Coronavirus Technology Solutions
June 23, 2020
Arcadis
will Test Wastewater for
Advance Warning of COVID
New Elastic Band Design by Purdue Could Extend
Life of N 95 Masks
Germany Locks Down Area Around a
Meat Plant
Wales Chicken Processing Plant
Reports New Outbreak
Confused Mask Messages Continue and the Media
is Only as Good as the Source
EU Face Mask Production will Increase
20-Fold by November
______________________________________________________________________________
Arcadis
will Test Wastewater for
Advance Warning of COVID
In response to the COVID-19
outbreak in the United States,
Arcadis is seeking additional
pilot participants for a new
program designed to help
organizations detect and control
the spread of COVID-19 at their
facilities.
“Tackling and preventing
COVID-19 spread is the first
priority of safety-driven
organizations across the
country. With limited testing
and resources available to
private and public
organizations, we are proud to
work with our clients on an
alternative solution to keep
their people safe,” said
Kathleen Abbott, president of
Arcadis’ U.S. environment
business line.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that
causes COVID-19, is spread by
symptomatic and asymptomatic
carriers. The virus is shed in
oral and nasal secretions, as
well as in fecal matter. Taking
temperatures and monitoring for
symptoms identifies some
symptomatic carriers, at which
point they may have already
spread the virus to coworkers.
To get ahead of potential
outbreaks, Arcadis will work
with participating organizations
to test for the presence of
SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater.
With many outbreaks originating
in essential workplaces and
stay-at-home orders expiring
across much of the nation,
governing bodies and employers
are grappling with how to safely
return to work. Testing this new
capability could prove to be a
faster and more effective method
for protecting employee health.
Using existing knowledge of
wastewater collection, sampling
and testing techniques as well
as system design and monitoring
capabilities, Arcadis will work
with pilot participants to
identify the appropriate
locations for testing wastewater
within their campuses or
wastewater collection systems.
Equipped with test results,
Arcadis will then work with
participants to identify and
monitor potential hot spots by
methodically adjusting sampling
locations and frequency.
In addition to protecting
employee health, testing
wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 is an
anonymous process that starts at
an agreed-upon location in a
facility’s collection system. As
such, organizations avoid some
of the privacy concerns raised
by certain personnel testing and
monitoring policies.
The pilot project came about as
part of Arcadis’ QuickLaunch
program, which invites employees
to submit innovative ideas at
any time and then fast-tracks
the best ideas. Arcadis allotted
$25,000 for the project team to
explore implementation at
participating client locations.
Candidates for the pilot study
include automotive, food and
beverage, chemical and medical
device manufacturers, as well as
other industrial companies and
municipal organizations with
large campuses. Organizations
interested in taking part in
this pilot study should contact
Darcy Sachs at
darcy.sachs@arcadis.com.
A Purdue University team has
come up with an approach to
extend the shelf life for an N95
mask. The Purdue innovators
developed a technique that
focuses on the elastic band that
attaches to the front of the
mask.
“The shelf life for an N95 mask
is primarily affected by the
elastic band holding the mask
together, since the elastic
disintegrates after a certain
period of time,” said Hersh Rai,
a graduate student at Purdue in
computer and information
technology. “We designed a way
to create the masks using the
same filter material on the
front, but with different
materials for the band and with
novel attachment locations and
methods.”
The Purdue team’s approach,
which the innovators worked to
patent through the Purdue
Research Foundation Office of
Technology Commercialization, is
designed to extend the shelf
life and the individual fit of
the mask.
“We took our expertise in design
and applied it to help fix a
problem affecting the frontline
workers during this pandemic,”
said Nicholas Toan-Nang Vu, a
graduate student at Purdue in
mechanical engineering.
The team created several design
options that work with elastic
or different materials that can
be attached to the front of the
mask in different ways to allow
the band materials to be swapped
out so the mask can last longer.
The designs provide more
attachment points for the band
materials, which allow for a
more secure fit without
contaminating the front
material.
The team is looking for partners
to continue developing their
technology. For more information
on licensing and other
opportunities, contact Matt
Halladay of OTC at
mrhalladay@prf.org.
Rai and Vu are both active
members of the U.S. Navy and
worked on the project under the
leadership of Eric Dietz, a
Purdue professor who leads the
Purdue Military Research
Initiative.
The German state of North-Rhine
Westphalia has imposed a new
lockdown in the area around
a meat processing factory hit by
a coronavirus outbreak.
The state's Prime Minister Armin
Laschet announced that the
entire district of Guetersloh --
home to more than 360,000 people
-- would be locked down for the
next seven days.
Laschet said the new lockdown would
mirror the measures imposed on a
national level earlier in the
Covid-19 pandemic.
Group meetings have been banned, and
schools, daycare centers,
museums, restaurants, pubs,
swimming pools, gyms and other
public places forced to close or
drastically limit the number of
people allowed in at any one
time
Meetings between members of different
households have been limited to
two people at a time. Shops will
remain open, but only with
strict hygiene measures in
place.
Laschet said the new measures were
necessary because 1,553 workers
at
the Toennies meat processing
factory have
tested positive for the virus in
recent days.
The plant has been shut since last
week. All of its 7,000 local
employees and their families
have been ordered into lockdown,
even if they have not tested
positive for the virus.
Tönnies, which exports about
half its products, has 16,500
employees worldwide and
generated revenue of €6.7
billion ($7.5 billion) in 2018.
Founded in 1971 by Clemens' late
brother Bernd Tönnies, the
company produces 850 tons of
frozen and fresh meat a day and
is Germany's single biggest pork
processor, with 27% of the
market. Tönnies slaughters tens
of millions of pigs each year.
On Tuesday, those restrictions were
broadened to cover the entire
district. "You must stay in
quarantine," Laschet said during
a news conference on Tuesday,
adding that police will enforce
the lockdown if necessary.
Everyone working at the factory has
already been tested, according
to the district's website.
Laschet said 100 mobile testing
teams were combing through the
district to identify anyone who
may have been infected.
North-Rhine Westphalia is Germany's
most populous state, with almost
18 million inhabitants.
In the seven days prior to Monday,
the entire state reported 1,860
new cases of the novel
coronavirus. That statistic
suggests that while the outbreak
has been severe, it has so far
been largely confined to the
factory and its workers.
Laschet said Tuesday that only 24
coronavirus cases have been
identified outside the factory
so far.
The lockdown Guetersloh marks the
first time Germany has imposed a
new lockdown,
after easing many restrictions last month.
Public Health Wales (PHW) has
confirmed 25 more cases at the 2
Sisters chicken processing
plant, which employs about 500
people in Llangefni on Anglesey.
Now three Welsh meat plants have
Covid-19 among its workers -
with 34 cases linked to Kepak in
Merthyr Tydfil and 70 at Rowan
Foods in Wrexham.
Wales' health minister said
government will see if the
sector should improve.
The chicken processing plant in Llangefni,
the smallest of food giant 2
Sisters' 12 plants across the
UK, has temporarily closed as a result of the outbreak.
"Incidents
like this are a reminder that
coronavirus is still
circulating, sometimes
invisibly, and that we all need
to be vigilant," said Dr Graham
Brown of PHW.
Birmingham-based 2 Sisters is
one of the UK's biggest food
manufacturing companies,
employing about 18,000 people
across the country and with an
estimated £3bn annual turnover.
2 Sisters supply major outlets
like Marks & Spencer, KFC, Asda
and Aldi - although the company
say none of their major
customers are supplied from the
Anglesey plant.
The media is devoting lots of
space to covering the
coronavirus and technology
solutions. But their reporting
is no better than the
information they are
gathering from
niche experts. The
problem is that an niche expert
in epidemiology is not an expert
on travel of small aerosols nor
on the efficiency of specific
filtration media. McIlvaine has
a concept of developing subject
matter ultra-experts. These are
niche experts who have access to
organized systems to help
develop their expertise to a new
level. The result is
that any given decision
should be impacted by the niche
expertise of many narrow
ultra-experts rather than
one semi expert. We believe that
the Coronavirus Technology
Solutions is an organized
system which will benefit those
who can make judgements and
convey them to the media.
An example of a major newspaper
conveying confused information
is found in The Guardian
(a
major UK newspaper) yesterday.
Different types of mask offer
different levels of protection.
Surgical grade N95 respirators
offer the highest level of
protection against Covid-19
infection, followed by surgical
grade masks. However, these
masks are costly, in limited
supply, contribute to landfill
waste and are uncomfortable to
wear for long periods. So even
countries that have required the
public to wear face masks have
generally suggested such masks
should be reserved for health
workers or those at particularly
high risk.
These masks will not be in short
supply if there is the demand.
Our webinars show the
availability of nanofibers and
membranes.
So there is not a media
capacity problem. Contributing
to land fill waste is not a real
issue. Polyester has a fuel
value of 20,000 BTU per lb
and would be welcomed at
waste to energy plants.
Ironically the UK is at the
center of a whole program to
proactively use Waste To Energy
plants and biomass fired
electricity generators to remove
CO2 from the atmosphere through
sucking the CO2 out of the air
with tree growth and then
combusting the chips and
sequestering it in the North
sea.
Opportunistic Biomass - CCS
Program is the Route chosen by
the UK and Japan
There is in depth reporting
on coronavirus by several
major news media.
We have been working with
Keith Bradsher, Shanghai bureau
chief of the NY Times for
decades.
He has done in depth
analysis of Sinopec, the large
Chinese petrochemical company.
His article on Sinopec
and meltblowns will be published
soon.
Here is our
correspondence with him this
week.
Yes Keith
It seems difficult to understand
why the U.S. does not divert
more of its meltblown capacity
to masks rather than other
products. One reason is
contractual. The existing
capacity is committed to
customers. A second reason is
that much of the capacity is
dedicated to company products.
So companies are making wipes or
filters or other products.
Another reason is due to
manufacturing considerations.
The arrangement of equipment and
the business structure do not
lend themselves to making
meltblowns for masks. Finally
there is the reluctance to make
a change if the market will
disappear.
Our daily alerts indicate that it
is a huge mistake to assume that
the market will disappear. There
is now proof that much of the
virus spread is through small
aerosols. The main defense
therefore has to be an efficient
mask. Meltblowns, nanofibers and
membranes are the only media
which will be effective.
Look forward to reading the
article
Bob
From:
Keith Bradsher <kebrad@nytimes.com>
Hi Bob,
My article is finally ready to
run. It cites you and your
eponymous research and
consulting firm in Northfield as
saying that China has raised its
production of melt-blown fabric
for masks to 150 tons per day up
from 30 tons before the
pandemic, while the U.S. is only
at 10 tons even now.
Do you want to update those
numbers, or are those still the
most recent available?
Many thanks,
On Sun, May 17, 2020 at 7:43 AM
Keith Bradsher <kebrad@nytimes.com>
wrote:
Thank you, Bob. It looks like you
are rapidly gathering good data
from your subscribers, who
represent a good source of
collective knowledge.
I want to make sure that I am
reading this chart correctly.
Are you saying that the U.S., as
of April 15, made only 10 tons
per day of meltblown nonwoven
fabric at a medical grade, and
the rest of the 750 was
non-medical grades for other
filtration?
Meanwhile, China increased its
production of medical grade from
30 tons on Jan. 1 to 150
million tons on April 1?
Also, just to double check, your
most recent estimates for China
are for April 1 and for the U.S.
on April 15?
Thank you,
Keith
On Sun, May 17, 2020 at 7:11 AM Bob Mcilvaine
<rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com>
wrote:
Hi Keith
Here is the analysis which shows
that Sinopec is # 1 at 18 tpd
for melt blown masks. 3M
is # 2 at 15 tpd but 2/3 is from
its Chinese plants. Chinese
government controlled producers
are increasing production from
40 to 70 tons per day.
This includes the 18 from
Sinopec and 12 from others.
As you can see from our draft
May 18 Alert, we are gathering
the details on a daily basis.
When people realize that only
N95 masks will protect them from
the aerosols smaller than 5
microns, there will be a market
potential of over 2000 tons per
day. Let me know what other
information I can provide.
Bob
EU Face Mask Production will
Increase 20-Fold by November
EU production
of face masks is set to increase
20-fold by November this year
compared to pre-crisis times,
according to EDANA. This means
that EU-based producers will be
able to make the equivalent of
1.5 billion three-layer masks
per month, according to figures
released today by the leading
association serving the
nonwovens and related
industries.
Pierre Wiertz,
EDANA’s General Manager, said:
“These figures show how EDANA’s
members in the nonwovens sector
have responded in record time to
the unprecedented challenge of
the COVID-19 pandemic and the
call by EU and national
authorities to ramp up
production of face masks to
protect public health.”
“As soon as the
European Commission and member
states asked for an increase in
the production of face masks,
EDANA’s members worked flat out
to increase the production of
meltblown nonwoven web, which is
essential for face masks, in the
EU and to overcome global supply
shortages,” Wiertz added.
Over the last
three months, EDANA has been
liaising with partner
associations including MedTech
Europe, ESF, and EURATEX to
ensure sufficient supplies of
essential public health
equipment. Wiertz said that
following this response, the
industry faced some
uncertainties which needed
clarification. “The industry now
needs clear official estimates
of the current and future EU
needs for medical-grade face
masks and personal protective
masks (FFP2/3) as well as
guarantees that stockpiling and
procurement procedures would
favor EU players in the supply
chain and enable their
sustainable business
development”. This would reward
their efforts to produce quality
single-use products compliant
with European Standards, he
said.
Jacques
Prigneaux, EDANA’s Market
Analysis and Economic Affairs
Director, explained that at the
start of the pandemic in March,
“the main bottleneck in the
global supply chain for face
masks was a shortage of
ultra-fine meltblown (MB)
filament web, which is the
indispensable high-tech filter
layer used in all nonwoven
masks. Once electro
statistically charged, this
nonwoven fabric is able to stop
very fine particles and droplets
carrying bacteria and viruses.”
Prigneaux said
that thanks to the efforts of
EU-based producers there would
be enough meltblown capacity in
the EU by November to produce
the equivalent of 1.5 billion
three-layer surgical masks per
month. He added that it normally
took up to 12 months to install
meltblown production lines, but
several contractors had managed
to halve the time needed.
In contrast
with the rest of the supply
chain, where European players
were no longer in a leadership
position, the world’s most
sophisticated technology
platforms producing meltblown
nonwovens belong to European
machinery companies, he said.
Last week EDANA
convened a new sector group
representing face mask
converters, nonwoven suppliers,
testing laboratories and
equipment manufacturers to work
together to develop an
independent and self-sufficient
supply chain for medical face
masks and personal protective
masks in the EU. The group will
work to ensure adherence to
applicable European Standards
and to encourage responsible
product stewardship throughout
the lifecycle of facemasks from
raw material sourcing to
end-of-life solutions.
In March 2020,
EDANA offered rapid support in
response to the call from EU
member states and the European
Commission to ramp up the
production of face masks in the
EU.
For more
information, visit https://www.edana.org/how-we-take-action/covid-1 |