the $187 million of extra room is there for flexibility." To date, the value of the contract remains at $413M," he said in an email. "The maximum value of the contract is $600M in the event we need to make any adjustments in the support provided by Battelle during the period of performance."

The task force’s deployment of mask sanitizers, several other versions of which have been given an emergency greenlight since Battelle’s went into service, are now part of a transition to a focus on boosting the economy, because the administration insists, they reduce the need to supply fresh masks to health care workers. The president himself has said workers have all the equipment they need.

When task force leaders convened at FEMA headquarters on April 8, they faced a conflict over whether to proceed with Battelle’s contract despite the sharp price spike.

Trump clearly wanted the mask sanitizers to be deployed rapidly. It had only been 10 days since he tweeted his support for the FDA waiver, which allowed masks cleaned by the machines to be used in health care facilities and freed the company from existing federal quality-assurance regulations.

But from April 3 to April 8, the price had skyrocketed from $60 million to $413 million. An Ohio-based nonprofit corporation that pays top executives more than $1 million a year and spent $350,000 lobbying Congress and federal agencies from Jan. 1 to March 30, Battelle raised the price for each machine from $1 million to $6.8 million “due to the inclusion of operating costs for six months, shipping, and logistics tails to be covered up front,” according to a summary of the decision-making meeting that was circulated to task force members and obtained by NBC News.

The “logistics tail,” a term the military uses to describe the chain of goods and people supporting combat troops in war, broadly refers to the costs of providing supplies and administrative support for a project. The additional $353 million over six months for the logistics tail, which includes the price of employing and training technicians, is equivalent to the retail value of 278 million new N95 masks.

In addition to operating the machines, maintaining them and shipping masks back and forth to health care systems, Delaney said “each site requires things like portable restrooms, showers, protective equipment and in some cases very large tents to house the operations.”

Five days after the deal became public, an NIH-led study concluded that the hydrogen peroxide vapor method of decontamination is only safe for three cycles.

The study, conducted out by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is run by Dr. Anthony Fauci, used different methods than Battelle’s, according to Dr. Seth Judson, a University of Washington internal medicine resident who worked on the evaluation. The NIH version employed special technology to measure exposure of the virus inside masks and tried to replicate how they would maintain their fit on real people, as opposed to the manikins used in Battelle’s study.

Battelle’s system is already in use by over 400 hospitals across California alone, according to state records, and several other companies have won FDA waivers to deploy mask-sanitizing machines since Battelle was granted its exemption.