Ford's Powered Air Purifier Respirator with MANN+HUMMEL HEPA filter elements. Source: Ford Motor Company.

As the coronavirus pandemic intensifies, the shortage of medical equipment has become a critical issue. As a market leader in filtration, Mann+Hummel will collaborate with Ford Motor Company, one of its key automotive customers, in the rapid development and production of powered air purifier respirators (PAPR).  

Mann+Hummel will supply the HEPA filter in the Ford-produced respirator, which will be worn by healthcare workers when treating COVID-19 patients. To date, Mann+Hummel is producing, testing and shipping 3500 HEPA filter elements per day for this application, from its manufacturing sites in the USA and Germany. According to Ford, the automotive manufacturer is able to produce 100,000 respirators over the next two months.

The respirators are equipped with class H13 HEPA filters according to EN 1822 or the international norm ISO 29463. These filter classes are also used in operating rooms and in the pharmaceutical industry to reliably remove germs, viruses and microbiological contamination from the supply air. The European standard EN 1822 classifies HEPA filters and evaluates them according to their performance at the MPPS (Most Penetrating Particle Size). The micro-glass fibre media used in pharmaceutical/healthcare applications typically has an MPPS close to 0.2 μm. Respectively, filter class H13 has an efficiency of at least 99.95%.

"These critical times call for extraordinary actions and cooperation. Using our state-of-the-art HEPA filter production, in-house cleanroom test labs, and valued relationships with partners around the globe, we can blend our talents and expertise to help people in need. Our global teams have been working tireless to adapt to meet critical needs, with rapid development and time to market. I couldn’t be more proud of our team’s efforts to make a difference,” says Kurk Wilks, President & Chief Executive Officer of the Mann+Hummel Group.

With the acquisition of the European Vokes Air Group in 2014, Tri-Dim Filter Corporation in 2018 and Hardy Filtration in 2019, Mann+Hummel added almost 90 years of leading air filtration and cleanroom technology expertise as well as a state of the art HVAC and HEPA filtration portfolio to its unmatched portfolio of automotive and industrial filtration products and services.

www.mann-hummel.com