How To Develop Protective Clothing Such As Masks And Protective Clothing In The Post Epidemic Era?

Under the epidemic, how is the progress of textile and garment production resuming? What is the trend of manufacturing transformation? What is the impact of the current and future foreign trade? And how should we take care of future consumption trends?

As a record player and lookout for the industry, the textile and clothing Weekly has opened an interactive interview column for "war epidemic reception hall". It invited entrepreneurs, experts and scholars to take part in the new difficulties and changes in the industry under the new crown pneumonia epidemic situation. With the export, consumption, production and other chapters, it will grasp the current situation with the industry readers and explore the way of development.

Guests during the current interview:

Professor and guidance of Donghua University

Ministry of education industrial textiles Research Center

Deputy director Jin Xiang Yu

Hayes Moore Biotechnology Co., Ltd.

Chairman Hu Guang Min

Tianjin TEDA clean material Co., Ltd.

Deputy General Manager Xie Jing Wei

Host:

Textile and clothing weekly

Editor in chief Guo Chun Hua

TA Weekly:

The outbreak of the new crown disease, masks, protective clothing, disinfection wipes and other industrial textiles have become the "necessary weapons" to fight the epidemic. Geosynthetics are the "hero" of the foundation of the fire god Hill Hospital and Raytheon Hill Hospital, showing the importance and necessity of the industrial textiles industry. The concept of "industrial textiles" was put forward in 1984. After more than 30 years of development, industrial textiles can be said to be ubiquitous in our daily life. What do you think is the role of industrial textiles in this epidemic?

Jin Xiangyu:

Because of the outbreak of the new crown disease, it is difficult to develop targeted vaccines and drugs in the short term. The personal protective nonwovens play a key role in respirators and protective clothing, including disinfectant wipes. Adult respirators and child respirators can filter air into the mouth and nose, so as to achieve the purpose of filtering and blocking particles in and out of the harmful gases. The protective clothing and the isolating clothing enable the medical staff to isolate the virus and bacteria in the body fluids and the air in contact with infectious diseases. Toxic effect, so as to protect the public's personal health. These non-woven personal protective products, as the main equipment of public and front-line medical staff to protect the virus, provide an important defense line for the broad masses to fight against the epidemic.

Geosynthetics also played an important role in the construction of "China speed" type in the area of fire god mountain and Raytheon Hill Hospital in Hubei during the period of emergency rescue. It played an important role in anti-seepage, drainage and isolation.

Xie Jingwei:

Mask is used for respiratory protection, effectively blocking the spread of virus through breathing, and without doubt is a necessary weapon to win the fight against "epidemic".

TA Weekly:

In the early days of the outbreak, our masks and protective clothing were once in a rush, unable to meet the needs of the hospitals and the masses. Please analyze the reasons.

Jin Xiangyu:

China is the largest country in the production of masks. In 2019, the total output of respirators in China exceeded 5 billion, accounting for more than 55% of the global production capacity, of which 70% were used for export. Before the outbreak, the average daily output of all kinds of respirators in China was around 22 million, of which the medical surgical mask was 2 million 200 thousand days per day. The production of medical KN95 masks was about 600 thousand days per day, and the rest were large respirators and industrial dust-proof masks. After the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, the demand for respirators increased sharply, even if exports were sold domestically.

Hu Guangmin:

This mask and protective clothing have become hot spots. This is a casual event. In the face of a sudden outbreak, no one can predict the danger, so the sudden shortage of protective clothing is understandable.

TA Weekly:

That period was indeed a "hard cover". However, after the efforts of the state, industry associations and enterprises, the production of masks in China in the end of February was two hundred million, and the protective clothing basically met the demand. However, during the same period, the price of melted cloth increased and the production masks were short of raw materials. How do you view this situation?

Jin Xiangyu:

The lack of respirators is what you may think of is increasing productivity and increasing masks. However, the production cycle of masks and protective clothing is long. Although many enterprises' cross boundary production mask machines have relieved the pressure of the masks, the new production mask enterprises will soon take shape. However, the output of melted nonwoven filter cloth, which is the core material for producing masks, is far below the national demand. In 2019, the domestic melt blown nonwoven production was about 900 thousand tons, of which 650 thousand tons were used for air, water and oil filtration, and 350 thousand tons for masks.

Why not increase the volume of melt blown production and increase the speed in a short time can not solve this problem. The main reasons are as follows: first, the domestic production of melt blown fabric equipment has been achieved in China, but the machining cycle of high precision core parts such as spinneret plate has been up to 3-4 months, and foreign imports have been 5 months long.

Two, the price of the high efficiency melt spraying cloth production equipment is relatively high, and the production technology, electret technology, modification technology, testing technology and management requirements all have strict requirements.

Three, in addition to the supply of equipment, the operation requirements of the equipment for the melt spraying cloth are also high for the staff. Special training is needed for the staff. Generally speaking, the production technology, production environment and specialized talents have a higher threshold.

In addition to the restrictions on the production volume of upstream raw materials, there are also analytical procedures for the sterilization of respirators and protective clothing, which can last up to 7-14 days. Therefore, the demand for masks and protective clothing can not be quickly satisfied at the initial stage of the epidemic. In view of the above problems, it is suggested that short period sterilization process, such as Co 60 irradiation sterilization technology, be used to shorten the production cycle.

Hu Guangmin:

Affected by the global epidemic, there are more enterprises producing masks, and the demand for melts is also large. But I do not propose to expand the production of melt blown cloth on a large scale, because it is not only the melt blown fabric that can produce masks, but the key is whether the masks can achieve the standard. This is the most important. Now our country has many new materials, and the mask products can not only reach the standard, but also exceed the standard. So I suggest that we should think more about innovation and apply the existing new textile materials. For example, Hayes Moore started thinking, making use of chitosan non-woven fabric masks, not only can effectively play a protective role, compared to ordinary melts spray respirator more moisture absorption and ventilation, mask life is longer, customers are very recognized after use.

TA Weekly:

Speaking of reaching the standard, we must mention the progress of the relevant standards of masks in China in the past two months. In March 12th, China's "sanitary respirator" group standard was formally promulgated, which provided technical support for the relevant mask manufacturers and provided a basis for market supervision. Donghua University, Hayes Moore and TEDA clean were involved in the formulation of the standard, especially thanks to the hard work of all parties. Moreover, the standard of children's mask has always been introduced in the near future, and the market will be more standardized.

Jin Xiangyu:

Another reason for the shortage of masks in the early stage of the epidemic is that the standard of medical masks and the standard of respirator are the main reference standards for mask production, and the respirators that meet this standard are mainly for medical staff, unable to meet the large demand of ordinary people. Therefore, people buying medical masks aggravated the shortage of supply from a certain point of view. At the same time, they also highlighted the new problem of standard mask.

Hu Guangmin:

Hayes Moore took part in the standard setting, and hopes to do more and better things for the industry.

TA Weekly:

Faced with the sudden surge of demand, it is indeed a surprise. But it also reflects that there are still some problems in the system and mechanism in dealing with all kinds of major emergencies. What do you think of them?

Hu Guangmin:

After the outbreak, the supply of mask protective clothing is insufficient. In addition to some objective factors, I think the industry chain mechanism needs further improvement. For example, the production of mask has encountered the problem of "shotgun".

So I think, first, we must constantly improve the conventional production mechanism of the industrial chain, which is the foundation.

Two, we should establish a mechanism to deal with emergencies and establish a stable and sustainable industrial chain, including standards, testing, data statistics, etc. To achieve emergency situations, key enterprises can respond quickly. For instance, some central enterprises and backbone private enterprises have played such a capability.

Three, from the government level, we must establish a reserve system and establish a diversified and flexible market mechanism. The outbreak caused masks to fluctuate greatly from raw materials to equipment to products. This reflects that our market mechanism is not perfect. The problem is that it is not mature to rely on penalties imposed by the government. I suggest that we set up emergency supplies reserve such as masks and medical protective clothing, and establish a hierarchical reserve system for central, local and key enterprises. Once the market supply and capacity change, the reserve system can give enterprises some response time. Now, masks and protective clothing have encountered such problems. Other foods, such as food, may also have such problems. Therefore, from a system to a mechanism, from products to industrial chains, we must establish a stable and sustainable industrial chain.

Xie Jingwei:

The development of the industrial chain is always guided by the market and following the laws of the market. The downstream direction of masks in China is mostly hospitals and exportation. Daily wear is not yet popular. Most of the masks are YY0469, EN14683 and ASTM2100, and the market of respirators and respirators is basically saturated. Sudden outbreaks and rapid demand are leading to insufficient supply. The outbreak of the outbreak made it necessary for us to consider the material reserve needed for public health and safety incidents.

TA Weekly:

17 years ago, what is the situation of China's industrial textiles industry such as masks and protective clothing? What improvements have been made in masks and protective clothing nowadays?

Jin Xiangyu:

During the SARS period in 2003, China's mask and protective clothing industry developed slowly. The research intensity and technical means were quite different from those of the developed countries in Europe and the United States. Even a large number of medical staff in China used gauze masks, and N95 masks and protective clothing almost all came from imports.

The outbreak of COVID-19's new crown virus pneumonia is the most serious public health emergency in China since the founding of new China. KN95, KN99, medical personal protective masks, protective clothing, protective clothing, protective clothing, surgical clothing and other personal protective products, which are used by the people, are produced by domestic enterprises themselves. They have been extensively applied in the fight against new crown disease virus pneumonia in Wuhan hospitals, shelter and hospitals all over the country. Not only high quality, stable performance, but also low price.

Xie Jingwei:

In the period of SARS, gauze mask was also used in domestic masks. At that time, as the only manufacturer in China that had the ability to detect mask resistance efficiency, TEDA was responsible for the national testing task and accumulated a lot of test data of mask filtration. It provided the foundation for YY0469-2004 "medical surgical mask technical requirements". Since the SARS period, gauze masks have been replaced by melted shotcrete masks in situations where filtration is needed.

With the development and progress of new materials and technologies, masks tend to reduce respiratory impedance and reduce the burden of heart and lung while providing protection. At the same time, the respirator should also pay attention to the dust retention ability, which can ensure that the respirator still has enough filtration efficiency after a period of time.

TA Weekly:

From the face of a counter traveler, we saw that there was a mark on the mask and protective clothing. The doctor also said that taking off the protective clothing is the most comfortable time. We know that airtight can certainly protect the virus better, but is there any improvement in some drawbacks such as airtight? Is there any research in this field?

Jin Xiangyu:

In order to ensure the safety of front-line medical staff and enhance their tightness in the wearing system, they should strive to achieve "zero touch" with the outside world when wearing protective clothing. We should know that the choice and wearing of respirators are actually scientific, because each person's face shape, size and outline are different. The important thing for wearers is to find the mask suitable for their faces and provide the best protective masks. What needs to be explained is that the respirator with good closeness, but uncomfortable (pressure loss resistance) masks and wearer is the best protective ability.

The inner environment of protective clothing is almost airtight. Although it has certain moisture permeability, long time wearing will sweat, evaporate and condensation on the protective clothing fabric. It will inevitably bring inconvenience and inconvenience to the medical staff. In addition, wearing KN95 and KN99 masks for long periods, either ear or head, will result in deep marks on the neck of the wearer's face because of tight wearing.

In view of these problems, I believe there will be great improvements in the near future. For example, positive pressure medical protective clothing can be used, that is, the protective clothing itself carries fans, batteries and filter units. This will not only greatly improve the safety of protective clothing, but also provide fresh air for wearers to breathe, take away heat and steam, reduce fog and improve wearing comfort. To facilitate communication, intelligent devices such as Bluetooth and walkie talkie can also be configured inside. It is believed that the above research and development side has made new research progress.

Hu Guangmin:

The existing protective clothing needs to be further improved in terms of comfort while doing well in protective performance. In fact, it is also an opportunity for us, giving us the power of innovation, and thinking about how to increase research and development on fabrics, not only with good protective properties, but also breathable and moisture permeable.

Xie Jingwei:

Whether it is masks or protective clothing, airtight is a manifestation of poor internal and external pressure. TEDA has always been committed to the research of new materials, new processes and new technologies, and has achieved breakthroughs in microfiber structure, electret technology innovation and material composite technology.

TA Weekly:

After the epidemic, people's awareness of personal safety protection has gradually increased, and the public has paid more attention to protective products. What do you think of the future development of protective textiles?

Jin Xiangyu:

Through this epidemic, people's demand for respirators, such as pollen, fog, haze, flu, and germs, will continue to increase, and the quality of the mask industry will continue to expand. It is suggested that domestic masks and protective clothing manufacturers should further improve their product quality, especially the intellectualization and brand building of technology and equipment, and gradually achieve the best balance between the two key properties of protection and comfort.

In the future, masks and protective clothing industry is facing fierce competition. In a market environment where supply exceeds demand, good quality products can remain invincible.

Hu Guangmin:

For the development trend of protective clothing such as masks and protective clothing, I mentioned before that this is a casual event and a phased one. But from another point of view, the trend towards good is also obvious, that is, there is a trend of inevitability. In the future, everyone will pay more attention to the prevention, control and treatment of diseases. This includes the increasing demand for quantity, the higher demand for quality and the demand for the product's fashion. Accordingly, the demand for tools, facilities and equipment will definitely increase, so it can be said that the whole industry chain is a long-term demand.

In the future, it is suggested that the industry should vigorously promote new materials and technologies, and make life and normalization of protective textiles, not only about functions, but also with the new positioning of technology, fashion and green textiles. For example, products using new materials can automatically indicate cleanliness, respirators with respirator function can be more breathable, and personalized masks can make consumers more fashionable.

Xie Jingwei:

The future protective textiles should also integrate industrial strength, vigorously develop integrated R & D projects, create national brands, and promote the integration of upstream and downstream industrial chains, forming industrial clusters, and improving rapid response capabilities.

TA Weekly:

Thank you very much to the answers of the three guests. The new crown pneumonia epidemic is a great war for the industry textile industry. It is also a big test. I hope China's industrial textiles will have greater development in the future.