Cummins Inc. has teamed up with DuPont to repurpose engine-filtration material to help supply N95 respirator masks for health care professionals on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The material, which is typically used for air, fuel and lube filtration products to prevent long-term wear in diesel engines, has been successfully tailored to be a suitable alternative to filtering material currently used to make N95 masks, said Greg Hoverson, executive director of engineering at Cummins Filtration, who is involved in the effort.
Cummins officials believe the Columbus-based company has the capacity to produce enough material for mask manufacturers to make “several million masks per month,” with the bulk of material initially coming from a Cummins facility in South Korea, Hoverson said.
So far, Cummins has produced enough material to be converted into several hundred thousand masks, and an estimated tens of thousands of masks with Cummins material have already been made as several potential manufacturers review how the material, also called media, will work with their production equipment and manufacturing processes.
“We’re really in a position right now where multiple different mask makers have our media and are evaluating and are converting samples into actual masks at different points of submission for certification,” Hoverson said.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
