Ā鶹“«Ć½

Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.ā€”As Ā鶹“«Ć½ā€™s manufacturers begin producing supplies to aid in the stateā€™s COVID-19 response,Ā Ā鶹“«Ć½ State researchers are helping themĀ assess theĀ filteringĀ capabilitiesĀ of their materials.Ā 

MSUā€™s Institute for Clean Energy Technology, or ICET,Ā is using itsĀ testing infrastructureĀ toĀ helpĀ manufacturers know the air filtration rates of materials they are using to produce masks.Ā In recent weeks, ICET has tested materials forĀ Oxford-based Blue Delta Jeans Co. andĀ Lake Shore Studios, a hardback lampshade manufacturer located in Meridian.Ā The companies brought differentĀ mediaĀ to test their filtration rates, providingĀ decision quality data forĀ theirĀ maskĀ manufacturing.Ā 

ICET, a unit of MSUā€™s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering, is an international leader in evaluating the performance of high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration systems used in nuclear power plants. The center has been working with the U.S. Department of Energy for approximately 20 years to develop the capability of testing filters under worst-case scenario conditions.ĢżĢż

ICET Director Charles Waggoner said theĀ ongoingĀ response to the COVID-19 pandemicĀ overwhelms traditional supplies of respiratory protection masks of all protection levels.ĢżĢżĀ 

ā€œThe test data we supply allow manufacturers to optimize their ability to provide customers with protection information,ā€ Waggoner said.Ā ā€œThis is important because units may not be manufactured to meet specific codes such as that for the N95 masks often mentioned in the news.Ā Our dataĀ allow maskĀ manufacturers to communicate to hospitals and otherĀ usersĀ what theĀ filtration efficiencyĀ isĀ for the material used to make masks.Ā It allows them to evaluate how different types of material function.ā€Ā 

Waggoner explained that when studying air filtration capabilities, researchers at ICET are typically studying air particlesĀ that are 50 times smaller in diameter than a piece of human hair.Ā The centerĀ tests how materials filter particles of varyingĀ sizes.Ā 

ā€œOur infrastructure is capable of not onlyĀ determining overallĀ filtering efficiency, but to do it as a function of particle size,ā€ Waggoner said. ā€œMost codesĀ dealing withĀ air filtrationĀ specifyĀ filtering efficiency at a given particle size.Ā  The traditional definition of a HEPA filter calls for 99.97 percent removal efficiency for 300 nanometer particlesā€Ā 

For more on MSUā€™s Institute for Clean Energy Technology, visitĀ .ĢżĢż

MSU is Ā鶹“«Ć½ā€™sĀ leadingĀ university, available onlineĀ atĀ .ĢżĢż