Coronavirus Technology Solutions
June 15, 2020
Eaton Pursuing Face Shield Supply - First with
3D Printing and Later Injection Molding
Eaton Touchless Tool Reduces Virus Spread
Eaton Provides Power Equipment for Expanded
Triage Capability
Eaton Provides Power Equipment to New Hospitals
in Wuhan
Parker Hannifin Offers Range of Filters for HVAC
IDEX Provides Dosing Pumps, Clamps, Degassers
and Other Products to Hospitals
Masks are More Important Than Social Distancing
Because of Airborne Aerosols
Chinese Melt Blown and Mask Capacity Reduced as
Low Quality Producers Eliminated
_____________________________________________________________________________
Eaton Pursuing Face Shield Supply - First with
3D Printing and Later Injection Molding
Additive manufacturing opens up new
opportunities to combine novel materials,
designs and process innovations at a much faster
pace than traditional manufacturing. It enables
engineers with quick and cost-effective design
iterations to dramatically reduce development
time. And now more than ever, time is of the
essence.
Eaton says :”What matters most is the ability of
the healthcare system to respond to the crisis
at hand. We’re leveraging our expertise in
additive manufacturing to deliver real-time
solutions.
For example, we’re designing and 3D printing
medical supplies to meet the needs of our
customers and the world. By working closely with
healthcare providers, we’ve developed face
shields that can be sanitized and reused for a
period of time. We’re donating initial supplies
to hospitals in Cleveland, New York City and
beyond.
We’re also pursuing options to transition the
production of face shields to more traditional
manufacturing methods because the current demand
for these critical assets far exceeds the supply
available from 3D printing. We’re looking at
injection molding processes in collaboration
with a variety of manufacturing facilities to
help provide protection for front-line
healthcare workers.
Eaton Touchless Tool Reduces Virus Spread
Hospitals need immediate access to tools that
help reduce the potential for front line
healthcare providers to be exposed to the new
virus. Power management company Eaton
activated its additive manufacturing
expertise to rapidly develop a touchless tool
that helps medical workers avoid contact with
surfaces and slow the spread of the novel
coronavirus. University Hospitals in Northeast
Ohio collaborated on the design and development
of the new Eaton tool.
“The entire community here is indebted to
innovative organizations like Eaton, who are
flexing their technological muscles and making a
difference in these challenging times,” said
Brian Rothstein, MD, pediatric neurosurgeon at
University Hospitals.
A recent study indicates that one of the best
defenses of healthcare workers is through
barrier protection from surfaces that become
contaminated
(Journal
of the American Medical Association,
March 2020). Eaton’s four-inch touchless tool
resembles a plastic wrench and is intended to
help medical workers grab door handles, turn
faucets and push buttons on phones and other
devices without touching surfaces.
“We’re looking for ways that we can apply our
design engineering and manufacturing expertise
to help address the critical needs in the
healthcare industry, and our teams are making it
happen,” said Michael Regelski, senior vice
president and chief technology officer,
Electrical Sector at Eaton. “As this tool and
our face shields demonstrate, we’re able to use
our additive manufacturing, or 3D printing
capabilities, along with a healthy dose of
innovation to compress product development
timelines and rapidly deliver solutions for
healthcare workers on the front line.”
Eaton provided the first batch of touchless
tools to University Hospitals, where doctors,
nurses, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and
other healthcare workers are using the device.
The tool enables University Hospitals to help
address concerns associated with contracting the
new coronavirus from contaminated surfaces and
reduces the number of times healthcare workers
need to change protective equipment.
“To help fill critical needs of our healthcare
workers during this crisis, we moved from
concept to production in a few short days,” said
Srinivas Garimella, global head of the Additive
Manufacturing Center of Excellence at Eaton.
“This kind of speed and adaptability reaffirms
the power of additive manufacturing, and I am
proud of our teams across the company who
stepped up to help local communities.”
Eaton Provides Power Equipment for Expanded
Triage Capability
While the world continues to react to the
COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers are
working with their local communities to expand
treatment capacity and provide exceptional care
for all patients. Power management company Eaton
answered the call when Southside Hospital in Bay
Shore on Long Island – part of Northwell Health,
New York’s largest healthcare provider –
recently extended its triage capabilities with
an emergency hospital tent and called upon a
local partner to provide the critical equipment
needed to keep the facility up and running. The
low-voltage power distribution solutions
provided by Eaton will help enable reliable,
always-on power for the continuous delivery of
patient care in the temporary emergency
facility.
“The rapid completion of our Southside Hospital
facility expansion would not have been possible
without Eaton and our local partners coming
together on short notice to deliver essential
equipment,” said Kurt Jahrsdoerfer, Director of
Engineering, Northwell Health.
“The collaboration between our partners and
others in our community will help bring
essential care to patients during this
pandemic,” said Steven McCormack, Manager of
Plant Operations, Northwell Health.
Electrical distributor WESCO International
received an urgent call from local electrical
contractor Gordon L. Seaman, Inc. for two
switchboards to distribute critical power to the
triage tent facility being constructed at
Southside Hospital. WESCO contacted the Eaton
satellite in Westhampton, New Jersey, knowing
that electrical solutions of that size and
complexity could be built quickly by the
satellite plant. Time was of the essence,
so Eaton quickly activated a network of sites
across Baltimore; Denver; El Paso, Texas; and
Sumter, South Carolina, to coordinate materials
and accelerate production. Ultimately, the New
Jersey satellite was able to deliver
switchboards on site in one week, a fraction of
the standard turnaround time for such complex
equipment.
“When you’re in a situation like this and
working amid a global pandemic, you need a
partner you can really trust,” said Donald Schug,
senior sales representative, WESCO
International. “Eaton’s proven record of
delivering above and beyond expectations as well
as their presence in the local community gave me
the confidence that they would deliver what I
needed at the speed this project required, and
that’s exactly what they did.”
With the Eaton switchboards providing continuous
power for the triage tents, hospital staff can
diagnose and treat non-COVID patients while
maximizing the main facility’s ability to treat
COVID patients.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is driving close
collaboration between healthcare providers and
their communities to ensure all patients receive
the care they need,” said Justin Carron, global
healthcare segment manager, Eaton. “I’m proud of
the fast action and coordination our team and
partners exhibited that enabled the delivery of
essential switchboard technology to the team at
Southside Hospital. As this pandemic continues,
we remain committed to working with partners in
these communities to solve challenges and
deliver electrical solutions that meet their
needs for safe, reliable power.
Eaton Provides Power Equipment to New Hospitals
in Wuhan
China completed construction of two new field
hospitals in Wuhan in just ten days. Power
management company Eaton and its partner
electrical contractors and distributors were
part of the construction project at the new
Huoshenshan and Leishenshan Hospitals that
delivered an additional 2,500 hospital beds to
the front line of this global health emergency.
Eaton solutions are powering the hospitals,
enabling medical teams to diagnose, treat and
monitor more patients.
“Working in the field complicates access to a
steady and reliable power supply, which can be a
matter of life and death when critical medical
equipment is involved,” said Howard Liu,
president of Eaton’s Electrical Sector –
Asia-Pacific region. “Eaton is committed to
providing high-performance solutions to everyday
heroes on the frontlines – on typical days and
in moments of crisis.”
The highly complicated effort to design, build
and construct two hospitals in short order
required consistent quality power. Eaton
mobilized its emergency response teams in China
to help.
An urgent request came to Eaton from the
regional utility, Wuhan Power Supply Bureau.
Both Huoshenshan and Leishenshan Hospitals
needed help connecting to utility power. In a
matter of days, Eaton and its partner helped
connect the main power supply at both hospitals
and provided the medium-voltage cable
accessories supporting intelligent and reliable
power distribution.
Eaton and its local partner, Wuhan Chaote
Network Technology Co., Ltd, worked overnight to
install, deploy and start up power at the
Huoshenshan Hospital. Eaton also provided three
units of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)
and 112 sets of batteries. This equipment is
enabling healthcare digitalization, the
equipment analyzing blood tests and monitoring
patients, as well as supporting emergency
backup.
Inside of 24 hours’ notice, Eaton delivered the
circuit protection supporting critical CT
equipment onsite at the Huoshenshan Hospital.
This diagnostic equipment is critical to rapid
response and treatment of symptoms. Eaton power
management solutions are protecting these
sophisticated diagnostic imaging machines from
downtime and enabling reliable, efficient power.
N95 Masks will Remove Coronavirus Particles
A good comparison of masks was updated June 2
and is linked below. It confirms that
respirators with high efficiency at 0.3 micron
particle size (N95/FFP2 or better)
can in theory filter particles
down to the size of the coronavirus (which is
around 0.1 microns). What that doesn’t tell us
is how much protection respirators will provide
against coronavirus when in use – we will need
to wait for future studies to confirm.
A
recent paper
shows that the coronavirus ranges from between
0.06 and 0.14 microns in size. Note that the
paper refers to the coronavirus particle as
2019-nCoV, which was its
old name. The virus is
currently called SARS-CoV-2, and the
illness it presents in people is called
Covid-19. Respirators are measured by their efficiency at filtering particles of 0.3 microns and bigger (noting that the coronavirus is smaller than that). The reason for the focus on 0.3 microns is because it is the “most penetrating particle size” (MPPS). Particles above this size move in ways we might anticipate and will get trapped in a filter with gaps smaller than the particle size. Particles smaller than 0.3 microns exhibit what’s called Brownian motion – which makes them easier to filter. Brownian motion refers to a phenomenon whereby the particle’s mass is small enough that it no longer travels unimpeded through the air. Instead it interacts with the molecules in the air (nitrogen, oxygen, etc.), causing it to pinball between them, moving in an erratic pattern.
According to researchers this point between
“normal” motion and Brownian motion is the
hardest particle size for filters to capture.
What we can take away from this, is that high
filter efficiency at 0.3 micron size will
generally translate to high filter efficiency
below this size also.
https://fastlifehacks.com/n95-vs-ffp/
Parker Hannifin Offers Range of Filters for HVAC
For today’s HVAC applications where air
cleanliness is critical, Parker offers an
extensive line of High-Efficiency Particulate
Air (HEPA) and Ultra-Low Particulate Air (ULPA)
filters designed to trap microscopic airborne
particles and contaminants from an air stream to
produce a safe environment and prevent
cross-contamination of manufacturing processes.
Parker says its filter solutions outperform
similar products on the market and are an
effective way to reduce energy use and support
sustainability efforts.
While the
Sub-HEPA, HEPA, and ULPA filters serve
the same function, they vary by efficiency and
performance. The distinction between the filter
types can be unclear given the range of testing
methods. HEPA filters have a minimum efficiency
of 99.97% at 0.3 microns, whereas ULPA filters
have an efficiency rating of 99.999% at 0.12
microns or higher. This does not mean that ULPA
filters are better than HEPA filters when taking
air flow and other variables into account. In
fact, HEPA filters cost less and have a lower
resistance to air flow and have a longer service
life than ULPA filters. Efficiency selection
will be to meet the needs of the user and
application, as specific conditions and
operation may demand either HEPA or ULPA.
Parker HVAC Filtration’s two new energy-saving
filter products, the Parker LoadTECH 4 in and 12
in filters are both MERV 14-rated for high
efficiency and feature gold synthetic media with
a design which captures dust at a higher
capacity than similar models.
The advanced filter systems use Parker’s E-pleat technology,
which moulds filtration media into a series of
pre-formed channels that direct the air smoothly
through the filter, allowing for even loading,
minimum resistance, and complete media
utilization. The advanced media used in the
filters also resists tearing, damage, moisture,
and microbial growth.
Parker Hannifin has Multiple Media for Face
Masks
The company supplied media normally used in air
filters to Indiana Filter to donate to local
prisons who experienced high rates of COVID the
specifics were
Parker Hannifin acquired Clarcor’s some years
ago. Clarcor in turn had previously purchased a
supplier of face mask media and face masks. So
the company does have multiple ways to
participate in the face mask market.
IDEX Provides Dosing Pumps, Clamps, Degassers
and Other Products to Hospitals
As the magnitude of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
outbreak in Wuhan, China became clear, the
Chinese government mobilized its resources and
set out to build two new hospitals in less than
two weeks. To help make it happen Chinese
government suppliers reached out to IDEX China
for several mission-critical components.
Even though businesses were already closed for
the Lunar New Year holiday and many employees
had begun traveling to visit family for the
holiday break, the great teams of IDEX assembled
and shipped a variety of orders for coronavirus
response.
The IDEX efforts have included:
Masks are More Important Than Social Distancing
Because of Airborne Aerosols
As states reopen amid the ongoing Covid-19
pandemic, many are documenting still-rising
levels of new cases. This is partly, or largely,
due to bad pandemic-time behavior—that is, not
wearing masks and not social-distancing. Even in
New York, which has done so well in reducing its
numbers, people are getting weary and a
little sloppy with protections. A new study out
in the journal Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences finds that among all
the strategies for reducing transmission,
wearing face masks may be the central
variable that determines the spread of the
virus.
“Our analysis reveals that the difference with
and without mandated face covering represents
the determinant in shaping the trends of the
pandemic,” the team, from Texas A&M University,
the University of Texas at Austin, California
Institute of Technology, and the University of
California San Diego, write in their new paper.
They analyzed the various mitigation measures
put in place in the three major centers of the
outbreak—Wuhan, Italy, and New York City—from
January 23 to May 9, 2020. The team also looked
at the slopes of the curves representing the
number of new cases, and how they changed after
each measure was mandated.
Daily new confirmed infections in (A) NYC and
(B) the United States. The dotted lines
represent ... [+]
ZHANG
ET AL 2020, COURTESY PNAS
And in Wuhan, the response was not only swift,
but multiple measures—namely, social distancing,
lockdown, and face coverings—were put in place simultaneously.
In the U.S., it was slower, and importantly,
sequential, making it much less effective.
“[T]he response to the pandemic was generally
slow in the western world, and implementation of
the intervention measures occurred only
consecutively,” the authors write. “Clearly, the
responsiveness of the mitigation measures
governed the evolution, scope, and magnitude of
the pandemic globally.”
The team also looked at how the virus, in
droplets and aerosols, travels in the air; how
fast it travels; the weather conditions in the
respective geographic locations; the “dose” and
effectiveness of how it infects the respiratory
system; and other variables. "Our results
clearly show that airborne transmission via
respiratory aerosols represents the dominant
route for the spread of COVID-19," said study
author Renyi Zhang in a statement.
When paired with the data on how the curve
changed in response to the mitigation methods,
this all makes sense—the takeaway being that
face masks are likely the major
determinant of how the infection spreads or
slows.
"Our study establishes very clearly that using a
face mask is not only useful to prevent infected
coughing droplets from reaching uninfected
persons
but is also crucial for these uninfected persons
to avoid breathing the minute atmospheric
particles (aerosols) that infected people emit
when talking and that can remain in the
atmosphere tens of minutes and can travel tens
of feet,"
said study author Mario Molina in a statement.
Indeed, a study
last month in
the same journal showed that just talking loudly
in a room released droplets that lingered in the
air for eight to 14 minutes. The new study also
echoes the update made
by the CDC recently, stating that while
transmission by infected surfaces
(e.g., touching a doorknob that a sick person
coughed on) was possible, it’s not the main
route of infection—air is.
Interestingly, the team also calculated how many
people were likely spared from infection by
wearing face coverings. "By analyzing the
pandemic trends without face-covering using the
statistical method and by projecting the trend,
we calculated that over 66,000 infections were
prevented by using a face mask in little over a
month in New York City,” said Zhang. In Italy
the number was 78,000. “We conclude that wearing
a face mask in public corresponds to the most
effective means to prevent inter-human
transmission. This inexpensive practice, in
conjunction with social distancing and other
procedures, is the most likely opportunity to
stop the COVID-19 pandemic."
As states continue to reopen and many see steady
rises in infection rates, they should heed the
message in the findings of studies like this
one.
Finally, the researchers make the important
point that science must be the foundation upon
which pandemic policy is based. It’s unfortunate
that we live in a time where this point has to
be made, and repeated, but here we are. They
write that “sound science should be effectively
communicated to policy makers and should
constitute the prime foundation in
decision-making amid this pandemic. Implementing
policies without a scientific basis could lead
to catastrophic consequences, particularly in
light of attempts to reopen the economy in many
countries.”
Chinese Melt Blown and Mask Capacity Reduced as
Low Quality Producers Eliminated
In the first five months of the year, 70,802 new
companies registered to make or trade face masks
in China, a 1,256 per cent rise from a year
earlier.
Meanwhile, 7,296 new companies registered to
make or trade
meltblown fabric,
the vital component, an increase of 2,277
percent from a year earlier, according to
Tianyancha, a company registration information
website.
But the frenzy started to cool a little in May,
with the number of new registrations for masks
and meltblown dropping by 70.84 percent and 57.6
percent respectively from April’s peak.
In May, exports
of medical equipment
and supplies rose
89 per cent from a year earlier, with new
pockets of demand popping up as the virus raged
elsewhere in the world, even as many European
and Asian nations appeared to have things under
control.
have been forced to quit the industry due to
changing export rules, tighter licensing
requirements and weaker demand for inferior
quality products.
Industry sources said that the bulk of the
bumper overseas shipments are now going to
established mask-making companies, with
opportunities drying up for those fly-by-night
operators
who were looking to turn a quick buck.
Huang Wensheng is the general manger of Shandong
Jofo Nonwoven, and has been making meltblown and
nonwoven fabrics in his eastern Chinese factory
for more than a decade.
Huang said about half of the mask factories in
his area have closed down, mainly those that
sprang up after the virus was brought under
control in China, but which he said delivered
low quality products.
He blamed falling overseas demand for inferior
masks for the closures, but also Beijing’s
crackdown on the export of non-licensed supplies
amid staunch criticism from governments around
the world. Huang added that for established
manufacturers, business is still “quite good”.
“At the beginning of the outbreak, people would
buy whatever masks were available, but as the
situation improved and fewer people are wearing
masks now, people have more choice, these
unqualified manufacturers are of course being
knocked out [of the market],” Huang said.
Chinese customs authorities imposed more
rigorous checks on mask
exports to
ensure quality control, as the world’s largest
manufacturer faced complaints from some overseas
governments and hospitals over shoddy medical
supplies.
At the height of China’s mask-making mania, the
little-known city of Yangzhong became known as
“the home of meltblown”, with almost 1,000 new
firms registering to make or trade the fabric in
the city of just 340,000, as of April 10,
according to local government statistics.
But now, hundreds of meltblown mills have
closed, with the local sector’s exodus – from
component sellers, to raw material providers, to
even the technicians who helped to debug the
machines – just as dramatic as the mad rush to
enter earlier in the year.
For the best quality output suppliers could
charge up to 400,000 yuan per tonne, but for the
lower-end offcuts, just 1,000 yuan.
On April 15, the
Yangzhong government cracked down on the chaotic
meltblown market, banning 867 companies from
producing the fabric. |