Coronavirus Supplement Explanation

Why focus on the Coronavirus

This pandemic will not only change the air filtration market in the short term but have lasting effects. Fifty-nine million Americans were victims of swine flu in 2009-10 but only 12,000 died. This is just .02%. The coronavirus is likely to kill more than 0.5%.  If there were the same number of infections 300,000 people would die.  An even higher death rate is likely in less developed countries.  Three thousand people were killed in New York City on 9/11.  Trillions of dollars have been spent to prevent this from happening again. Contagion is avoided by distance. With the acceleration in world travel the effective distance is minimal and diminishing. This makes the challenge much greater.

The large number of people quarantined in multi-family dwellings will greatly increase the need for better air filtration. The high risk to healthcare personnel will also result in permanent protocols and structures.

Application Information Needed by Air Filter Media and Equipment Suppliers

The supplier needs to know where his product can best be employed or how it should be redesigned to meet the needs. The media supplier needs to know whether HEPA filters are needed and whether they should be combined with media to adsorb gases and whether media should be impregnated with catalyst for photocatalytic oxidation.

The equipment supplier needs to know how to best apply that media in

• Airplanes, ships and other mobile transport media
• Residential, commercial, and government buildings
• Hospitals and dental offices
  • Waiting and emergency rooms
  • Operating suites
  • Isolation rooms
  • HVAC systems

The equipment can range from

• Patient breathing filters
• Miniature room purifiers
• Large room purifiers (e.g. 12 m3/min)
• Portable rooms
• Isolation systems
• General HVAC

The industry needs to understand the technology uncertainties which will drive the market.

• Can coronavirus survive to travel through HVAC ductwork and provide a viable threat to occupants elsewhere?  CDC says no but researchers say yes.
• Viruses are too small to be captured directly in HEPA filters but is diffusion (Brownian movement) sufficient to remove them through collision with fibers and particles?
• Virus survival in humid vs dry air and on surfaces.
• How does the difficulty of capture differ from other viruses?
• How many times per hour does air in a room need to be purified to cost effectively minimize risk?
• Are there game changing technologies which will shape future markets?

Market Answers needed by media and equipment suppliers

• How big is the market in each application and each country?
  • Present
  • Future
• Who will be the key decision makers?
  • Governmental
  • OEM
  • Operator

• How much fluctuation in price will occur between times of high demand and lower demand?
• Will media companies be able to keep up with the needs of the filter producers?
• Will countries impose import or export restrictions on media or equipment?
• To what extent will purchasers buy the lowest true cost product rather than the one best advertised?
• Who will be the major competitors for each product in each region?
• What are the routes to market?
  • Retail
  • Distributor/sales rep
  • OEM
• How to validate low true cost
  • Magazines
  • Associations and conferences
  • Webinars