Will Sarni Founder and CEO, Water Foundry will@waterfoundry.com +1 720.341.7272
Dr. Iyad Al-Attar
Visiting Academic Fellow School of Aerospace, Transport, & Manufacturing, Cranfield Univ. i@driyadalattar.com
Sissi Liu
Co-founder and CEO, Metalmark Innovations, PBC sissi@metalmark.xyz
Len LaPorta Managing Director, Mergers & Acquisitions, Pickwick Capital Partners, LLC laportal@pickwickcapital.com
Dave Schaaf Director of Molecular Filtration, Mann+Hummel dave.schaaf@pamlico-air.com
Bob McIlvaine President, The McIlvaine Company rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com +1 847.784.0013
Adrian Wilson International Correspondent, IFN adawilson@gmail.com +44 7897.913134
CSMITH@INDA.ORG +1 239.225.6137
VIEWPOINT
Straying From the Usual Path
“Manage the cause, not the result.” — W.E Deming
This issue theme is a little different! You’ll read two thought-leadership perspectives providing a bird’s eye view on global environmental resource management.
Dr. Iyad Al-Attar is no stranger to strong opinion in his writing. As a regular contributor, he offered IFN the opportunity to publish his personal account on a trip he took to Svalbard to witness Arctic conditions for himself. While this is not in our usual content plan, his Special Report is a compelling “call to action” from a professional who has dedicated his life’s work to solving filtration problems. I hope you agree that Knowing No Borders, page 34, is a heartfelt observation that offers education and inspiration.
Water thought leader Will Sarni believes “the future is water.” On his website, he says, “Wicked water problems can be solved through innovation in: partnerships, funding and financing, business models, technology, and public policy. Our runway to address these issues is short and the time is now to move beyond outdated thinking and frameworks to address these issues.” This view is reflected in his article on page 18.
We have not neglected our collection of filtration features on supply chain innovations for water, air and gas, and more. And, there is much to report!
In Tech Spotlight, page 7, Eaton has developed advanced filtration solutions for difficult liquids. The news in Tech Notes, page 8, reports on filtration innovations at
NX Filtration, Metso, Schiphol, Asahi Kasei, Absorbi, and HUBER Technology. (Send your news to IFNnews@inda.media.)
The new Research Emergence column, page 10, highlights the best of universitydriven discoveries, and the bright minds behind it, worldwide. (If your institution has research to report, email csmith@inda.org.)
On page 24, indoor air quality is still a big concern post-pandemic. Sissi Lui, Metalmark Innovations, shares R&D on ventilation effectiveness. They developed a “selfrenewing air cleaning system that removes harmful airborne particulates, wildfire smoke, and a number of pathogens.”
Overall, greater inspiration will emerge from broader perspectives and multiple viewpoints, especially when managing the world’s most challenging problems. Companies are dedicating large portions of budgets to tackle problems, but the issues are vast, complex and long-suffering.
We hope you always find valuable information, education and inspiration in the pages of IFN. While views differ, we see the great strides industry is making to turn the tide on resource management and filtration.
I would like to hear your thoughts on these issues. Email me at csmith@inda.org, anytime!
Caryn Smith Chief Content Officer & Publisher, INDA Media, IFN
International Filtration News Editorial Advisory Board
R. Vijayakumar, Ph.D., Chair
AERFIL
Tel: +1 315-506-6883
Email: vijay@aerfil.com
Rahul Bharadwaj, Ph.D.
Lydall Performance Materials
Tel: +1 603-953-6318
Email: rbharadwaj@lydall.com
Tom Justice, CAFS, NCT
ZENE, LLC Filtration
Tel: 757-378-3857
Email: justfilter@yahoo.com
James J. Joseph
Joseph Marketing
Tel/Fax: +1 757-565-1549
Emai: josephmarketing120@gmail.com
Wenping Li, Ph.D.
Agriltech Research Company
Tel: +1 337-421-6345
Email: wenpingl@agrilectric.com
Robert W. McIlvaine
The McIlvaine Company
Tel: +1 847-784-0013
Email: rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
Rishit R. Merchant
Parker Hannifin
P: +1 (805) 604-3519
E: rishit.merchant@parker.com
Thad Ptak, Ph.D.
TJ Ptak & Associates
Tel: +1 414-514-8937
Email: thadptak@hotmail.com
the full spectrum of filtration and separation applications and processes.
If you would like to utilize your expertise to help shape the content in the IFN , consider applying for the IFN Editorial Advisory Board. We welcome participation through input on trends and innovations, new story ideas and overall thought leadership. This is a collaborative board that meets quarterly to discuss the state of the industry. Send an email to Caryn Smith at csmith@inda.org for consideration.
SPOTLIGHT TECH
Advanced Solutions for Difficult Liquids
By Adrian Wilson
At the recent Achema trade show for the processing industries held in Frankfurt, Germany (June 10-14), the Filtration Division of energy management company Eaton, headquartered in Nettersheim, Germany, introduced a number of new filtration solutions.
Two-In-One
To boost process efficiency in the filtration of oil-containing liquids such as chemicals, paints and varnishes, Eaton’s filter bag program now includes the Sentinel Maxpo and Duragaf Maxpoxl two-in-one specialty filter bag ranges. These fully-welded systems comprise durable needlepunched nonwoven polypropylene outer layers and meltblown polypropylene inner cores to significantly increase their dirt-holding capacity and oil absorption ability.
The integrated inner core ensures oil absorption for which an additional filtration step would otherwise be necessary and its porous fiber matrix also provides a high dirt-holding capacity with a low differential pressure.
Installed in chemical, petrochemical and water pipes, the media effectively protect industrial systems from unwanted particles and their improved sealing and surface finish properties comply with the Pressure Equipment Directive (PED), EN13445 and AD 2000 pressure vessel codes.
Polyester Performance
Eaton has also recently expanded its Loftop and Loftrex M depth filter cartridges to include meltblown polyester media specifically for high chemical resistance, in addition to existing polypropylene and polyamide 6.6-based versions.
When choosing a suitable filtration system, the chemical resistance of filter materials is one of the most important factors for users in many industries, particularly the chemical production industry. In this industry, many processes involve filtering demanding or aggressive solutions that would damage unsuitable filter materials.
“In the chemical industry, everything interacts with everything else,” said Alexander Bachmann, senior application engineer for Eaton’s Filtration Division. “For media such as paints and solvents, it is necessary to ensure both chemical and thermal resistance and for various processes, these requirements can be fulfilled by filter cartridges that use polyester as the filter media.”
Environmental Requirements
Manufacturers and producers of paint resins have also relied on filter cartridges bonded with phenolic resin to date, but although these offer the necessary chemical resistance, their manufacturing process and disposal means that they are becoming increasingly incompatible with stricter environmental requirements.
“Meltblown polyester filter cartridges provide users with an alternative to filter cartridges that are bonded with phenolic resin,” said Bachmann.
Loftop and Loftrex M filter cartridges are available in different lengths and with all common adapter configurations and sealing materials for safe use in a wide range of applications and filter housings. Loftop depth filter cartridges offer absolute retention rates from 0.50 to 120μm, with a retention efficiency of
99.98% and Loftrex M depth filter cartridges offer nominal retention rates from 1 to 150μm with a retention efficiency of 95%. They are made from high-purity microfibers which are meltblown onto an inner core in a controlled manner and thermally bonded in a single process step without the use of additives. The filter cartridges do not contain any adhesives or binders and are individually sealed in foil to reliably prevent cross-contamination prior to installation, providing a high dirt-holding capacity in a wide range of applications.
Activated Carbon
With the new Beco Carbon ACF 03 grade media which is available in flat sheet, stacked disc cartridge and disposable capsule designs, Eaton is also responding to the growing demand for user-friendly activated carbon sheets tested for endotoxins for pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and fine chemical applications. Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and active cosmetic ingredient (ACI) manufacturing processes in particular demand the strong capabilities of activated carbon depth filter sheets for decolorization and adsorptive separation of undesired byproducts.
www.eaton.com
For details on how to submit your company’s technology for consideration as a “Technology Spotlight” in IFN , contact Ken Norberg at ken@filtnews.com or +1 202.681.2022.
NOTES TECH
Bucher Denwel Collaborate with NX Filtration for a New Beer Membrane Filtration Solution
NX Filtration, a leading provider of innovative membrane filtration technologies, announced a collaboration with Bucher Denwel, a subsidiary of Bucher Unipektin AG, specializing in processing solutions for the Food & Beverage industry.
Bucher Denwel will apply NX Filtration’s microfiltration membranes in a new sustainable beer filtration solution it is bringing to the market.
Bucher Denwel’s new advanced beer membrane filtration solution ensures highquality and consistent beer filtration, with a high filtrate yield without use of traditional Diatomaceous Earth (DE) material. The solution is based on crossflow beer filtration with polymeric membranes, guaranteeing clear, yeast-free filtered beer with high flexibility for various beer types. The filters are designed for easy operation and seamless integration into the brewing process, maximizing efficiency.
Bucher Denwel, a subsidiary of Bucher Unipektin AG, specializes in processing solutions for the Food & Beverage industry. With its new beer membrane filtration solution, Bucher Denwel is adding an important offering to its portfolio. www.nxfiltration.com
Schiphol Tests Innovative Device to Filter Air on the Apron
Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam is working to improve the air quality around the airport by installing an innovative air filtration system on the apron. The apron of an airport is perhaps the noisiest and most polluted place to work. The airport authority is working to change this through a pilot study using an air filtration system to reduce ultrafine particles on the airport’s apron.
The innovative air filtration system will be installed next to Pier D and is one of the ways in which the airport is working to improve the working conditions for their airport workers.
The air filtration device has been developed by Van Wees Innovations and creates airflows that ensure ultrafine particles clump together to form larger particles that can then be filtered. During this pilot on the apron, the airport will be investigating whether this machine also works indoors.
Last year, Schiphol conducted a successful pilot with this device at a fire station next to the runways. The device cleaned the air almost fully. However, because the building is in use 24 hours a day, with windows and doors being opened, the reduction during the trial came to an average of 75%. www.schiphol.nl
Metso High Efficiency Scrubber
Metso is reintroducing the High Efficiency Scrubber for efficient scrubbing of off-gas impurities in non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgical processes and in oil, gas and chemical plants. The technology is suitable for both greenfield and brownfield installations.
Thanks to its adjustable scrubbing zone, the High Efficiency Scrubber efficiently removes particles from off-gases at varying gas volumes and dust loads. Additionally, the scrubber can be combined with the High Efficiency Scrubber Optimizer, a Metso digital product that automatically optimizes the pressure drop based on the impurity load.
“The High Efficiency Scrubber is made of durable material and can thus withstand highly corrosive gases. In addition to its excellent scrubbing efficiency, the scrubber is maintenance friendly. On top of this, the adjustable scrubbing zone coupled with the digital optimizer minimizes energy consumption while ensuring that performance targets are met even during varying process conditions,” explained Leif Skilling, Director, Gas Cleaning at Metso.
Metso has extensive experience with Gas Cleaning Plant design and construction, developed over several decades and enhanced by the company’s continued activities in the research and development of the process. www.metso.com
p Schiphol Airport to test air filtration system on apron. Schiphol Airport
Asahi Kasei Launches Membrane System to Produce Water for Injection
In April 2024, Asahi Kasei began selling a membrane system to produce WFI (water for injection), a type of sterile water that is used for the preparation of injections. The membrane system was developed as an alternative to the conventional distillation processes for the production of WFI by leveraging system design and development capabilities of Microza™ hollow-fiber membrane for water treatment and filtration of liquid products. By reducing the need to generate steam, this system enables lower CO2 emissions and lower costs in the production of WFI.
With its Microza™ hollow-fiber membrane, Asahi Kasei has provided membrane filtration solutions in a wide range of fields including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food processing, environmental protection, and water treatment. Pharmaceutical water, which is used in the pharmaceutical manufacturing process, is one application in which Microza™ has gained a strong reputation among customers for its high filtration performance and outstanding technical support.
The WFI membrane system is based on steam-sterilizable ultrafiltration (UF) membranes for water treatment that have been widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. Being designed by the membrane manufacturer, the system features a compact form and excellent operability. It offers various advantages compared to the conventional distillation processes, such as a reduced need to generate steam, resulting in lower CO 2 emissions and energy costs. It also offers a simplified process with no need for cooling and condensing steam and enables higher water quality to be obtained. Previously published research with the same membranes indicates an endotoxin removal rate of >99.999% compared to 99.9% with distillation. www.asahi-kasei.com
HUBER Technology Unveils New Center Flow Perforated Band Screen CenterMax® Hybrid
HUBER Technology Inc., recently unveiled the new CenterMax® Hybrid flow perforated band screen, which offers high throughput and maximum separation efficiency with plastic perforated screen elements to prevent hair pinning and fouling.
The CenterMax® Hybrid is HUBER Technology’s solution to challenges being faced by both municipal and industrial treatment plants. Advanced treatment processes employed today require capture of even finer material, subjecting screens to accelerated binding. As population rises, plants are also experiencing increased flows to plants without the option of an expanded footprint, further complicating the procurement process.
The CenterMax® Hybrid offers a variety of screening elements and opening sizes tailored to meet the separation needs of the application, high capture of fine particles including fibers and hair, and ideal protection of sensitive processes including MBRs. The superior inside out flow design allows for the most screening surface area for any given channel. With easy access to service points at grade level, the CenterMax ® Hybrid is designed for narrow channels and high throughputs. Its vertical design allows for it to be employed in small areas, limiting its footprint.
Available in perforations from 2mm and 6mm, the CenterMax® Hybrid’s plastic perforated screen elements prevent hair pinning and fouling while providing effective element cleaning without a rotating brush. www.huber-technology.com
Adsorbi Launches Cellulose-Based Air Purification Material for the Art Industry
Adsorbi AB, a research-based startup originating from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, announced the launch of its first commercial product: a cellulose-based material that protects artwork and sensitive objects from degradation by air pollutants. The adsorbing material combines a long product lifetime with high security, making it ideal for museums and archives.
Currently, air pollution in museums is either ignored or the adsorbent activated carbon is used. The problem with using carbon in this environment is its short product lifetime and the risk of staining objects in collections.
Adsorbi’s material is a bio-based and high-performing adsorbent. The cellulose originates from Nordic forests and the production is in Europe. The material is used to purify air in the storage and transportation of artwork, surpassing activated carbon in terms of durability and adsorption capacity. Other important features include the material’s color indicator: the white material changes color when it needs to be replaced, enabling optimized air purification. www.adsorbi.com
EMERGENCE
Compiled by Caryn Smith, IFN Chief Content Officer
n this new feature, IFN highlights significant research from universities and institutions around the world. If you are a part of a project you would like to highlight, email csmith@inda.org. Please write “IFN Emerging Research Submission” in your subject line in order to apply. Please send a completed press release and/or summary of the research as you would want it to be printed, a link to the university online story (if applicable), and all high resolution photographs/charts/graphs, short researcher bio(s). All selections could be edited for length.
HAMILTON COLLEGE
Students’ Business Wins Grand Prize in Statewide Competition
Report by Meg
Keniston
Ellie Sangree ’24 arrived at Hamilton determined to find a way to remove nitrogen pollution from bodies of water, diminishing its effect on water systems nationwide. When she invented the NutriFilterTM, a device that accomplishes that goal in 2022, one of the first people she told was her friend and classmate, Jesse Wexler ’24.
Since then, Sangree and Wexler have teamed up and combined their respective science and business acumen to revolutionize the future of clean water. Their business, Eutrobac LLC, recently earned the grand prize out of 340 student teams and $27,500 in prize money at the 2024 New York Business Plan Competition.
Neutralizing Nitrogen’s Impact on Lakes and Ponds
According to the Eutrobac co-founders, nitrogen pollutes more than 50% of the water in the U.S. Much of that nitrogen comes from fertilizer use, which is necessary to feed the growing global population.
“The Green Revolution enabled us to feed way more people than we ever could before, and we needed a lot of nitrogen to do that,” Sangree says. “This is just a result of feeding more people and producing more food. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to eat.”
But when nitrogen reaches bodies of water like lakes and ponds, it has dire effects through a process called eutrophication, which involves nutrients accumulating in a body of water, causing increased growth of microorganisms – such as algal blooms – that deplete the water of oxygen.
“[Eutrophication] contaminates drinking water, ruins ecosystems, and spoils recreational water for swimmers,” Wexler explains. According to the National Institutes of Health, too much nitrogen in drinking water can cause cancer, congenital disabilities, or other adverse health effects both in humans and livestock.
Most systems for removing nitrogen from water are costly. Sangree knew there had to be a sustainable and costeffective way to help curtail this problem. In a story featured in the Spring 2022 issue of Hamilton magazine, Sangree, an environmental studies major, described her initial vision for her contraption – a solar-powered, floating treatment wetland system made from recycled materials that was smaller and cheaper than anything currently available.
“The idea behind the floating bed that I’ve designed and built is that within the bed, I’m creating conditions that encourage the growth of the bacteria associated with turning this fertilizer pollution into a less harmful form,” she said during the 2021 interview.
During the summer of 2022, the device finally worked.
Eutrobac’s Green Dream Team
Sangree originally planned to find an interested investor or company and sell her technology. After reading about Sangree’s work in the Hamilton magazine, Reed Pugh ’86 contacted her and got her thinking that this might be a viable business venture for her to pursue. Wexler, who has had a knack for identifying great business opportunities since he was a kid, saw the same potential.
“I told her that she could try to sell this technology that isn’t developed yet but has incredible potential, or she could spend a few years developing it herself, which would be more exciting. And she agreed,” Wexler says.
Sangree knew Wexler, an interdisciplinary studies major focused on rhetoric, had plenty of business experience. He spent his gap year as a founding team member of a now multimillion-dollar company, Bond Sports. Together, Sangree and Wexler devised the name of the company – Eutrobac, inspired by the process they are working to eliminate – and the device, NutriFilterTM. Since then, they have secured the IP, facilitated hundreds of customer discovery interviews to gain a deeper understanding of the different industries that might be interested in the technology, conducted additional market research, and filed an application for a utility patent, which is pending.
“Jesse and I work really well together,” Sangree says. “I take care of the science side, whereas Jesse is the business powerhouse. At this stage, it’s been figuring out the science and then the business strategy side by side.”
One of the most critical milestones in getting Eutrobac and the NutriFilterTM ready for prime time came when Sangree least expected it: attending a Common Ground event on campus.
“It was about a week before I would have lost my claim to the technology, as I had publicly disclosed it at a conference a year prior, and I was losing hope that we could patent it in time,” Sangree explains. “Stu Ingis [’93] just happened to be moderating the event, and after he introduced himself as someone who owned a patent law firm and cared about the environment, I approached him, introduced myself, and gave him a little elevator pitch. He agreed to get one of his patent attorneys to handle our case right there on the spot. It was really a miraculous thing. That was a financial barrier that would’ve been impossible for us.”
Ingis is one of many Hamiltonians –from professors and mentors to alumni and staff – whom Wexler and Sangree credit with helping them get Eutrobac off the ground. When Sangree first mentioned the idea for her research to Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Aaron Strong, he ensured she could bring her idea to life with help from retired Professor of Geosciences Todd Rayne and Professor of Biology Mike McCormick, who also played integral roles.
Sangree found support for her research from all corners of College Hill. Grounds & Fleet Operations Manager Mike Jasper, a member of the Facilities Management team, helped Sangree move items and get the appropriate permissions needed to set up her experiments and anchor the prototype in a College-owned reservoir about two miles from campus. “We couldn’t have done this without him and his support,” Wexler says.
Director of Outdoor Leadership Andrew Jillings procured materials for Sangree and gave her a kayak to use. At the same time, Science Technician Tom Freeland, Machinist Technician Walt Zarnoch, and Sciences Instrumentation Technician Bruce Wegter helped her build much of the technology.
As Sangree and Wexler continued developing their business, another supportive Hamilton graduate they connected with during this venture, entrepreneur Martin Casstevens ’80, encouraged them to enter the annual New York Business Plan Competition, which promotes entrepreneurial opportunities for college students who pitch business plans to seasoned investors.
A Big Win at the New York Business Plan Competition
award recipient in the Safety, Power & Mobility category before being selected as the overall grand prize winner for the competition.
“Our competition was tough,” Wexler says, noting “really impressive” rival pitches such as technology that can deliver vaccinations without needle intrusion and recruiting software that uses AI to help companies hire new employees. “I believe we won because what Ellie invented is really impressive and incredible and because we were able to articulate our competency on the subject with clarity.”
“I was very impressed by the other teams,” Sangree adds. “It was cool to see research from other colleges resulting in all of these new technologies and businesses.”
Sangree and Wexler won $27,500 in total prize money between the four rounds, which will help bolster the startup’s growth. The competition will also connect them with mentors and industry leaders throughout the ecosystem of innovators from the Upstate Capital Association of New York, the event’s sponsoring organization.
What’s Next for Eutrobac?
The duo faced stiff competition as they made their way through the four rounds of the competition, which included 340 student teams comprised of more than 770 students from 58 colleges and universities across the state. When Eutrobac won the grand prize at the Mohawk Valley region semifinal in early April, it automatically earned Wexler and Sangree a spot in the statewide competition. Following each business’ pitch and presentation, Eutrobac was first announced as the winner and concept stage
It will be a busy summer for Eutrobac. “We have a series of paid pilot studies to continue testing the technology in industry this summer, including one at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden,” Wexler says. “We’re also collaborating with Hamilton students, and a few will intern with our company this summer. At the [Garden], the interns will take the water samples and analyze the data.”
In the fall, Sangree will attend the University of California-Santa Cruz as a Ph.D. candidate in their biogeochemistry program and continue working on Eutrobac and the NutriFilterTM. Wexler plans to focus full-time on the company to achieve scaled distribution by 2026.
$50,000 Goes to High School Students Study of Microplastic Filtration
More than $9 Million Awarded to High School Scientists and Engineers at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair 2024
Justin Huang and Victoria Ou, both 17, of Woodlands, Texas, received the Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations of $50,000 for their new prototype filtration system that uses ultrasonic waves to remove microscopic plastic particles from water. In lab tests, the acoustic force from the highfrequency sound waves removed between 84% and 94% of the suspended microplastic particles in a single pass. The students are now working to scale up and fine-tune their experimental system.
Harnessing Ultrasound for Microplastic Filtration
Microplastics have become a prevalent global environmental issue, with an estimated 75 trillion microplastics in the oceans today. MPs pose dangers to wildlife and cause serious health issues for humans. Existing microplastic removal methods are limited because of high expenses or potentially hazardous chemicals; consequently, a non-invasive, energy-efficient, and cost-effective solution is nec-
essary. In this project, a novel ultrasound filtration system was constructed with piezoelectric transducers attached to steel tubes, which were connected with silicon tubing. When suspended microplastics were pushed through the device, the ultrasound’s acoustic radiation force prevented particles from passing, producing microplastic-free water. One-stage filtration of polyethylene yielded efficiencies between 84-94% with water flowing at rates of 10, 20, and 40 mL/minute; two-stage produced 94-96% efficiencies for the same flow rates. Cross-comparison using polyurethane and polystyrene had similar results, producing efficiencies greater than 95%.
Additionally, when compared to a onestage system of bigger diameter, it was found that smaller tubes had better filtration. The device was also tested on its ability to handle laundry water rinsed with polyester fabric and microplastic build-up from highly concentrated or large volumes of water, which it successfully filtered. A CFD simulation was created to mimic reallife applications and verify results. While future refining is needed, this new acoustic filtering approach is the first-of-its-kind, safely and effectively filtering microplastics through ultrasonic technology. With its robust abilities of intercepting source pollution and cleaning contaminated waters, its application can be extended to remove other particle pollutants.
Read: https://www.societyforscience.org/isef/
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
From Brewery to Biofilter: Making Yeast-Based Water Purification Possible
Report by Shelley Wunder-Smith
When looking for an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to clean up contaminated water and soil, Georgia Tech researchers Patricia Stathatou (at right) and Christos Athanasiou (at left) turned to yeast. A cheap byproduct from fermentation processes – e.g., something your local brewery discards in mass quantities after making a batch of beer – yeast is widely known as an effective biosorbent. Biosorption is a mass transfer process by which an ion or molecule binds to inactive biological materials through physicochemical interactions.
When they initially studied this process, Stathatou and Athanasiou found that yeast can effectively and rapidly remove trace lead – at challenging initial concentrations below one part per million – from drinking water. Conventional water treatment methods either fail to eliminate lead at these low levels or result in high financial and environmental costs to do so. In a paper published in RSC Sustainability, the researchers show how this process can be scaled.
“If you put yeast directly into water to clean it, you will need an additional treatment step to remove the yeast from the water afterward,” said Stathatou, a research scientist at the Renewable Bioproducts Institute and an incoming assistant professor at the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. “To implement this process at scale without requiring additional separation steps, the yeast cells need a housing.”
“Additionally, because yeast is abundant – in some cases, brewers even pay companies to haul it away as a waste byproduct – this process gives the yeast a second life,” said Athanasiou, an assistant professor in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering. “It’s a plentiful low, or even negative, value resource, making
this purification process inexpensive and scalable.”
To develop a housing for the yeast, Stathatou and Athanasiou partnered with MIT chemical engineers Devashish Gokhale and Patrick S. Doyle. Gokhale and Stathatou are the lead authors of this new study that demonstrates the yeast water purification process’s scalability.
“We decided to make these hollow capsules – analogous to a multivitamin pill – but instead of filling them up with vitamins, we fill them up with yeast cells,” Gokhale said. “These capsules are porous, so the water can go into the capsules and the yeast are able to bind all of that lead, but the yeast themselves can’t escape into the water.”
The yeast-laden capsules are sufficiently large, about half a millimeter in diameter, for easy separation from water by gravity. This means they can be used to make packed-bed bioreactors or biofilters, with contaminated water flowing through these hydrogel-encased yeast cells and coming out clean.
Stathatou and Athanasiou envision using these hydrogel yeast capsules in small biofilters consumers can put on their kitchen faucets, or biofilters large enough to fit municipal or industrial wastewater treatment systems. But to enable such scalability, the yeast-laden capsules’ ability to withstand the force generated by water flowing inside such systems needed to be studied as well.
To determine this, Athanasiou tested the capsules’ mechanical robustness, which is how strong and sturdy they are in the presence of waterflow forces. He found they can withstand forces like those generated by water running from a faucet, or even flows like those in water treatment plants that serve a few
hundred homes. “In previous attempts to scale up biosorption with similar approaches, lack of mechanical robustness has been a common cause of failure,” Athanasiou said. “We wanted to make sure our work addressed this issue from the very beginning to ensure scalability.”
“After assessing the mechanical robustness of the yeast-laden capsules, we made a prototype biofilter using a 10-ml syringe,” Stathatou explained. “The initial lead concentration of water entering the biofilter was 100 parts per billion; we demonstrated that the biofilter could treat the contaminated water, meeting EPA drinking water guidelines, while operating continuously for 12 days.”
The researchers hope to identify ways to isolate and collect specific contaminants left behind in the filtering yeast, so those too can be used for other purposes.
“Apart from lead, which is widely used in systems for energy generation and storage, this process could be used to remove and recover other metals and rare earth elements as well,” Athanasiou said. “This process could even be useful in space mining or other space applications.”
They also would like to find a way to keep reusing the yeast. “But even if we can’t reuse yeast indefinitely, it is biodegradable,” Stathatou noted. “It doesn’t need to be put into an industrial composter or sent to a landfill. It can be left on the ground, and the yeast will naturally decompose over time, contributing to nutrient cycling.”
This circular approach aims to reduce waste and environmental impact, while also creating economic opportunities in local communities. Despite numerous lead contamination incidents across the U.S., the team’s successful biosorption method notably could benefit low-income areas historically burdened by pollution and limited access to clean water, offering a cost-effective remediation solution. “We think there’s an interesting environmental justice aspect to this, especially when you start with something as low-cost and sustainable as yeast, which is essentially available anywhere,” Gokhale says.
Moving forward, Stathatou and Athanasiou are exploring other uses for their
hydrogel-yeast purification method. The researchers are optimistic that, with modifications, this process can be used to remove additional inorganic and organic contaminants of emerging concern, such as PFAS – or “forever” chemicals – from the water or the ground.
Citation: Devashish Gokhale, Patritsia M. Stathatou, Christos E. Athanasiou, and Patrick S. Doyle, “Yeast-laden Hydrogel Capsules for Scalable Trace Lead Removal from Water,” RSC Sustainability.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4SU00052H
Funding: Patricia Stathatou was supported by funding from the Renewable Bioproducts Institute at Georgia Tech. Devashish Gokhale was supported by the Rasikbhai L. Meswani Fellowship for Water Solutions and the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS).
Elon Engineering Students Test Cutting-Edge Material to Reduce Water Pollution
Report by Michael Abernethy
The research collaboration with Duke University’s Center for WaSH-AID, Oldcastle Infrastructure, a CRH Company, and Triangle Environmental Health Initiative is being piloted on Elon’s campus through 2024.
Elon engineering students are participating in research and development of a proprietary new material that holds potential to decrease pollution in stormwater runoff in a collaboration with researchers at Duke University and sponsored by Oldcastle Infrastructure, a CRH Company.
The project originated in Duke’s Center for WaSH-AID (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Infectious Disease) and is in Phase II for field testing at Elon. This phase includes water collection at a station on Elon’s South Campus as well as data collection and analysis in Innovation Hall’s environmental and biosafety labs and will continue through the fall.
Excess nutrients in stormwater runoff threaten human and environmental health. The nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizer, pet waste and other sources is carried into creeks, rivers and lakes.
inorganic/organic material that showed strong performance in lab tests for phosphate and nitrate removal. The material is adaptable to use in stand-alone filter cartridges as well as mixedmedia beds and can be easily retrofitted into existing bioretention or filtration systems.
Both Hill and Seth Wolter plan to pursue advanced environmental engineering degrees and are currently applying to graduate programs. They are among the first class of Elon’s B.S. in Engineering – Environmental Concentration degree program, which will graduate five students in May.
Darcy said Hill and Seth Wolter have been ideal interns for the project.
Those contaminants contribute to algal blooms, which can be toxic to humans and aquatic life.
Lauren Hill ’24 and Seth Wolter ’24, both engineering majors with concentrations in environmental engineering, began internships with the project last fall. They are working with Julia Darcy, WaSHAID assistant research professor, Scott Wolter, associate professor and chair of Elon’s Department of Engineering, and Will Pluer, assistant professor of engineering, to conduct a series of laboratory tests on stormwater collected after it’s run through different sorbent media — materials that collect molecules of other substances — at the pilot unit on south campus.
“This kind of work lines up perfectly with what I want to do in grad school and what I want to research in my future career,” Seth Wolter said. “I want to work with labs and professors who do similar lab-based work with water-quality issues.”
Their results will inform which concentrations are most effective at removing phosphorous and nitrogen in various precipitation events and conditions.
Oldcastle Infrastructure, which is sponsoring the research, is a leading provider of solutions that connect and protect critical water, communications, energy and transportation infrastructure with a focus on sustainability.
In Phase I, Duke Center for WaSH-AID researchers developed a novel sorbent
“It’s exciting to be working with Oldcastle because they are one of the leaders in stormwater management,” said Darcy, who joined the project last March. “In the world we live in, which is full of impervious surfaces, management of stormwater and the nutrients and other pollutants it picks up is critical. Oldcastle is grappling with this water-quality problem, and it’s cool that they are investing in this technology development.”
For Phase II, Triangle Environmental Health Initiative, which engineers water management systems, was subcontracted to design and build the pilot system, and Wolter and Elon University were enlisted to provide laboratory testing and support of the pilot on campus. Wolter has connections to both WaSH-AID and Triangle Environmental through previous work at Duke University and collaborative research in a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded project to reimagine the toilet and improve sanitation in underdeveloped countries. Pluer is guiding students with expertise in ion chromatography for chemical analysis.
The location on Elon’s South Campus near the golf training facility and Fire of the Carolinas practice field was selected for field testing because runoff there flows from impermeable surfaces and agricultural sources into a creek basin. Collection for Phase II is expected to continue through 2024, giving researchers a full year of mitigation data throughout changing seasons and conditions.
“Working with stormwater and affecting the surrounding ecosystems is directly related to what I want to do after graduation,” Hill said. “I have grown to love the combination of fieldwork and analyzing samples in the lab.”
“They’re really enthusiastic and I appreciate their ability to say, ‘I don’t know how to do this, but I will work with you to learn how.’ That’s a great skill to have and something they really embody at Elon: Being ready to learn and try new things,” Darcy said.
Students value the collaborative nature of the research project, and that it’s allowed them to grow their laboratory skills in a professional setting.
“Dr. Darcy has created a safe learning environment for both Seth and me, and I feel confident to try new things without the fear of making mistakes,” Hill said. “Dr. Darcy has been an incredible role model, especially as a woman in STEM leading such an impactful project in the climate science field. She is truly the scientist I want to be.”
Mitigating this stormwater pollution has been a focus of Elon’s Department of Engineering through various projects, including several in junior-level research methods courses and Senior Projects in Elon Engineering Design that developed technology for constructed floating wetlands.
Wolter said the project with Oldcastle Infrastructure and WaSH-AID continues that focus on water research and fulfills the mission of Elon’s Innovation Quad, which includes 20,000 square feet of lab and prototyping spaces in Innovation and Founders halls.
“We’re very happy to be working with WaSH-AID in this high-level research and development work,” Wolter said. “It’s great experience for our students to get to work with professionals, and it meets Elon’s intention of filling the Innovation Quad with high-quality, significant research that finds solutions to 21st-century problems.”
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Innovative Partnerships & Technology Implications Corporate Water Strategy
By Will Sarni
Since early 2023, several significant developments have occurred in addressing global water challenges. In particular, changes in corporate water strategy have driven innovation in partnerships and investments in water technologies.
An important place to start in understanding the intersection of corporate water strategy and technology innovation is to look back at the transition from corporate water management to water stewardship.
Over the last two decades, engagement by corporations on water issues has evolved from a focus on compliance and management to water stewardship. Water stewardship is now moving to a more sophisticated strategy integrated with business strategy, climate change, nature, and social impact issues, along with external engagement and reporting (ESG).
Water stewardship is a strategy to mitigate water-related risks within company operations and their supply chain and, in some cases, consumer-facing products (e.g., personal care products, washing machines, etc.). Stewardship initiatives typically include collective action programs and closely working with NGOs on watershed conservation projects linked to a company’s replenishment or net positive goals. Replenish, or net positive strategies, include offsetting a company’s operational and, in some cases, supply chain water footprint. Replenishment strategies seek to offset 100 percent of a company’s water footprint and net positive more than 100 percent.
Corporate water strategies are mostly now framed as replenish or net positive and focus on a company’s water footprint, essentially a “volumetric strategy.” This focus on replacing a company’s operational water footprint is now driving companies to develop innovative partnerships with other multinationals, NGOs, and water tech companies that save or reuse water.
The following three corporate water strategy initiatives (collective action, catalytic communities and nature) drive greater investment in innovative water technologies and direct engagement between corporations and technology startups/scale-ups.
Innovative Partnerships: Collective Action and Catalytic Communities
There is a “reboot” in collective action initiatives and also an emergence of “catalytic communities” as a new framework to accelerate impact in addressing wicked water problems at the watershed level.
Collective Action 2.0?
A recently released white paper, Unpacking Collective Action in Water Stewardship by WWF, frames the current state of collective action as a key element of corporate water stewardship. Most importantly, the white paper is the culmination of over a year of work by multinationals and NGOs to develop a more holistic and impactful framework to accelerate solutions to address watershed health and the loss of biodiversity.
WWF and the authors convey the urgent need to halt biodiversity decline and lack
of access to clean water and sanitation. The facts are not encouraging; freshwater biodiversity continues to decline with a loss of 83 percent since 1970, and access to clean water and sanitation remains scant or non-existent for hundreds of millions of people. Climate change is a “threat multiplier,” making access to safe drinking water profoundly challenging and increasing biodiversity loss.
The white paper lays out a new model for collective action and addresses many of the challenges facing historical approaches to building and sustaining healthy watersheds.
While stakeholders have long recognized that working together can deliver greater impact for water, a common pool resource, there is also a recognition that in many cases, “efforts on collective action have remained fractured.” This white paper initiates a process to bring together NGOs, multinationals, and other civil society groups to be more effective in collective action programs.
A starting point in reframing collective action is clearly defining the diverse stakeholder categories and organizations with roles and responsibilities. Also central is to clearly articulate a commitment to collaborate with a common goal to increase impact in addressing water challenges (“wicked water problems”) –the authors representing diverse NGOs and other organizations committed to the following:
Work together to accelerate collective action for sustainable water management in at-risk river basins and catchments.
parent, multi-stakeholder governance models at the catchment level and at other appropriate scales (e.g., municipal, national, regional, global), and coordinate collective action projects globally and locally by working as a community, where possible, via existing platforms.
Identify a common set of collective action opportunity catchments as priorities for joint efforts and a shared implementation pathway for mobilization.
Communicate to each other which roles we plan to undertake.
Develop complementary projects, and join forces on project delivery where appropriate.
Seek to collectively build capacity and engage new actors across the required roles in collective action.
Work to fund shared projects and grow the total funding jointly.
Develop tools and resources that are complementary, work together, or can be used in conjunction with existing tools or resources.
Collaborate on monitoring and sharing data on project outcomes.
In all the places, we deploy collective action, work in an open and accessible manner, and engage local community
respect for their local knowledge, culture, and traditions.”
The roles of these diverse stakeholders coming together to reinvigorate collective action to address the lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation and biodiversity are illustrated in Figure 1.
Building upon these commitments and watershed (catchment) roles, the authors identified the high-priority areas to concentrate their efforts on. They identified over 350 high-opportunity catchments where they believe “collective action is not only needed but highly feasible given the concentration of economic activity and actors.” The authors also recommitted to revisiting shared efforts within these watersheds and identifying opportunities to coordinate efforts for increased impact.
In my view, the most important and hopefully impactful result of this effort is identifying new models for collaboration at the watershed level and sector scale. Ideas on new joint business models that can facilitate increased funding and deliver critical governance functions (I will get into new models in the next section). The authors vision a new way for collaboration modeled
aggregate funders “a common system (the headwaters), coordinating through common initiatives at the catchment level with a coordinated governance and funding allocation mechanism (the mainstem), and then re-distributing the sediment (money) to various projects (the delta). Common structures and incentive systems can help to align, convene, encourage public-privatecivil coordination through formal and informal governance, and ultimately, grow the pie and scale impacts at the catchment scale.”
It is an interesting framework and a path forward for collective action.
Finally, the white paper outlines the next steps to move from a point of view and framework to action. The next steps consist of identifying a series of “collective action learning catchments,” continuing the dialogue on how to finance, operate, and recognize shared common water stewardship resource portals such as the Water Action Hub and the Alliance for Water Stewardship Tool Hub, building on common portals, and further mapping activity and initiatives on the ground to understand the picture better.
Photos provided by author from
In my view, the most important and hopefully impactful result of this effort is identifying new models for collaboration at the watershed level and sector scale. Ideas on new joint business models that can facilitate increased funding and deliver critical governance functions.
The goal is to “think beyond organizational boundaries and work, precompetitively, towards the delivery of SDG6.”
In my view, this is an encouraging start to critically examine collective action to date and “reboot” to accelerate progress in addressing water challenges. By reinvigorating commitments to “solve water,” we can increase investment in innovative water technologies and naturebased solutions.
Catalytic Communities: A Collective Action Framework or a Step Beyond?
The first watershed-scale catalytic community was launched early this year. “Water United” focuses on the Colorado River Basin and has positively impacted how stakeholders collaborate to solve environmental and social challenges by creating catalytic communities.
To put catalytic communities in perspective, one needs to examine the role of collective action in water stewardship. Collective action has been central to addressing corporate water risks for decades. Collective action has delivered on its vision to facilitate cooperation and partnerships between the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders.
Notable platforms include the CEO Water Mandate and the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) programs. However, collective action initiatives are challenged to deliver on their full potential due to issues such as disparity in alignment and funding among stakeholders and a tendency for individual stakeholders to “go it alone.”
As noted in the previous section of this article, catalytic communities have emerged as complementary, if not alternative, to traditional initiatives due to the challenges facing collective action initiatives. Pursuing catalytic communities
as a strategy may provide insights that can be integrated into current collective action initiatives.
One of the more important aspects of catalytic communities is the impact of commercial relationships between the stakeholders. It is increasingly clear that these commercial agreements provide alignment and speed to tackling “wicked water problems.”
The commercial relationships integrated into catalytic communities can be compared to how “catalytic capital” can jump-start longer-term strategies to address environmental and social issues.
Catalytic capital is crucial in fostering financial sustainability and scaling impact within communities. It provides patient, risk-tolerant, and flexible investments to unlock transformative solutions and mobilize additional capital toward underserved sectors or regions. The value of catalytic capital is briefly summarized below.
Bridging Financing Gaps. One key advantage of catalytic capital is its ability to bridge financing gaps that conventional capital sources are unable or unwilling to address. This is particularly important for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries facing a significant $330 billion financing gap. By providing catalytic investments, these enterprises can access the necessary capital to grow, create jobs, and drive economic development within their communities.
Enabling Innovative Business Models. Catalytic capital can also enable development and scaling of innovative business models that address social and environmental challenges. For example, catalytic investments in the affordable housing sector can support strategic collaborations and transformative business models that improve access to safe and affordable housing for vulnerable
communities. Similarly, in the clean energy transition, catalytic capital can unlock financing for communities to participate by facilitating the adoption of solar power, electric vehicles, and other sustainable technologies.
Attracting Mainstream Investors. Catalytic investments can help build a track record that attracts mainstream investors by providing initial risk-tolerant capital and demonstrating the viability of impact-driven ventures. This “catalytic effect” can mobilize additional capital towards initiatives that might have been deemed too risky or unconventional for traditional investors.
Promoting Collaboration and Ecosystem Building. Catalytic capital initiatives often involve collaboration among stakeholders, including philanthropic investors, development finance institutions, fund managers, and intermediaries. This ecosystem-building approach fosters knowledge sharing, synergies, and collective efforts to effectively address critical social and environmental challenges.
In summary, catalytic capital is vital in promoting financial sustainability and scaling impact within communities by bridging financing gaps, enabling innovative business models, attracting mainstream investors, and fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders. Similarly, commercial relationships between stakeholders in catalytic communities create value and alignment for participating stakeholders while accelerating solutions to environmental and social challenges within watersheds (i.e., reducing or eliminating nonrevenue water).
Commercial relationships are the cornerstone to building and scaling successful and impactful catalytic communities.
Nature as a Corporate Sustainability Strategy
Nature emerged over the past year or so as a corporate sustainability focus area. While corporations have historically committed to reducing impacts to biodiversity, a nature strategy brings together several related issues – biodiversity, water, etc.
The emerging importance of nature as an element of a corporate sustainability strategy was evident at the GreenBiz Bloom 23: Where Biodiversity Meets the Bottom Line in October 2023. What started in 2022 as a half-day forum on biodiversity quickly grew into a stand-alone event that drew corporations, non-governmental organizations, investors, and startups. The number of technology companies struck me focused on addressing biodiversity loss and the number of corporations beginning to talk about their role in valuing and protecting nature. Investors are coming into play such as Superorganism, which is a new venture firm dedicated to startups that benefit biodiversity, and technology companies such as Nature Metrics, which provides data to measure and report on nature with scalable biodiversity monitoring and metrics powered by eDNA.
However, I was most moved by a presentation by Honorable Justice Joe Williams (Courts of New Zealand). Judge Williams clearly articulated that there is no separation between humanity and nature. We are nature and not separate from “the environment.” Interbeing is the elegant word coined by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hahn to describe the inter-connectedness of everything; separateness is an illusion. Judge Williams brings this to all aspects of life.
Judge Williams’ view aligns with my belief that water is not a “management issue” but an issue of “humanity’s relationship with water.” An initiative that moves us in this direction is the Freshwater Challenge Freshwater Challenge | WWF launched at UN-Water Week UN 2023 Water Conference. The Freshwater Challenge aims to ensure 300,000 km of degraded rivers and 350 million hectares of degraded wetlands are committed to restoration by 2030, and to protect freshwater ecosystems.
The Freshwater Challenge acknowledges that rivers and wetlands are at the center of water and climate impacts. These freshwater ecosystems are recognized as critical resources to be protected in international development frameworks,
including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The challenge with these frameworks is that action to protect these freshwater ecosystems needs to be faster. Rivers and wetlands need to be more valued and noticed, and their rapid loss undermines hardwon development gains and global efforts to tackle the climate and nature crises.
This is where the Freshwater Challenge comes in. It is a “country-led initiative that aims to support, integrate, and accelerate the restoration of 300,000 km of degraded rivers and 350 million hectares of degraded wetlands by 2030, as well as conserve intact freshwater ecosystems. Forty-six countries have joined the Freshwater Challenge so far.”
The Freshwater Challenge “aims to substantiate, integrate, and accelerate targeted interventions for rivers and wetlands, connecting these with national plans and strategies. It will increase the overall investment into the restoration and conservation of freshwater eco-
systems and substantially increase the social and economic returns on those investments.”
An example of the Freshwater Challenge’s traction is the very recent launch of “The America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge: A Partnership to Conserve and Restore America’s Rivers, Lakes, Streams, and Wetlands.” The initiative acknowledges that “U.S. lakes, rivers, streams, estuaries, and wetlands are fundamental to the health, prosperity, and resiliency of communities and are held sacred by many Tribal Nations.”
The statistics in the U.S. are not encouraging. Over 50 percent of the nation’s wetlands in the Lower 48 states have been lost, and the American West is experiencing aridification. Also, nearly half of threatened and endangered species in the U.S. depend on wetlands, and more than 600,000 miles, or about 17% of our rivers, have been modified by large dams.
The goals of the America The Beautiful initiative are to:
Reconnect, restore, and protect 8 million acres of wetlands by 2030, with an emphasis on forested, vegetated, peat soil, brackish, and tidal wetlands; and
Reconnect, restore, and protect 100,000 miles of our nation’s rivers and streams by 2030, using approaches like removal of impediments and stream bank restoration.
Technology Implications and Investing
What do corporate water stewardship (collective action and catalytic communities) and a focus on nature mean for water technology companies and investing?
As corporations seek to achieve their ambitious replenishment or net positive goals and there is a movement to focus on nature through global initiatives such as the Freshwater Challenge, innovative technologies have now become an essential component of these strategies. This translates into corporations working with water technology companies and sometimes making direct investments in these companies.
p Figure 1: UNPACKING COLLECTIVE ACTION IN WATER STEWARDSHIP SHARED SOLUTIONS FOR SHARED WATER CHALLENGES, WWF 2024.z
Examples of corporate water strategy leading to new partnerships with water technology companies include Microsoft and PepsiCo.
Microsoft and FIDO Tech. In April 2023, Microsoft announced a partnership with FIDO Tech and Thames Water (Microsoft and FIDO Tech launch collaboration). This new partnership helps Microsoft make progress against its water replenishment goal, which is part of its overarching commitment to water positivity. FIDO’s technology has been deployed in London and across the Thames Water region to reduce water network losses through actionable AI in a first-of-its-kind replenishment project.
London’s water utility, Thames Water, has already committed to reducing its overall leakage to 20% by 2025 and halving leakage by 2050, but the average amount of water lost to pipeline networks globally is much higher. In 2020 Microsoft pledged to be water positive by 2030. This commitment is made up of five key pillars: reducing water use, replenishing water sources, providing people with access to water and sanitation services, advocating for effective water policy, and driving innovation and data digitization.
Melanie Nakagawa, Chief Sustainability Officer at Microsoft, said: “The global volume of non-revenue water, or freshwater that is lost due to leaks, is estimated to be 346 million cubic meters per day, amounting to 30% of water system input volumes across the world.
Water data and new AI-powered tools can help address this challenge and have a tremendous impact on water solutions like leak detection.
This first-of-its-kind leak detection technology replenishment project in London with FIDO Tech will reduce water lost to leakage in London’s aging distribution network, leveraging FIDO’s AI-enabled acoustic leak analysis and is expected to save millions of cubic meters of water per year.”
PepsiCo and N-Drip. In 2022, PepsiCo and N-Drip announced a partnership to help farmers worldwide adopt gamechanging technology in water efficiency across 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) by 2025 (PepsiCo and N-Drip Partner to Provide Water-saving, Crop-enhancing Benefits to Farmers Around the World). A replacement for flood or trench irrigation, N-Drip's high-efficiency irrigation system is powered by gravity. It harnesses the water-saving benefits of high-pressure drip irrigation but with low energy, operating and maintenance demands –making it more accessible to farmers and nearly all types of crops.
According to N-Drip, farmers routinely achieve significant water savings, see larger crop yields, and reduce the need for expensive fertilizers. In addition, by converting from flood irrigation to N-Drip's drip irrigation system, carbon (CO 2 ) emissions can be reduced by as much as 83 percent and methane emissions by as much as 78 percent.
PepsiCo sources over 25 crops across 60 countries and is an active leader in scaling and adopting regenerative farming practices under its pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) transformation. Leveraging its reach and network of farmers across its agricultural footprint, PepsiCo aims to scale N-Drip's technology to help improve farmer livelihoods with higher yields, reduced water consumption, and reduced CO2 emissions. This effort will contribute to PepsiCo’s pep+ Positive Agriculture goals of improving direct agricultural supply chain water use efficiency by 15% by 2025 (against a 2015 baseline) in areas of high water risk, spreading regenerative agriculture practices across 7 million acres of farmland, and strengthening the livelihoods of more than 250,000 people in its agricultural supply chain.
“To date, we’ve implemented N-Drip’s technology with farmers in India, Vietnam, and the U.S., and saw improved crop yields, reduced fertilizer usage, and 50% less water consumed compared to flood irrigation,” said Rob Meyers, VP, Sustainable Agriculture, PepsiCo. “We’re thrilled to grow our partnership further by scaling N-Drip’s technology to make an even bigger impact across our agricultural footprint.”
Water Quality and Improving Access to Water
While historically water stewardship strategies have focused on reducing water use for a corporation across its supply chain and operations, there is an increasing interest in setting water quality goals and developing alternative sources of water. For example, Cargill’s Water Stewardship Strategy includes commitments to improve water quality and improve access to safe drinking water. Cargill is committed to:
• “By 2030, we will enable the restoration of 600 billion liters of water and reduction of 5,000 metric tons of water pollutants in water-stressed regions, and
• Enable improved access to safe drinking water and sanitation, reaching 500,000 people in priority communities.”
Their water stewardship strategy includes a commitment to deliver “reliable access to clean, safe water as well as sanitation and hygiene are essential for communities to thrive. While access to water and sanitation is improving globally, there are still parts of the world where limited access to safe drinking water is a local challenge.
Cargill is working to drive positive change, tailoring the specific needs of target communities in priority regions around the world. In partnership with global NGOs like CARE and Global Water Challenge, we’re working to enable improved access to safe drinking water and sanitation for 500,000 people.”
Path Forward
These water stewardship commitments along with reducing reliance on traditional sources of water (surface water and groundwater) are driving investments in water treatment technologies. Innovative
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treatment technologies to accelerate water reuse and deliver alternative sources of water (air moisture capture and desalination) will be essential for corporate water strategies going forward.
I believe many technologies exist to solve or at least tame water challenges. However, the challenge is funding and scaling these technologies at speed.
The private sector is in a unique position
to be a catalyst for change by aligning their water and now nature strategies with direct engagement with innovative technology companies. In some cases NGOs will have a significant role in facilitating these corporate-technology partnerships.
Over the last year or so, there has been a noticeable shift in thinking about how to solve water problems. This is an encouraging trend.
Will Sarni is the founder and CEO of Water Foundry (www.waterfoundry.com) a water strategy consultancy. He is also the Founder and General Partner of Water Foundry Ventures, a water technology venture fund focused on addressing water scarcity, quality and equitable access to water. He has been a sustainability and water strategy advisor to multinationals, water technology companies, investors, and non-governmental organizations for his entire career. Prior to Water Foundry, he was a managing director at Deloitte Consulting where he established and led the water strategy practice. He was the founder and CEO of DOMANI, a sustainability strategy firm, prior to Deloitte. Will is an internationally recognized thought leader on water strategy and innovation. He was ranked as; Worth Magazine Worthy 100 for 2022, A Key Player Pressuring Businesses to Care About Water and one of the Top 15 Interviews In Smart Water Magazine 2019. He is also the author numerous publications and books on water strategy and innovation He can be reached at will@waterfoundry.com or 720.341.7272.
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The Crucial Role of VENTILATION EFFECTIVENESS in Air Cleaning
People spend up to 90 percent of their time indoors and indoor air can be two to five times, and even up to ten times, more polluted than outdoor air. The young, elderly, chronically ill, and those with respiratory or cardiovascular disease are typically the ones most impacted by poor indoor air quality (IAQ). Risks from outdoor pollutants, such as wildfire smoke, and indoor pollutants, such as the SARSCoV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, are more pertinent than ever.
The primary purpose of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems is to provide the functions of heating and cooling for indoor spaces. An oftenunderappreciated aspect of HVAC systems that deserves examination is their ability to maintain healthy IAQ – which is achieved through effective air ventilation. Safe IAQ is becoming an increasingly important factor in determining the optimal methods for protecting human health from harmful indoor airborne particulates, while also minimizing energy use and CO2 emissions.
Beyond the simple replacement of indoor air with outdoor air through ventilation, air cleaning systems could also remove harmful airborne particulates such as wildfire smoke, bacteria, viruses, and VOCs. Metalmark developed a selfrenewing air cleaning system that removes harmful airborne particulates, wildfire smoke, and a number of pathogens. The testing summarized here makes this new technology the first and only one to have been tested with a proven ventilationeffective efficiency method and rating.
By Sissi Liu, Dr. Anupriya Tyagi and Tom Smith
The Connection Between Indoor Air Quality and Ventilation Effectiveness
Healthy and safe indoor air quality (IAQ or indoor environmental quality) is principally determined based on no harmful concentrations of known contaminants to human occupants. Ventilation is the dilution of air pollutants through mechanical, nonmechanical (natural), or hybrid (mixed-mode) means by supplying outdoor air into the indoor space. However, dilution alone is an insufficient solution to mitigating pollution or infectious disease exposure. The quality of the air is key, as opposed to a general focus on the quantity or volume of air flow.
Another important but oftentimes overlooked factor is the exhaust for the removal of contaminants. As an illustration, in the case of infectious aerosols, a study showed that high ventilation rates (23 ACH) only marginally impacted levels of bioaerosol concentrations and respiratory disease transmission rates than low rates (1.3 ACH), using ferrets as the study subjects (ferrets are commonly used as models for influenza virus transmission studies).
ASHRAE Standard 62.1, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, provides the minimum ventilation rates, along with other measures, that are set to provide IAQ levels acceptable to human occupants to minimize adverse health effects. Simple mechanical ventilation systems typically work by using fans that are installed either directly in windows or walls or in HVAC air ducts, to drive ventilation. Most commercial HVAC systems accomplish this through utilizing air
conditioning or air handling units. These ventilation systems are defined in terms of air flow rates, which may be numerically converted to air changes per hour (ACH) – the ratio of the volumetric rate of air removal through vents or ducts to the volume of the enclosed space –depending on the volume of space served. ACH is calculated by taking the volume of air in cubic feet per minute (CFM) delivered to or exhausted from the indoor space and multiplying that by 60 (minutes/hour), then dividing that number by the room’s volume in cubic feet. While ventilation requirements are just one element of IAQ, it is a standard metric for comparing the ACH provided by different air cleaning solutions.
A number of factors lead to the underperformance of typical HVAC systems in achieving the goal of proper ventilation. In the case of ensuring safe indoor air quality, the most understated factor is air flow patterns, as most HVAC designs only consider temperature-related flow rates and patterns in a given space. Along these same lines, standalone or portable air cleaners (PAC) or purifiers suffer from a similar problem. In industry and general usage, air purification refers to the cleaning and recirculation of the same air, whereas air ventilation is assumed to push old air out of a physical space and bring filtered, cleaned air into it.
Evaluating the efficacy of a PAC and similar solutions should include not only unit-level air purification capabilities, but also the ventilation equivalent, or effectiveness, assuming clean outdoor air conditions. No air purifiers on the
Metalmark developed a selfrenewing air cleaning system that removes harmful airborne particulates, wildfire smoke, and a number of pathogens.
market today have been tested for their space-relevant airflow patterns, which are central to achieving ventilation effectiveness, especially in a space larger than that of the typical air chambers used in industry testing.
Ventilation Effectiveness (VEFF) refers to how well the air is circulated throughout a space leading to the removal of contaminants. It is an appropriate measurement for determining the overall effectiveness of an HVAC system design or air cleaning system. Traditional HVAC systems often fall short of the desired results for ventilation effectiveness. One reason is that the vast majority of the industry relies on ASHRAE Standard 62.1 Ventilation Rate Procedure’s (VRP) prescriptive ventilation flow rates, which are estimated based on a space’s usage type, its square footage, and the expected maximum number of occupants, to size HVAC equipment and determine ventilation flow rates, rather than IAQ considerations.
The same ASHRAE Standard 62.1 also provides the Indoor Air Quality Procedure (IAQP), which is more IAQ targetsdriven yet also has its deficiencies. Based on idealized ACH measurement comparisons, certain air cleaning technologies may influence air flow patterns more beneficially, thus resulting in greater ventilation effectiveness than the standard HVAC system, or provide means of increasing the effective ventilation efficiency of the standard HVAC system.
When the Ventilation Effectiveness of Standard HVAC Systems and Air Cleaners Falls Short
Traditional HVAC systems are primarily designed for temperature control and consistency and work contrary to the more agile and responsive needs of
effective indoor air cleaning. Furthermore, HVAC systems are designed based on the well-mixed room model, which assumes that the concentration of pollutants in an enclosed space should be spatially uniform, an assumption that suits the goals of temperature management. This model does not take into account the reality that indoor spaces are rarely well mixed, and airborne pollutants such as pathogens can stagnate and distribute unevenly due to a variety of factors, such as the type of airflow pattern, ventilation strategy, locations of sources, and fresh air inflow. Moreover, ventilation effectiveness can be negatively impacted by the
blockage of airflow or flow vent direction – leading to a higher intake of contaminated air. When the flow pattern is not properly set up, it can significantly reduce ventilation effectiveness and make the HVAC air cleaning regime ineffective as a whole. Due to many such issues, HVAC systems may fail to create an airflow pattern that provides adequate ventilation effectiveness, rendering them less effective at improving IAQ than theoretically expected or model predicted.
One of the specifications provided for standalone or portable air purifiers (also referred to as air cleaners) is the Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR), which is a
p Figure 1. Illustrations of test setup (not exact or to scale): a) control with HVAC system ventilation only; b) operating Metalmark air cleaner in addition to HVAC system ventilation. Particle doses were introduced in the center of the space and measurements were taken at 5 points of the space. Space size: 750 ft2 x 11 ft.
standard defined by the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM). The CADR measures an air cleaner’s effectiveness, frequently tested with three separate analytes to represent common indoor pollutant categories: dust, pollen, and tobacco smoke. CADR numbers are based on the percentages of particles removed, space volume, and the volume of clean air produced per minute. According to the U.S. EPA, CADR is “the most helpful parameter for understanding the effectiveness of portable air cleaners.”
In general, the higher the CADR number, the better the cleaner’s ability to filter for each specific pollutant type. A simple function can be applied to transform the CADR value into theoretical ACHs. However, such tests are conducted in small-volume air chambers with the unit typically centered in the space, and ignore the role of airflow patterns created by the unit in a real-world environment. Thus, the direct translation to ACHs is often unrepresentative of effective ACH equivalence.
Testing the Ventilation Effectiveness of the Metalmark Self-Renewing Air Cleaner
Employing cutting-edge science and engineering, Metalmark designed a selfrenewing air cleaner that breaks down airborne contaminants captured on the filter to reduce the hassle of frequent filter replacements. As an independent third party and global leader in airflow management for critical indoor spaces
and mixed-use facilities, 3Flow developed a methodology to test the ventilation effectiveness of air cleaners and conducted the test on the Metalmark system.
In the test, 3Flow compared the gas and particle removal efficiency and ventilation effectiveness of the Metalmark air cleaner, compared to that of the baseline HVAC ventilation system. The tests were conducted in a 750-squarefoot room with an 11-foot ceiling (8,250 ft3), which is representative of the space volumes of Metalmark system’s intended applications. A series of 60-minute tests were performed to establish the baseline room conditions and compare with the metrics achieved during various operational modes, with different installation orientations of the Metalmark system, as well as using two dissimilar diffuser designs.
During the tests, particles and tracer gas were generated using a TSI 9306 atomizer filled with 0.1 percent saline isopropanol (IPA) solution under compressed air conditions. A set of sensors were installed to collect the data for generation and decay behaviors of the tracer gas and particles. The test space was undisturbed by human presence or other activities during the test to maintain the airflow patterns induced solely by the Metalmark unit and in-room ventilation elements while limiting any external factors. The room airflow was maintained at 4 ACH using the HVAC system.
The following variables were measured in the study:
Airflow at minimum, medium, and maximum operational modes of the Metalmark air cleaner.
Particle Removal Efficiency expressed in terms of particle counts per cubic foot for the following particle sizes: 0.3μm, 1.0μm and 5.0μm.
Effective ACH defined as the ratio of room ACH to VEFF rating.
Average IPA/tracer concentration. The effective ACH of the Metalmark air cleaner was established based on data collected for the above.
Study Results
The tests demonstrated a significantly greater reduction of particle concentrations from the use of the Metalmark air cleaner compared to the control conditions of operating the HVAC ventilation system. Operation of the Metalmark system at maximum mode swept particles from the point of generation towards the inlet, resulting in higher particle removal potential compared to the minimum mode. Different orientations, diffuser designs, and system air cleaning levels all impacted the pollutant removal efficiency. Taken altogether, the Metalmark system boosted ventilation effectiveness by 51% higher than the baseline conditions, resulting in higher particle removal rates and enhanced air cleaning.
This study reveals that the airflow pattern created by an air cleaning system in
p Figure 2. A comparison between promoted effective air change rate under Metalmark filtration conditions and control conditions: an improvement of 104% was observed. The test space was maintained at HVAC set point of 4 ACH.
the context of a room space is directly correlated with the air cleaning outcome. As shown in Figure 2, even though an HVAC system could theoretically change the air in the room four times per hour based on its flow rates, the actual efficacy of its air cleaning is, in fact, pronouncedly lower than the theoretical value due to the non-well-mixed nature of the space. In other words, simply pushing more outdoor air volume into a space does not mean higher efficiency or degree of air cleaning. It turns out that there are many factors involved and airflow patterns are important to achieving the desired air cleaning objectives. Taking into account the VEFF rating for the test space, the Metalmark system improved the effective ACH of the space from 2.48 (control) to 5.06 (Metalmark), promoting the effectiveness of HVAC set point of 4 ACH in the space. In simple terms, it could add 2.6 effective ACHs at max level of air cleaning to a similar room space to serve as either a supplement or partial substitute to the existing ventilation levels. This is particularly relevant in light of ASHRAE’s Standard 241 for achieving adequate airborne pathogen removal levels, as well as
References:
1. [U.S. EPA] Environmental Protection Agency. 2024. Indoor Air Quality: What are the trends in indoor air quality and their effects on human health? Accessed at: https://www.epa.gov/reportenvironment/indoor-air-quality. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Protection Agency.
2. [OSHA] Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 2024. Indoor Air Quality: Frequently Asked Questions. Accessed at: https://www.osha.gov/ indoor-air-quality/faqs. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor.
3. Rockey, Nichole et al. “Ventilation Does Not Affect Influenza Virus Transmission Efficiency In A Ferret Playpen Setup.” bioRxiv 2023.12.26.573248; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.12.26.573248
4. [ASHRAE] American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. 2024. ANSI/ ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2022, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. Accessed at: https:// www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/bookstore/ standards-62-1-62-2
5. Atkinson, J., Chartier, Y., Pessoa-Silva, CL., et al. (2009). Natural Ventilation for Infection Control in Health-Care Settings. Concepts and types of ventilation. Geneva: World Health Organization. Accessed at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ books/NBK143277/
in consideration of poor outdoor air quality and the requirement for energy and climate footprint reductions.
Protecting Human Health
Indoor air quality is highly impactful on human health and well-being. As growing threats to air quality from outdoor sources, such as wildfire smoke, and indoor sources, such as airborne viruses, continue to rise, it is critical for commercial buildings to have proper ventilation and air cleaning systems in place.
Most commercial building spaces, for example, schools, hospitals, and offices, that utilize traditional HVAC systems are operating sub-optimally, especially given the increasing need for better indoor air quality. They would benefit from upgrading their air cleaning systems to one with higher ventilation effectiveness. This requires looking beyond theoretical air change or efficiency values, toward solutions with proven ventilation equivalent efficiencies. This means that air cleaning technologies need to not only filter contaminants that enter the core units but also improve ventilation effectiveness as demonstrated in this study.
6. Zhang, Z., Capecelatro, J., and Maki, K. (2021). On the utility of a well-mixed model for predicting disease transmission on an urban bus. AIP. Accessed at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC8404159/
7. Mullick, A., Kumaraswamy, G., Mehra, S., Murallidharan, J., Kumar, V., and Sinha, K. (2023). Is well-mixed model of an indoor space with ceiling fans valid for studying pathogen transmission? Physics of Fluid. Accessed at: https://pubs.aip.org/ aip/pof/article/35/10/107131/2918208/Is-wellmixed-model-of-an-indoor-space-with
Sissi Liu is passionate about solving complex societal problems by harnessing cutting-edge technology. She has 20 years of experience in climate tech commercialization, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and venture investing.
Sissi co-founded Metalmark Innovations, a Harvard spinout, to tackle the global air pollution crisis and climate change challenges. At Metalmark, she co-invented the company's key technologies and is leading the charge in bringing its products to market. Sissi has served on multiple company boards, mentors startups at MIT, and contributes to ASHRAE technical committees. Sissi holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MPP from Harvard University.
8. [AHAM] Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. 2024. Air Filtration Standards. Accessed at: https://ahamverifide.org/ahams-air-filtrationstandards/
9. [AHAM] Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. 2020. Indoor Air Quality Is an Essential Part of a Healthy Home. Accessed at: https://www. aham.org/AHAM/News/Latest_News/CADR_ Indoor_Air.aspx?WebsiteKey=c0a5e5a1-ea1c42f1-9b84-d62256c16ea2
10. [ASHRAE] American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. 2024. ASHRAE Standard 241, Control of Infectious Aerosols. Accessed at: https://www.ashrae.org/ technical-resources/bookstore/ashrae-standard241-control-of-infectious-aerosols
Dr. Anupriya Tyagi is an Industrial Hygienist with 3Flow, holds a PhD in Environmental Science and is a Certified Safety Professional. With more than 15 years of experience in the field of Industrial Hygiene research and Workplace safety, Dr. Tyagi focuses her skills to solve ventilation challenges in the IAQ world. She has reviewed numerous scientific articles and is an active member in various scientific communities.
Tom Smith is the President and CEO of 3Flow. Mr. Smith has worked for more than 35 years helping facilities optimize the performance of airflow systems to provide safe, efficient, and sustainable labs and critical workspaces. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a Master of Science in Industrial Hygiene from the University of North Carolina. Mr. Smith has chaired and served on numerous committees for the development of national and international standards on ventilation for safety and Health. He serves on the Board for the International Institute of Sustainable Labs (I2SL) and is a member of the Alumni Hall of Fame for the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at North Carolina State University.
Molecular Filtration A PRIMER
By Dave Schaaf
The earliest use of activated carbon for gas-phase contaminant removal dates to 1854, when a Scottish chemist invented the first mask that utilized activated carbon to remove noxious gases. Wood was originally used as the base material for gas masks since it was good at capturing poisonous gases when converted to activated carbon. By 1918, it was determined that shells and nuts converted to activated carbon performed even better than wood.
Around this same time, activated carbon began to be produced on a large scale and its use spread to decolorization in the chemical and food industries. In the later 1900s, other industries, such as corn and sugar refining, gas adsorption, alcoholic beverage production and wastewater treatment plants, began to use activated carbon.
Today, activated carbon is available in many different shapes and sizes and its applications are growing every day. For air filtration, the most common types of activated carbon are granular activated carbon (GAC), pelletized activated carbon (PAC), and structured activated carbon.
In addition, other substrates such as alumina and zeolite are used in lieu of activated carbon due to their tremendous pore
structures. With this diversity of adsorptive substrates, the term “chemical media” is often used to capture all products that remove gas-phase contaminants from the air.
While being a molecular representation of the volatile organic compound (VOC)
toluene, Figure 1 also contains various terms that are associated with molecular filtration.
Gas-Phase Contaminants
Gas-phase contaminants are undesirable airborne molecules that are mixed with the normal molecular oxygen and nitrogen found in the air we breathe. Because of their molecular size in the sub-nano range, they are not visible. Also not visible, but present in the air, is desirable molecular water, which is referred to as humidity. Some common, undesirable gas-phase contaminants are hydrogen sulfide (the rotten egg smell), skatole (dirty diaper smell),
p Figure 1. Molecular filtration names.
p Figure 2. Gas-phase contaminant categories.
VOCs (chemical and food odors), and ammonia. Many gases that evolve from combustion are contaminants, such as carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, oxides of sulfur, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
Corrosion control, odor control, and protection from toxic gases are the three main categories of molecular filtration. Figure 2 shows these categories along with some typical applications and additional contaminants.
Note that there are often gas-phase contaminants that span more than one category. Most of the time, contaminants span two categories. A good example of this is hydrogen sulfide (H2S) which is both odorous and corrosive.
Particulate and Gas-Phase Contaminants
The graphic in Figure 3 illustrates the relative size differences of airborne contaminants.
Some particulate contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria, although not visible, have a mass size large enough to be filtered with specialized particulate filters. Gas-phase contaminants can only be effectively removed using molecular filtration technologies.
Control of Gas-Phase Contaminants
There are various ways to control gasphase contaminants. One method is source control, wherein the source of the contaminants are relocated or eliminated. This rarely works since most contaminants are generated by the application in
question. A second technique is ventilation, where large amounts of fresh air are added to the contaminated air to dilute the contaminants. This typically isn’t desirable due to the large amount of energy required to heat or cool the fresh air. In addition, ventilation doesn’t remove the contaminants from the air. That leaves the tried-and-true process of molecular filtration systems. A schematic of a molecular filtration system is shown in Figure 4. Molecular filtration devices are used in combination with particulate filters to remove gas-phase contaminants. A particulate filter is always required upstream of the molecular filter to ensure that all dirt and dust is removed from the airstream. This is critical to ensure that the vast pore structure of the chemical media is left unabated for the adsorption of gas-phase contaminants. A particulate final filter is recommended downstream of the gasphase filter when the air is going to be recirculated back into a space occupied by people or critical processes. The purpose of this particulate filter is to capture any dust that might come off the chemical media in the molecular filter. When the air is exhausted to the atmosphere, there is generally not a need for a final filter.
Selecting Molecular Filtration Devices
Choosing the correct chemical media type and the correct chemical media delivery device is a daunting task. There is
q Figure 3. Relative particle size.
q Figure 4. Molecular filtration schematic.
a lot of information that must be gathered first, such as the contaminants of concern (COC), the concentrations of the COC, the air volume, the desired chemical media life, the space available, and more. A good starting point is completing an application questionnaire like Figure 5 to document as much of this information as possible.
The gathering of the data is the first step in determing the correct chemical media type. In most applications, there is one chemical media type that will work best. There are times, however, when more than one media type will work or when more than one media type is required. Two or more different types of chemical media may be needed if the list of contaminants that needs to be removed contains multiple contaminant famlilies.
To further complicate matters, there are multiple chemical media delivery devices that are available and most of the time, more than one of those devices will work. The amount of space that is available along with number of media types required are the two main factors that will determine which delivery device will best solve the application at hand. Due to this complexity, it is recommended that
you reach out to your local filtration specialist to assist you with making the proper selection.
The chemical media that is utilized in molecualr filtration devices is available in many forms. Figure 6 provides an overview of these forms.
Powdered versions of chemical media are less commonly utilized for gas-phase filtration due
As an example, Figure 8 shows the expected life in months versus the contaminant challenge for various molecular filtration devices. The gray boxes show acceptable products for roughly a threemonth minimum life and the green boxes show acceptable products for a six-month minimum life.
When evaluating a gas-phase application, it is important to understand the most important requirements for that application, such as first cost, replacement cost, ease of replacement, and space available so the best product value is chosen.
to the high pressure drop associated with them. Granular and pelletized chemical media are the most prevalent types in the market, and structure media like honeycombs are gaining traction due to their fast kinetics and low pressure drop.
Figure 7 shows typical molecular filtration devices that are widely available. The products shown are displayed from left to right by their relative contaminant removal capacity. For any given application, there can be more than one molecular filtration device that will work.
The Minimum Viable Product
The minimum viable product is usually determined by the customer or end user and is defined as the minimum acceptable service life of the molecular filtration device before the chemical media removal capacity is exhausted. Figure 5 demonstrates how there is usually more than one viable product solution for most gas-phase applications.
There are times, however, when more than one media type will work or when more than one media type is required. Two or more different types of chemical media may be needed if the list of contaminants that needs to be removed contains multiple contaminant famlilies.
Mass Transfer Zone
Another important point when looking at molecular filtration applications is the mass transfer zone (MTZ). The MTZ is the section in a chemical media bed where there is active adsorption. The length of the MTZ is highly dependent on media type, gas concentration and flow rate. The MTZ remains the same length and moves as the upstream chemical media
p Figure 5. Molecular filtration questionnaire.
p Figure 6. Chemical media options.
becomes consumed. Breakthrough occurs when the MTZ reaches the end of the media bed as shown in Figure 9. The lifetime of a molecular filtration device should be calculated taking the MTZ into account. Note that the values in Figure 8 do not consider the MTZ. If they did, the values would be smaller. This is because the length of the mass transfer zone with higher concentrations would be longer than the depth of the chemical media bed. This would create an immediate breakthrough of the contaminant.
Remaining Life Analysis
When the best chemical media has been determined and the filtration device has been selected, the question of how long
this filtration device will last often comes up. The manufacturer of the filtration device should be able to provide an estimate of the expected life of the chemical media. To verify that estimate, the remaining life of the chemical media can be tested. Remaining life analysis compares the known, initial capacity to the current capacity of chemical filtration media that is installed in filtration systems. The information obtained from this testing can be used to confirm system performance, determine the media replacement schedule, and to assist with inventory control of replacement media. Replacing media based on testing maximizes the media life, reducing the total cost of system ownership.
Dave Schaaf is the Director of Molecular Filtration at Mann+Hummel with over seventeen years of experience in the field of molecular filtration. In addition, Dave has over twenty years of experience in commercial and industrial HVAC design with Trane, York International, and Nailor Industries. Dave is actively involved with several industry associations including ASME, NAFA and ASHRAE where he serves on committees related to molecular filtration and guidance for wildfire smoke.
p Figure 7. Molecular filtration devices.
p Figure 9. Mass transfer zone (MTZ).
p Figure 8. Expected life versus toluene concentration.
Keeping the
Ships Moving at Port of Antwerp-Bruges
By Adrian Wilson, International Correspondent, IFN
Membrane press filtration is at the heart of the sustainable system that has been established for the treatment and storage of sediment removed from the waterways of Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium.
Port of Antwerp-Bruges is the second largest port in Europe with more than 300 liner services to more than 800 destinations. Every year it handles around 290 million tons of international maritime cargo, in addition to being home to Europe’s largest integrated chemical cluster.
The port directly and indirectly employs a total of around 164,000 people and contributes added value of more than €21 billion to the Belgian economy.
Enabling Draught
As a naturally occurring material which mainly consists of rock and minerals that are broken down over time by weathering and erosion, as well as the remains of plants and animals, sediment moves throughout waterways due to tides, wind
and waves, and settles in quiet areas of the water.
Over the years, Port of Antwerp-Bruges accumulated an enormous amount of sediment which was hampering its navigability.
Sufficient “draught” – enabling movement for shipping traffic – is essential and to guarantee this, a large volume of sediment has to be dredged annually. At Port of Antwerp-Bruges, former sediment storage techniques, such as dumping it in quays or underwater cells in a dry dock complex became saturated and such solutions also became unacceptable from a social and environmental engineering standpoint.
AMORAS
Back in 2008, plans were established to develop a unique solution to this problem with the AMORAS – Antwerp Mechanical Dewatering, Recycling and Application of Silt – project. The project was awarded to the temporary trade association SeReAnt, a combination of Flemish dredging company Jan De Nul and Dredging
International (DEME), supported by their environmental contractors, with an initial grant from the Flemish government of €480 million.
The plant, which became operational in 2011 and is running until 2026 with operational costs of €29 million per year, ensures the annual treatment and storage of approximately 500,000 tons of dry material dredged from the port each year and dewatered by a minimum of 60%.
Employing around 100 people, this is Europe’s largest processing installation for maintenance dredged sediment.
Preparation
The system starts with an underwater cell zone with a capacity of 300,000 cubic meters, in which the sedimentation dredged from the port docks is temporarily stored before being pumped to the shore for the treatment process to commence.
It then has its coarser elements removed in a sand separation zone using hydroclones which are adjusted to a separation point of 63 microns – the granulometric limit between the sludge and sand
fractions. Up to 80 tons of sand is separated and removed every hour based on the difference in density of the two fractions.
Thickening Basins
The remaining sediment is then pumped over a distance of four kilometers through discharge pipelines, with a maximum throughput of 1,500 cubic meters per hour, to the Bietenveld treatment site where it is buffered into four thickening basins, each with a capacity of 120,000 cubic meters.
After a week in the thickening basins and conditioning with lime or poly-electrolytes, the mixture undergoes a further dredging step with two mobile dredge pumps on a 175-metre-long rotating gantry spanning the thickening basins and allowing for fully automated steering of the process. The pumps can move along the entire span and can operate independently of one another. This process makes it possible to feed the filter press with a nearly homogeneous mixture.
cake over a 24-hour, three shift operational day.
Diemme has worked alongside the partners since the project’s inception to ensure the smooth running and regular maintenance of the filter press.
The filtered water is then buffered into a wastewater pond before being treated with a two-stage purification process involving a physio-chemical pre-treatment for fine particulate matter and then biological purification via a suspended activated sludge system.
fillers in bricks, lightweight aggregate or concrete for foundations.
Technology of Choice
Diemme, which is part of the multinational Aqseptence Group and headquartered in Lugo, Italy, was formed in the early 1970s at a time when the use of filter presses was expanding from traditional applications in the food industry to other industrial sectors as a process technology for the separation of solids and liquids.
Filter Press
The filter press, supplied by Italy’s Diemme, consists of 12 of the company’s GHT.2000. P19 lines, which are each 27 meters long, five meters high and five meters wide. This configuration’s 193 vertical membrane filter chambers can produce approximately 30 tons of filter cake with at least 60% dry matter per 90-minute cycle, for a daily capacity of 3,000 tons of filter
The filter cakes produced are stored under controlled conditions at a 30-hectare site that was formerly a sand extraction pit. Using phased and controlled storage, the aim is for the site to have an operational period of at least thirty years. Potential second-life uses for the filter cakes have been explored, and in parallel with AMORAS , the Vamoras project has looked at ways of recycling them as
Subsequently, the filter press has become the technology of choice for the treatment of industrial and municipal sewage sludge across the mining and chemical industries, power plants and the oil and gas sector, where high dewatering performance, low operational expense and reliability are key drivers.
Diemme’s filter presses were chosen for the AMORAS project at Port of AntwerpBruges after a detailed analysis of various technologies, including centrifuges and belt presses, and selected based on the high flexibility of the equipment and the optimal total cost of ownership.
Adrian Wilson is an international correspondent for International Filtration News . He is a leading journalist covering fiber, filtration, nonwovens and technical textiles. He can be reached at adawilson@gmail.com.
Diemme
p The filter press consists of 12 lines, which are each 27 meters long.
t The vertical membrane filter chambers can produce approximately 30 tons of filter cake per 90-minute cycle.
Knowing No
Waking up every day to the sounds of crying glaciers as they collapse to raise global sea levels sends an alarming message about the deterioration of our climate. Ice calving represents not just mere anger but also an explicit rejection of our environmental behavior's status quo, which seems to drive our challenges to climate change.
Anthropogenic emissions know no borders as they travel freely around the globe driven by the wind. They are generated by the irresponsible way we live, commute, generate, and use power, which creates heat sinks and pollutant accumulation. As adaptation and mitigation strategies fall short in keeping up with the rising tide of air pollution, humanity must opt for efficient processes and natural resource utilization to gear up toward embracing sustainability.
Why Svalbard
I have been an environmental enthusiast from an early age, and advocating for enhanced air quality has been my mission for over a quarter century. I have always wondered why we pollute horrendously and then spend tremendously on technologies such as filtration to capture our anthropogenic emissions. I wanted to bring my message across the world, and an ideal coordinate would be Longyearbyen, Svalbard, where global heating is hitting hardest.
Arrival
I arrived in Svalbard in July and stayed for an entire week in daylight, witnessing the midnight sun. Upon landing, everyone had their airport pickup arranged, and I learned that the surrounding area is inhabited by polar bears. Svalbard is certainly not a place where one would hear the honking of vehicle horns, the
crunching sound of machinery wheels, the shriek of steam from boilers, or the regular beat of the looms; it is rather a quiet and peaceful place to stay and admire its nature.
Seeing Is Believing
Unless one experiences the scene and sound of the daily ice calving, telling the story cannot adequately convey the feeling of such a loss. Svalbard is located at the main gateway of atmospheric and oceanic heat transport into the Central Arctic and has experienced a 3-5 °C increase in temperature from 1971 to 2017. [1,2] Glaciers and ice sheets make up 10% of the Earth’s surface and store nearly 80% of the planet’s fresh water.[3,4] The increase in temperature results in ice melting, causing a cascade of effects. It alters the ocean’s salinity, temperature, and volume, leading to a rise in sea level, estimated to be 0.15 to 0.25 meters between
1901 and 2018.[5] Such rise in sea levels positions cities worldwide, particularly coastal ones, representing 90% of urban areas today, to be more vulnerable to being engulfed, similar to what has happened in Brazil recently.
The glacier’s losses cause their region to be converted to atmospheric heat and moisture sources, significantly impacting local and regional climate. Research has shown that the Arctic region is threatened by contamination arising from precipitation, atmospheric transfer, and anthropogenic activities.[6,7] Glacial systems confront contaminants from external sources, which have been deposited onto the ice surface.[8,9] Anthropogenic emissions have raised temperatures even higher in the poles, leading to rapid glacier melting, calving off into the sea, and receding.[10]
Polar Bears
While some studies suggest that polar bears outnumber Svalbard inhabitants, who number just under 2,700, other projections argue that the number is way below such a prediction.[11] However, scientists have indicated that sea ice level decline and rising air pollutant concentrations impact their conditions and ecosystems, forcing them to venture deeper into land areas to search for food. Consequently, this leads to increased contact with humans and potentially human-bear loss. Legislation to protect polar bears was put into place to decrease their killing in defense of life or property and has helped protect them to a certain extent.
Borders
Visiting the Glaciers
t Dr. Iyad Al-Attar travels to Svalbard to witness the early signs of climate change due to anthropogenic emissions as humans replace forests with concrete and asphalt.
To get a closer view of the glaciers, I was transported by boat to a cottage nearly one hour away from Longyearbyen. The hosts instructed me and the other visitors not to step out of the cottage as polar bears might pay us a visit. Lunch consisted of vacuumed sealed food that required hot water to make it edible. As the boat approached the shore, my cell phone coverage weakened. Only then did I realize that I would be spending four nights without a signal or WiFi connection.
Such isolation was an ideal time to think about what we take for granted. During the orientation, we reflected on how we thoughtlessly take for granted our use of water, whether for drinking or taking a shower – another wake-up call. The host provided dinner and we threw the garbage outside the cottage in the bin. I went to bed, only to notice foxes roaming around the cottage, attracted by the fish remains we had just thrown away.
Climbing up the hill to get a closer view of the glaciers was difficult. We stopped intermittently to rest and drink tea, and when we returned, the steps we used to cross were submerged in melted glacier water. Every day and night, I would be alarmed by ice-calving sounds, which could happen at any time. The calving sounds like a mix between glass breaking and a person crying. The massive size of the glaciers makes one believe they are too big to collapse. I asked myself what humanity is doing that is leading to these detrimental consequences.
Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago between 74ºN and 81ºN north of Norway. Spitsbergen, the largest and most inhabited island out of the nine separate ones, is the home of the 2,500 people living in Longyearbyen's administrative center. Venturing outdoors requires carrying a rifle for personal protection from polar bears.
Reference: Norwegian Ministry of Climate and the Environment, 2013.
Environmental Footprint
The question remains, where does all this pollution come from? Can this pollution come from cities representing only 2% of the Earth’s surface?[12] Cities require 75% of global primary energy to run their activities and emit around 60% of greenhouse gases.[13] The premise of building cities is to embrace a low-carbon way to live where everyone can gain economic standing while living in a green, clean, and healthy urban environment. However, that does not coincide with our current environmental footprint or sustainable urban development plans that cities claim to adopt. Humanity continues to face many unprecedented ecological challenges due to uncontrolled urbanization growth that reduces cities' resilience and further increases their vulnerability to climate-induced consequences. To add to the complexity of the current urbanized world we find ourselves in, recent projections show that 2.5 billion
p Longyearbyen: Examining a mummified polar bear. qA flock of the barnacle geese roaming around freely.
people will be added to the urban environment by 2050.[14] Managing urbanization's speed, scope, and scale requires a comprehensive understanding of its induced ecological risks and a holistic approach to the underlying parameters linking rural and urban settings in an integrated economy. Sectors with significant environmental footprints must be investigated for optimization areas such as power generation, transport, and buildings, which amount to 40%, 23%, and 10%, respectively.[15]
Sustainable Transport Systems
We must alter how we live, generate, use power and commute to induce change. Mobility is critical to prosperity and connectivity with cities and people. However, there is no comfort in knowing that the global car fleet (passenger vehicles)
has expanded by more than 600 million cars over the last 20 years, and road freight activity has increased by almost 65%.[12] Such growth is reflected in road
transport, which accounts for around 45% of global oil demand, far more than any other sector.[16] Transport accounts for around one-fifth of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, whereas road travel accounts for three-quarters of transport emissions.[17]
Power Generation
Cities should emphasize energy efficiency and mobility over generating more power and replacing forests with concrete and asphalt. Furthermore, laying out a sustainable transport system with excellent connectivity, access, equity, and interaction with cities and inhabitants is central to reducing miles-driven and road transport emissions. Sustainable building design signifies new interaction opportunities impacting travel choice and selection to reduce private vehicle use and the need for extensive parking space.
Efficient, frequent, and widespread public transport could reduce milesdriven transport emissions and the need to avail car parking spaces. The full-fledged implementation of any governmental policy to reduce anthropogenic emissions requires transformative rather than incremental approaches. What would our urban environment have been like if all the funds were invested in a sustainable transport system rather than paving wider streets and expanding highways?
Sustainable and Healthy Buildings
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuels and land use have grown since the 19th century, reaching their highestever level in 2019.[18] Buildings are another villain in the story, responsible for about a third of global energy consumption. HVAC accounts for 38% of buildings’ energy usage and is accountable for a quarter of CO2 emissions.[19] The IPCC reported, “Over the period 1990–2019, global CO2 emissions from buildings increased by 50%, global energy demand grew by 38%, with a 54% increase in nonresidential buildings and a 32% increase in residential ones.”[20]
These statistics, along with the irresponsible way we live, urbanize, and
p The gears required to climb the glacier.
p Sailing in a speedboat to Billefjorden to get to the glaciers (witnessing seals resting on ice on the way).
p The receding glaciers in Svalbard.
grow, are leading to rising sea levels, sinking land, and eroding coasts, which suggest we are on the wrong side of behavior that nurtures versus stresses our natural environment. Changing course through decarbonization is imperative if we are serious about keeping the promise for children and grandchildren of living on a planet safer than the one we inherited. It is, therefore, time to ask the difficult and direct questions that would address the "how" and "what" of preventative policies and efficient processes to ensure that we course-correct while we still can.
Patience for Consent
Humanity is mistaking our planet’s patience for consent and its climate change signs for natural occurrences. For cities to enhance their resilience and adaptation responses, they must assess their meteorological and geographical specificities. While solutions can come from legislation, technological advancement and innovation, the initial change has to come from the end-users – residents, businesses, and industries – who must control their consumption. We should embrace waste and heat recovery technologies that can be used to bridge supply gaps, particularly when it comes to buildings. Furthermore, constructing innovative buildings using advanced insulation materials can help minimize the required heat loads to achieve thermal comfort and optimize the selection of HVAC systems.
The Broken Climate
Undoubtedly, the climate we once knew is broken, and the irrefutable evidence is all around us. Rising sea levels, submerged cities, displaced nations, decimated food supplies, and disrupted supply chains and businesses are a few consequences of our “complacency mode.” To swiftly combat climate change, we must scale up our ambitions and follow through with appropriate actions to embrace the sense of urgency about bringing environmental agreements into force. This entails employing refined and innovative regulatory frameworks to adapt to the emerging realities
Constructing innovative buildings using advanced insulation materials can help minimize the required heat loads to achieve thermal comfort and optimize the selection of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems.
tp Cottage inhabited during the stay surrounded by Arctic foxes.
p The crossing bridge to the glaciers was later submerged within the same day due to ice melting.
q Scenery of the glaciers in Billefjorden.
of pandemics and conflicts. That also includes helping developing countries that have yet to create frameworks. But we are not alone in this. Our intentions and actions must highlight the oneness of the environment and the shared responsibilities of all nations. Together, we can make a difference.
The Last Nail in the Coffin
What happens in Svalbard is more than a wake-up call – it signals a critical aspect of global heat, which varies in rates depending on the geographic location. Research has reported that in the past two decades
p Observing the glaciers daily.
tp Collapsed glacier witnessed during climbing.
q Resting prior to ascending the glacier.
pWitnessing glaciers melting.
the Arctic has warmed approximately twice as rapidly as the entire Northern Hemisphere, which has experienced a greater increase in heat than the southern Hemisphere. [21] In the northern hemisphere, ice is lost as glaciers retreat due to heat, and permafrost that holds rock faces together is thawing, increasing rock fall and landslide risk.[22] Svalbard is experiencing far higher temperature increases than those in the tropics due to what is known as polar amplification of heating.
The situation in Svalbard is a stark reminder that the clock is ticking, and we must act now. We need to reimagine the conventional and linear ways we consume our resources and find innovative ways to reduce waste. We must embrace sustainable ways of living and urbanizing as we rapidly grow. I believe it is possible to achieve growth without increasing our pollution. It is time to act and be part of the solution and not the problem.
References:
1. Hansen, B.B., Gamelon, M., Albon, S.D., Lee, A.M., Stien, A., Irvine, R.J., Sæther, B.E., Loe, L.E., Ropstad, E., Veiberg, V. and Grøtan, V., 2019. More frequent extreme climate events stabilize reindeer population dynamics. Nature Communications, 10(1), p.1616.
2. Førland, E.J., Benestad, R., Hanssen-Bauer, I., Haugen, J.E. and Skaugen, T.E., 2011. Temperature and precipitation development at Svalbard 1900–2100. Advances in meteorology, 2011.
3. Radic, V. et al. Regional and global projections of twenty-first century glacier mass changes in response to climate scenarios from global climate models. Clim. Dynam. 42, 37–58 (2013).
4. DeBeer, C.M., Sharp, M. and Schuster-Wallace, C., 2020. Glaciers and ice sheets. World, 215(705,739), p.1565.
5. Lee, H., Calvin, K., Dasgupta, D., Krinner, G., Mukherji, A., Thorne, P., Trisos, C., Romero, J., Aldunce, P., Barret, K. and Blanco, G., 2023. IPCC, 2023: Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report, Summary for Policymakers. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J. Romero (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland.Serreze, M.C., Crawford, A.D. and Barrett, A.P., 2015. Extreme daily precipitation events at Spitsbergen, an Arctic Island. International Journal of Climatology, 35(15), pp.4574-4588.
6. Serreze, M.C. and Barry, R.G., 2014. The Arctic climate system. Cambridge University Press.
7. Law, K.S. and Stohl, A., 2007. Arctic air pollution: Origins and impacts. science, 315(5818), pp.1537-1540.
8. Kosek, K., Kozioł, K., Luczkiewicz, A., Jankowska, K., Chmiel, S. and Polkowska, Z. 2019. Environ-
Returning Home
Once home, I was convinced we could and should grow without polluting or causing the further loss of glaciers and trees. I produced a list of actions, before our escalating anthropogenic emissions hammer the last nail in its coffin. While we should get busy assessing environmental agreements and ensuring implementation, we ought first to fix our relationship with the planet.
If we cycle rather than drive, recycle rather than waste, and reuse rather than consume, we can grant the next generation a fair chance to fight for their rights. Decarbonization starts with harnessing the sun and bending the wind through a renewable architecture that reduces the indisputable prodigious fossil fuel combustion as we progress to more sustainable living and a circular economy. We all play a role in reducing the emissions our planet inhales. We could all start by turning off the lights on our way out!
mental characteristics of a tundra river system in Svalbard. Part 2: Chemical stress factors. Science of the total environment, 653, pp.15851596.
9. Torstensson, A., Hedblom, M., Andersson, J., Andersson, M.X. and Wulff, A., 2013. Synergism between elevated pCO2 and temperature on the Antarctic sea ice diatom Nitzschia lecointei. Biogeosciences, 10(10), pp.6391-6401.
10. Crockford, S.J., 2021. The State of the Polar Bear Report 2020. Global Warming Policy Foundation Report, 48.
11. Eneroth, K., Kjellström, E. and Holmén, K., 2003. A trajectory climatology for Svalbard; investigating how atmospheric flow patterns influence observed tracer concentrations. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/C, 28(28-32), pp.1191-1203.
12. IEA (2023), World Energy Outlook 2023, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2023, Licence: CC BY 4.0 (report); CC BY NC SA 4.0 (Annex A)
13. UN-Habitat, “Cities: A ‘cause of and solution to’ climate change,” UN News, 18 September, 2019 [Online] Available: https://news. un.org/ en/story/2019/09/104666
14. IEA, 2020. Global energy-related CO2 emissions by sector, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/dataand-statistics/charts/global-energy-related-co2emissions-by-sector, IEA. Licence: CC BY 4.0
15. IPCC. Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report. A Contribution of Working Groups I, II, and III to the Third Assessment Report of the Integovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Watson, R.T., Core Writing Team, Eds.; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK; New York, NY, USA, 2001.
Dr. Al-Attar is a mechanical engineer and an independent air filtration consultant. He is a Visiting Academic Fellow in the School of Aerospace, Transport, and Manufacturing at Cranfield University, consulting for air quality and filter performance relevant to land-based gas turbines. Dr. Al-Attar is also the strategic director, instructor, and advisory board member of the Waterloo Filtration Institute. In 2020, Eurovent Middle East appointed Dr. Al-Attar as the first associated consultant for air filtration. Recently, he became the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) patron for EUROVENT. With engineering degrees (BSc, MSc, Ph.D.) from the University of Toronto (Canada), Kuwait University, and Loughborough University (UK), respectively, he is now reading for an MSc in sustainable urban development for air quality inclusion at the University of Oxford. His expertise is on the design/performance of high-efficiency filters for HVAC and land-based gas turbine applications, focusing on chemical and physical characterization of airborne pollutants.
16. IEA (2024), Global EV Outlook 2024, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/globalev-outlook-2024, Licence: CC BY 4.0
17. Lamb, W.F., Wiedmann, T., Pongratz, J., Andrew, R., Crippa, M., Olivier, J.G., Wiedenhofer, D., Mattioli, G., Al Khourdajie, A., House, J. and Pachauri, S., 2021. A review of trends and drivers of greenhouse gas emissions by sector from 1990 to 2018. Environmental research letters, 16(7), p.073005.
18. IEA, 2021. Net Zero by 2050, Paris. IEA, Paris, https://www.iea.org/reports/net- zero- by- 2050.
19. Cabeza, L. F., Q. Bai, P. Bertoldi, J.M. Kihila, A.F.P. Lucena, É. Mata, S. Mirasgedis, A. Novikova, Y. Saheb, 2022: Buildings. In IPCC, 2022: Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [P.R. Shukla, J. Skea, R. Slade, A. Al Khourdajie, R. van Diemen, D. McCollum, M. Pathak, S. Some, P. Vyas, R. Fradera, M. Belkacemi, A. Hasija, G. Lisboa, S. Luz, J. Malley, (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA. doi: 10.1017/9781009157926.011
20. Francis, J.A. and Vavrus, S.J., 2012. Evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme weather in mid‐latitudes. Geophysical research letters, 39(6).
21. Huggel, C., Allen, S., Deline, P., Fischer, L., Noetzli, J. and Ravanel, L., 2012. Ice thawing, mountains falling—are alpine rock slope failures increasing? Geology Today, 28(3), pp.98-104.
22. Serreze MC and RG Barry (2011). Processes and impacts of Arctic amplification: A research synthesis, Global and Planetary Change 77 (2011) 85–96.
Harnessing ENERGY Efficiency
How Technology Can Help Reduce Energy Consumption Associated with Filtration Processes
By Mark Ligon
Whether you think about it or not, water filtration is one of the most important processes in the United States.
From residential filtration systems that give you safe drinking water, to wastewater treatment plants that provide clean water to entire cities, water filtration systems are everywhere. Most people don’t realize, however, that water filtration uses a ton of energy, due to a lack of energy-efficient technologies and systems.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), water filtration for drinking water and wastewater plants accounts for 3-4% of the United States’ total energy consumption. In addition, between 25% and 40% of a consumer’s monthly utility bills are related to
water filtration. Finally, the U.S. creates an average of 45 million tons of greenhouse gases each year to filter water.
Those are staggering numbers, considering it’s all in the name of creating clean water. They’re especially shocking, considering we live in an era where renewable energy sources have never been more abundant. It begs the question, “Are there ways to improve energy efficiency in the water filtration process?” We’ll look at that basic question and pinpoint some specific technologies to instigate change.
Water Filtration 101
To better understand why water filtration demands so much energy, let’s look at how the water treatment process works.
1. Untreated water flows through a sediment pre-filter that removes large contaminants.
2. The water then flows through an activated carbon, charcoal, or zinccopper filter, which treats the water.
3. The water then flows through a third filter that polishes the water and removes any remaining contagions.
4. Creating the filters, powering the pumps that move water, and repeatedly cycling water is what cause a ton of energy usage.
There are many different types of residential and commercial water filtration systems, as well as industrial wastewater treatment systems. While they all have differences, they utilize the same steps mentioned to achieve filtration results.
The main difference is that during wastewater filtration, chemicals are added to the water to make contaminants bind together as well as to kill bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
According to the EPA, water filtration for drinking water and wastewater plants accounts for 3-4% of the United States’ total energy consumption. In addition, between 25% and 40% of a consumer’s monthly utility bills are related to water filtration.
How Water Filtration Systems Are Improving
All in all, the global cost of water filtration is right around $76 billion. That doesn’t even take into account the cost to individuals who have residential water filtration systems. As we said earlier, however, it’s roughly 25% to 40% of monthly energy bills. Because of these high costs, improving energy efficiency is a top priority. Here are some improvements already available.
Membrane Filtration Systems
Reverse osmosis and nanofiltration systems are examples of membrane filtration systems. Membrane filters, such as those produced by Graver Technologies, require minimal power generation to operate, and incorporating them is essential for energy savings. In fact, they can reduce the amount of power you use during water filtration by up to 29%.
Smart Monitoring Through AI
Artificial intelligence is making a name for itself in nearly every industry, including with water filtration. AI is getting used in smart water meters and filters to do a better job of minimizing waste during the filtration processes. AI can also reduce backwash in wastewater treatment plants, further saving energy and water.
Advanced Oxidation Processes
Advanced oxidation processes essentially use components of the water to purify itself. This is one of the most energyefficient ways to treat and filter water.
Membrane Bioreactors
Membrane bioreactors are a combination of biologics and membrane filters to treat water. This combination is one of the most energy-efficient options on the market.
Energy Recovery Systems
A ton of water gets wasted during the filtration process. Unfortunately, wasting filtered water requires energy use, which is where energy recovery systems come
into play. Energy recovery systems harness and reuse energy, minimizing potential waste. Some energy recovery systems can even regain up to 98% of energy that would otherwise be wasted during water filtration.
Using Renewable Energy Sources
Finally, there’s more of an emphasis than ever on using renewable energy to power water filtration systems. Renewable energy is cleaner and cheaper than traditional electricity and can result in massive cost savings.
Role of Valves and Flow Control in Energy-Efficient Water Filtration
In addition to using green energy, artificial intelligence, and improved filtration systems, valves and flow control also play an integral role in energy-efficient water filtration. Flow control includes the valves, pumps, pressure gauges, sensors, paddle wheels, and flow meters involved in moving water and the water treatment process.
In many ways, flow control devices and valves are the most important components if you value energy-efficient water filtration. They determine how and when water flows and are entirely responsible for how much water gets used and where it travels. As such, valves and flow control systems are essential when it comes to energy-efficient water treatment.
Energy Efficiency Improvements With Current Materials
According to the EPA, industrial water treatment plants can increase their efficiency by 15 to 30% through a combination of energy-saving tactics. Because valves and flow controls are so important to energy-efficient water treatment and filtration, new systems and innovative technologies are not enough.
Instead, it’s essential to properly use and upgrade the components in existing
systems. That means using new materials to design valves and flow controls that optimize the efficiency of filtration systems.
Benefits of Reducing Energy Consumption in Water Filtration
When you use the right materials and prioritize energy efficiency, here are some of the benefits you will reap.
Lower Operating Costs
The biggest benefit of having an energyefficient water filtration system is that it saves you money. The less energy you use during the water treatment process, the lower your operating costs will be. No matter how high your water demand is, your efficient system will keep costs low.
Less Environmental Impact
Secondly, the less energy and electricity you use, the less carbon emissions will result. This reduces harm to the environment that would be produced from a traditional filtration system. The smaller your carbon footprint is, the fewer greenhouse gases you’ll emit.
Better Resource Conservation
In addition to using less energy and electricity, implementing more efficient filtration systems will help better utilize existing resources. Upgraded systems reduce backwash and help you maximize the amount of water you can use during the treatment process. This applies to both residential and industrial water treatment systems.
Leads to Energy Savings in Other Areas
Finally, energy efficient technologies and innovations are contagious. Therefore, when people design energy-efficient water treatment technologies, it often translates to energy efficiency improvements in other areas, such as with heating and cooling, plumbing, electrical, and more.
Mark Ligon is the marketing manager at Commercial Industrial Supply, a supplier of commercial & industrial piping, fittings, valves, filtration products, and accessories. Ligon enjoys educating businesses on the specific parts of piping systems so managers can make informed decisions.
2024 A Gateway to Innovation & Networking in the Water Sector
WEFTEC 2024 is set to be a landmark event in the water sector with networking and educational opportunities at every turn.
The 2024 WEFTEC Exhibition is outpacing last year's square footage by 13%. And is 21% ahead of the last time WEFTEC was hosted in New Orleans, with 800+ exhibitors signed up.
Dive Into the Future of Water Technology
When you attend WEFTEC 2024, you will find yourself in a world of cutting-edge innovations. The event, especially the exhibition, lets operators, engineers, project managers, and everyone else connect with the people who develop and build equipment and services. Hear technology leaders and pioneers provide their take on the latest advancements and trends in the sector.
Engage with interactive displays and hands-on demonstrations that bring the functionalities of new technologies to life. This is your chance to learn from the experts – ask questions, participate in live demos, and gain a deeper understanding of the tools and technologies driving the water sector forward.
Educational Content – Whether you’re looking to drill down into specific topics in wastewater treatment, find solutions around zero liquid discharge, or stay updated on collection system trends, WEFTEC offers valuable learning opportunities for anyone working in the water sector.
Innovations and Experiential Learn-
ing – With over 800 exhibitors on site, WEFTEC showcases the latest innovations, technologies, and solutions in water quality management. In the nearly sold-out exhibit hall, you’ll get hands-on experience with the latest technologies and engage in a directory with the supplier teams to solve your most challenging issues.
Networking – With over 21,000 water professionals converging in New Orleans, you’ll find your professional home at WEFTEC. Connect with sector leaders, experts, and peers from around the globe and exchange ideas, forge partnerships, and expand your professional network.
Experience Unique Events – From the exhilarating Operations Challenge Competition to the prestigious WEF Awards Ceremony, WEFTEC offers a diverse range of unique events that entertain, inspire, and educate.
Career Development – From Continuing Education Credits to our Affinity groups, you’ll immerse yourself in a dynamic environment where creativity thrives, and collaboration flourishes. Attendees also earn continuing education credits, gain insights into career advancement opportunities, and stay informed about the latest job trends in the water sector.
Facility Tours
Facility tours provide a unique opportunity to gain firsthand insights into the construction, special projects, and daily operations taking place within the local host community. By participating, attendees not only enrich their understanding of industry practices but also earn valuable contact hours. New Orleans, Louisiana offers some great opportunities to see diverse filtration experiences in action.
With six diverse technical tours available, attendees can tailor their WEFTEC 2024 experience to suit their interests and professional development goals, ensuring a comprehensive and enriching conference experience. Pre-registration is required, with limited space available. Select your preferred tour when you register for the conference. They include:
p Lake Borgne Surge Barrier
On this mostly outside walking tour, you will see a small portion of the New Orleans side of the Lake Borgne Surge Barrier. This 2.9-km (1.8-mile) structure is a small part of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System built
by the Army Corps of Engineers after Hurricane Katrina.
A system of flood walls, levees, floodgates, sector gates, and a barrier work together to reduce the risk of flooding from storm surges from Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne, and the Gulf of Mexico for more than one million residents in the greater metropolitan New Orleans area.
The Flood Protection Authority East is a state agency that operates and maintains the system in Jefferson, Orleans, and St. Bernard Parishes.
p Infrastructure Resilience and Reliability: Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans Power Complex
A tour of the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans's new Power Complex substation is slated for completion in 2025, which will provide reliable power for pumping and drinking water needs to allow the retirement of historic turbines still in use.
p Abita Brewing Company
The Abita Brewing Company is committed to environmental conservation. The brewery operates its industrial wastewater treatment facility and makes use of an anaerobic bio-energy recovery system
(BERS). The BERS also provides water treatment, which results in a 95% reduction of load on the local Abita Springs sewerage system. For those who are beer connoisseurs, a real treat is that this tour includes a tasting experience.
p More Than 100 Years of Draining New Orleans: Drainage Pumping Station 6 Tour
An in-depth tour of the oldest pumping station in the Orleans stormwater infrastructure, distinguished by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
blinds and informational signs about plants, wildlife, fisheries, and the coast.
Site 2: Tour one of the city’s largest pumping stations responsible for draining stormwater. Learn the history of the city’s drainage systems and stormwater management practices.
Site 3: On the shore of Lake Pontchartrain, the New Canal Lighthouse serves as a science and history museum and a public outreach and education center. Visitors can engage with fun, interactive STEM exhibits to learn about Southeast Louisiana's environment and the work to help preserve it. The site will feature the Pontchartrain Conservancy’s work around water quality and coastal restoration. Tour includes admission to the lighthouse and a donation to the Pontchartrain Conservancy.
p Living with Water in the Pontchartrain Basin – a Tour by Pontchartrain Conservancy
Site 1: Enjoy a stroll on the new Bucktown Marsh Boardwalk, a part of the new Bucktown Harbor on Lake Pontchartrain, while learning about the Pontchartrain Basin and local watershed issues. Along its 305 m (1000 ft), you will find bird
p Using Green to Aid the Gray: Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans Green Infrastructure Tour
An immersive tour of two green infrastructure demonstration projects funded by the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans. The Bayou St John project at 3500 Toulouse Street was completed in 2023 and exhibits detention and retention through earthwork and increased tree canopy, as well as buried monitoring infrastructure. The Green Roof atop 625 St. Joseph Street displays an ever-changing palette of plants since 2017.
Technical Sessions
As always, WEFTEC 2024 Technical Session will offer the latest innovations and insights. Engage with cutting-edge content through both traditional classroom sessions and interactive presentations. Tailor your conference experience by choosing from a diverse range of topics.
The full line-up and schedule of Technical Sessions are still under development, but can be found at https://www.weftec. org/program/education/schedule-at-aglance/. The sessions are broken into five segments, that include:
Step into a world where water isn't just treated – it’s transformed to fuel the circular water economy. Uncover biosolids management, energy generation, and cutting-edge treatment processes. From nutrient removal to resource recovery, discover how integrated technologies close the loop on water management.
WEFTEC 2024
97th Annual Technical Exhibition & Conference
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
New Orleans, Louisiana USA Conference: October 5 - 9, 2024 Exhibition: October 7 - 9, 2024
Operations, Industrial & Workforce Development
In this area, skilled operators reign supreme. From municipal to industrial settings, this field showcases the adaptability of operational practices. Equip yourself to handle any challenge, whether it is maintaining aging equipment or implementing cutting-edge technologies like zero-liquid discharge or PFAS destruction. Find a
comprehensive understanding of sustainable water resource management.
Stormwater, Watershed & Collections Systems
Perfect for tackling urban and environmental challenges, this area focuses on managing collection systems and managing stormwater to enhance water quality and reduce flood risks. Learn to balance urban development with nature, ensuring safety and sustainability for local and downstream communities.
Public Health, Government, & Utility Management
These sessions are essential for anyone managing water utilities or overseeing public health. They focus on regulatory compliance, innovative strategies, and technology integration in such key areas as disinfection, future trends, global insights, and utility leadership. Equip yourself to deliver safe, efficient, and sustainable water services.
CLEARLY SUPERIOR FILTRATION
BUYER’S GUIDE
Directory Index
Adhesives Fluid Dispensing
Equipment
Stockmeier Urethanes USA Inc.
Stockmeier Urethanes GmbH & Co. KG
Valco Melton
Air Filters & Media
Contract Pleating Services
HIFYBER
IZUMI AMERICA, Inc.
Mezger Inc.
Parker Hannifin
Superior Felt & Filtration
TWE Nonwoven US Inc.
Valco Melton
Air Filtration Equipment
A2Z Filtration Specialities
Aero Fresca Inc.
Helix International
Air Filtration & Media
Contract Pleating Services
Gessner
HIFYBER
IZUMI AMERICA, Inc.
Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Pall Corporation
Superior Felt & Filtration
TWE Nonwoven US Inc.
Aluminum Extrusions
Zauderer Associates, Inc.
Automation (Assembly) Equipment
A2Z Filtration Specialities
Chase Machine & Engineering, Inc.
Bag & Filter Systems
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Rosedale Products, Inc.
Bicomponent Fibers
IZUMI AMERICA, Inc.
Cabin Air Lines
Pleating Systems & Equipment, LLC
Cabin Filter Production Line
A2Z Filtration Specialities
Cartridge Filters
Enpress LLC
Filtration Technology Corp.
Rosedale Products, Inc.
Shelco Filters
United Filters International
Cartridge Filtration
APC Filtration Inc.
Enpress LLC
Filters S.p.A.
Filtration Technology Corp.
Mezger Inc.
Parker Hannifin
Rosedale Products, Inc.
Center Cores
Beverlin Specialty Tube
Helix International
Industrial Netting
CNC Machined Parts
Zauderer Associates, Inc.
Coalescers
Filtration Technology Corp.
Pall Corporation
Compressed Air & Vacuum Filtration
Parker Hannifin
Contract Pleating
Contract Pleating Services
Pleating Systems & Equipment, LLC
Custom Impulse Welders
Chase Machine & Engineering, Inc.
Dust Collectors
IZUMI AMERICA, Inc.
Parker Hannifin
Engineering Services Design/Build
A2Z Filtration Specialities
Elsner Engineering Works, Inc.
Epoxies, Urethanes
Epic Resins
Innovative Resin Systems, Inc.
Polyset
Stockmeier Urethanes USA, Inc.
Stockmeier Urethanes GmbH & Co. KG
Expanded Metals
A2Z Filtration Specialities
Global Expanded Metals
Helix International
Wallner Expac
Zauderer Associates, Inc.
Fabric Filter Bags
AJR Filtration
FilterBag.com
Magnetool Inc.
Mezger Inc.
Parker Hannifin
Rosedale Products Inc.
Fabrics Suppliers
Dodenhoff Industrial Textiles, Inc.
Felts
Superior Felt & Filtration
Filter Bag Housing
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Filtration Technology Corp.
Hayward Flow Control
Mezger Inc.
Rosedale Products, Inc.
Shelco Filters
Filter Bags Liquid
AJR Filtration
Custom Service & Design Inc.
FilterBag.com
Filtration Technology Corp.
Hayward Flow Control
Rosedale Products, Inc.
Filter Caps
Helix International
Filter Caps & Components
Beverlin Specialty Tube
Helix International
Filter Caps/Components/Frames/
CNC Machined Parts
A2Z Filtration Specialities
Contract Pleating Services
Filter Cartridge Housings
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Filtration Technology Corp.
Hayward Flow Control
Mezger Inc.
Filter Cleaning
Mezger Inc.
Filter Clips
Zauderer Associates, Inc.
Filter Cloth
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
G. Bopp USA, Inc.
Newark Wire Cloth
Phifer Incorporated
Filter Components
Epic Resins
Helix International
Phifer Incorporated
Polyset
Superior Felt & Filtration
Filter Element
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
Elsner Engineering Works, Inc.
Filtration Technology Corp.
Pall Corporation
Parker Hannifin
Rosedale Products, Inc.
Wallner Expac
Filter Fabric
Dodenhoff Industrial Textiles Inc.
Magnetool Inc.
Superior Felt & Filtration
Filter Housing
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Enpress LLC
Filtration Technology Corp.
Hayward Flow Control
Mezger Inc.
Pall Corporation
Rosedale Products Inc.
Filter Manufacturer
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
Filtration Technology Corp.
Lenzing Filtration
Filter Manufacturing Automation
Elsner Engineering Works Inc.
Filter Manufacturing
AJR Filtration
APC Filtration Inc.
Contract Pleating Services
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Filters S.p.A.
Sonobond Ultrasonics
United Filters International
Filter Media
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
Gessner
HIFYBER
IZUMI AMERICA, Inc.
Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Mezger Inc.
Superior Felt & Filtration
TWE Nonwoven US Inc.
Filter Products
Beverlin Specialty Tube
Helix International
Shelco Filters
TWE Nonwoven US Inc.
Filter Replacement
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
United Filters International
Filter Testing
APC Filtration Inc.
Filter Ultrasonic Sealing
& Die Cutting
Sonobond Ultrasonics
Superior Felt & Filtration
Filter Winding Machinery
Elsner Engineering Works, Inc.
Filters Automatic
Aero Fresca Inc.
Lenzing Filtration
Mezger Inc.
Filters & Strainers
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
Lenzing Filtration
Mezger Inc.
Rosedale Products Inc.
Filtration Components
Contract Pleating Services FilterBag.com
G. Bopp USA Inc.
Helix International
Industrial Netting
Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Superior Felt & Filtration
TWE Nonwoven US Inc.
Wallner Expac
Filtration Manufacturing
Pall Corporation
Filtration Media
Pall Corporation
Filtration Systems
Aero Fresca Inc.
Enpress LLC
Filters S.p.A.
Filtration Technology Corp.
Lenzing Filtration
Mezger Inc.
Pall Corporation
Rosedale Products, Inc.
United Filters International
Glue Machines
Elsner Engineering Works, Inc.
Vlaco Melton
HVAC/HEPA/ULPA
Aero Fresca Inc.
APC Filtration Inc.
Contract Pleating Services
Wallner Expac
Hydraulic Filtration
Pall Corporation
Injection Molding
Zauderer Associates, Inc.
Laminating
Superior Felt & Filtration
Laminating Machinery
Vaco Melton
Laminators & Slitters
Chase Machine & Engineering, Inc.
Laser Cutting
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
Liquid Adhesive
Polyset
Liquid Adhesive/Sealants
For Filter Applications
Epic Resins
Stockmeier Urethanes USA, Inc.
Stockmeier Urethanes GmbH & Co, KG
Liquid Filtration
AJR Filtration
Custom Services & Design, Inc.
Dodenhoff Industrial Textiles, Inc.
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
Elsner Engineering Works, Inc.
FilterBag.com
Filtration Technology Corp.
Gessner
Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Magnetool Inc.
Mezger Inc.
Lenzing Filtration
Pall Corporation
Rosedale Products, Inc.
Superior Felt & Filtration
Magnetic Separation
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Magnetool Inc.
Media Fabrics Woven
Dodenhoff Industrial Textiles, Inc.
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
G.Bopp USA Inc.
Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Phifer Incorporated
Membrane Filtration
Pall Corporation
Membrane Filtration (RO, NF, UF, MF)
Elsner Engineering Works, Inc.
Metal Expander
A2Z Filtration Specialities
Helix International
Meter, Mix, Dispense Equipment
Stockmeier Urethanes USA, Inc.
Stockmeier Urethanes GmbH & Co. KG
Valco Melton
Mini Pleat
A2Z Filtration Specialities
APC Filtration Inc.
Contract Pleating Services
Pleating Systems & Equipment, LLC
Roth Composite Machinery GmbH
Solent Technology, Inc.
A2Z Filtration Specialities
Private Limited
Nano Plarticle Filtering
Aero Fresca Inc.
Netting
Dodenhoff Industrial Textiles, Inc.
Industrial Netting
Oil/Water Separation
Filters S.p.A.
Pall Corporation
Perforated Products
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
Perforated Tubes
Beverlin Specialty Tube
Helix International
Plastic Extrusions
Zauderer Associates, Inc.
Plastic Filtration Components
A2Z Filtration Specialities
Helix International
Industrial Netting
Zauderer Associates, Inc.
Plastic Injection Molding
Superior Felt & Filtration
Plastic Netting & Tubing
Gessner
Industrial Netting
Pleaters Blade Type
JCEM Inc.
Pleating Systems & Equipment, LLC.
Roth Composite Machinery GmbH
Pleaters Rotary Type
A2Z Filtration Specialities
JCEM Inc.
Pleating Systems & Equipment, LLC
Roth Composite Machinery GmbH
Pleating
Superior Felt & Filtration
Pleating Custom
JCEM Inc.
Pleating Systems & Equipment, LLC
Solent Technology, Inc.
Aero Fresca Inc.
4 Ethel Lane
Palm Coast, FL 32164
Pleating Machinery
A2Z Filtration Specialities
JCEM Inc.
Pleating Systems & Equipment, LLC
Roth Composite Machinery GmbH
Solent Technology, Inc.
Sonobond Ultrasonics
Pleating Scoring
JCEM Inc.
Pleating Systems & Equipment, LLC
Roth Composite Machinery GmbH
Rewinders
Elsner Engineering Works, Inc.
Reverse Osmosis Pre-Filtration
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Sealants for Filter Applications
Polyset
Separators
Filtration Technology Corp.
Rosedale Products, Inc.
Sintered Wire Mesh
G. Bopp USA Inc.
Spiral Tubes
Beverlin Specialty Tube
Helix International
Stainless Steel Vessels
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Newark Wire Cloth
United Filters International
Strainer In-Line
Hayward Flow Control
Magnetool Inc.
Newark Wire Cloth
Testing Engineering
Elsner Engineering Works Inc.
Testing Filtration/Laboratory
APC Filtration Inc.
Pall Corporation
Trade Show
FiltXPO™
Design Centre & Manufacturing Facility
D-1, Infocity, Phase – 2, Sector-33, Gurgaon – 122 001 (Haryana) National Capital Region, Delhi, India
TEL: +91 124 478 8700 • FAX: +91 124 478 8728
WHATSAPP: +91 98716 90592
EMAIL: marketing@a2zfiltration.com
EMAIL: sales@a2zfiltration.com
WEBSITE: www.a2zfiltration.com
A2Z offers a wide range of Air Filtration. Production Equipment for HVAC, Mini pleat, HEPA, Cabin Air and Gas turbine filtration. Contact us for your requirements of Automated HVAC Assembly Cells
Air Filtration Equipments I Automation (Assembly) Equipment I Cabin Filter Production Line I Engineering Services Design/Build I Expanded Metals I Filter Caps/ Components/Frames/CNC Machined Parts I Metal Expander I Mini Pleat I Plastic Filtration Components I Pleaters Rotary Type I Pleating Machinery
TEL: 1-732-330-7239
EMAIL: rpolli@aerofresca.com
WEBSITE: www.aerofresca.com
CONTACT: Sales
Aero Fresca Inc. manufactures and sells patented indoor and ambient air purification systems that raise the bar. While others strain to capture down to .3 Microns, Cirqulair goes 1000 times smaller and captures down to .3 Nanometers. Cirqulair cleans the dirtiest of air and leaves pure nontoxic air in its place by removing all – Ultra Fine Particles.
Air Filtration Equipment I Filters Automatic I Filtration Systems I HVAC/HEPA/ULPA I Nano Particle Filtering
TRUPOR® Submicron Filtration
Superior Felt & Filtration
Ultrasonic Bonding
Elsner Engineering Works, Inc.
Sonobond Ultrasonics
Ultrasonic Custom Machinery
Building
Chase Machine & Engineering Inc.
Elsner Engineering Works Inc.
Ultrasonics Laminators & Slitters
Chase Machine & Engineering, Inc.
Unwinds Rewinds
Chase Machine & Engineering, Inc.
Urethane Dispensing Equipment
Stockmeier Urethanes USA, Inc.
Stockmeier Urethanes GmbH & Co. KG
Valves
Hayward Flow Control
Water Filtration
AJR Filtration
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Elsner Engineering Works Inc.
FilterBag.com
Filters S.p.A.
Gessner
Lenzing Filtration
Wire Forms
Zauderer Associates, Inc.
Wire Mesh
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
G. Bopp USA Inc.
Newark Wire Cloth
Phifer Incorporated
Woven Fabrics Wire
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
Newark Wire Cloth
Phifer Incorporated
AJR Filtration
1500 Harvester Road
West Chicago, IL 60185
TEL: 1-630-377-8886
EMAIL: sales@ajrfiltration.com
WEBSITE: www.ajrfiltration.com
CONTACT: Sales
Proud USA based manufacturer of liquid and dust filters. Liquid filters include felt and mesh bags, high efficiency microfiber multilayer bags, compact SBF filters, BOSA bags, and oil absorbing logs and bags. Liquid cartridges include pleated PPO and PPOW liquid cartridges, nominal and deep pleated, string wound and melt blown cartridges, and more, in a wide array of sizes including X100, for OEMs and replacement filters used in industry. Dust filters are manufactured in-house for many makes of industrial dust collector styles, including fabric filter bags, dust cartridges, and dust pleated filter bags. AJR provides replacement filters for the most common baghouse and cartridge-type dust collectors.
Fabric Filter Bags I Filter Bags Liquid I Filter Manufacturing I Liquid Filtration I Water Filtration
APC Filtration Inc.
10 Abbott Court Building “C” Unit 303 Brantford, ON N3S 0E7
TOLL-FREE: 1-888-689-1235 ext. 222
FAX: 1-866-491-1236
EMAIL: inquiry@apcfilters.com
WEBSITE: www.apcfilters.com
CONTACT: Russell Kelly
APC Filtration Inc., is a RENSA Filtration, ISO 9001:2015 certified manufacturer of critical air filters for global OEM’s providing over 45 years’ experience in filter design, engineering, manufacturing and ISO 6 test lab filter testing. HEPA and ULPA panel filters and radial/cartridge filters are tested and certified to North American and European test standards. Industries served include Aerospace, Air Purification, Biological Equipment, Cabin Air, Disaster Restoration, Infection Isolation, Laboratory, Manufacturing Equipment, Medical, Off-Road HVAC, Pharmaceutical and Protective Environment Rooms.
Cartridge Filtration I Filter Manufacturing I Filter Testing I HVAC/HEPA/ULPA I Mini Pleat I Testing Filtration/Laboratory
Beverlin Specialty Tube
3515 Raleigh Drive SE Grand Rapids, MI 49512
TEL: 1-616-949-5990 • FAX: 1-616-949-0873
EMAIL: sales@beverlinmfg.com
WEBSITE: www.beverlinmfg.com
The industry leader for 46 years. We provide perforated filter cores, tubes, strainers, CNC machined components and perform welded assemblies for industries worldwide including: Industrial, Oil & Gas, Aerospace, Nuclear, Defense, and more. ISO 9001:2015
Center Cores I Filter Caps & Components I Filter Products I Perforated Tubes I Spiral Tubes
G. Bopp USA Inc.
4 Bill Horton Way Wappingers Falls, NY 12590
TEL: 1-845-296-1065 • FAX: 1-845-296-1282
EMAIL: info@bopp.com
WEBSITE: www.bopp.com
CONTACT: Mike Millard
G. Bopp USA is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of precision woven wire cloth for diverse applications such as aerospace, pharmaceutical, electronics, acoustics and many more. Our meshes are often vital components in highly complex areas. Our decades of experience lead to convincing solutions in many of our customers' processes.
Filter Cloth I Filtration Components I Media Fabrics Woven I Sintered Wire Mesh I Wire Mesh
Chase Machine & Engineering Inc.
324 Washington Street
West Warwick, RI 02893
TEL: 1-401-821-8879 • FAX: 1-401-823-5543
EMAIL: guygil@chasemachine.com
WEBSITE: www.chasemachine.com
CONTACT: Guy Gil
Custom Converting and Assembly Machine Builders for Air, Liquid, and Membrane Filters Specializing in Integrating Technologies such as Ultrasonics, Impulse welding, Hot Air, Band Sealing and Adhesive Dispensing Equipment.
Automation (Assembly) Equipment I Custom Impulse Welders I Laminators & Slitters I Ultrasonic Custom Machinery Building I Ultrasonics Laminators & Slitters I Unwinds/Rewinds
Contract Pleating Services
85 Old Barnwell Road
West Columbia, SC 29170
TEL: 1-803-739-0770 • FAX: 1-803-739-0814
EMAIL: cps@solentech.com
WEBSITE: www.solentech.com
CONTACT: Ken Lucas
We specialize in pleating glass or synthetic medias into pleated mini pleat packs. We can use our medias or media supplied by our customers. No job is too large or too small.
Air Filters & Media I Air Filtration & Media I Contract Pleating I Filter Components I Filter Manufacturing I Filtration Components I HVAC/HEPA/ULPA I Mini Pleat
Custom Service & Design, Inc.
Auburn Hills, MI
TEL: 1-248-340-9005
EMAIL: info@csdfilters.com
WEBSITE: www.csdfilters.com
Custom Service & Design, Inc. (CSD) is a leading manufacturer of filter vessels designed for bag, cartridge & strainer separation. CSD’s diverse designs & extensive inventory ensure that we have the solution to either advance your existing technologies or to design solutions to meet filtration requirements. CSD products are made in the USA of high quality industrial components, built for quality, safety and ease of use. Our wide-range of products make CSD a full service resource for your filtration needs. Bag & Filter Systems I Filter Bag/Housing I Filter Bags/ Liquid I Filter Cartridge Housings I Filter Elements I Filter Housings I Filter Manufacturing I Filter Replacement I Filters & Strainers I Liquid Filtration I Magnetic Separation I Reverse-Osmosis Pre-Filtration I Stainless Steel Vessels I Water Filtration
Dodenhoff Industrial Textiles, Inc.
28045 Ranney Parkway
Westlake, OH 44145
TEL: 1-440-892-5511 • FAX: 1-440-892-0387
EMAIL: DITSales@dodenhoff.com
WEBSITE: www.dodenhoff.com
CONTACT: Ellen Moltz
Woven, knit and non-woven Filter Media available in roll form. Strainer fabrics and pre-cision screen cloths. Belt fabric. Large and small quantities. Polyester, Polypropylene, Nylon, Cotton and Specialty Fibers. With unparalled technical expertise. Worldwide. Fabrics Suppliers I Filter Fabric I Liquid Filtration I Media Fabrics Woven I Netting
Dorstener Wire Tech, Inc.
19994 Hickory Twig Way Spring, TX 77388
TEL: 1-281-651-6226 • FAX: 1-281-651-6228
EMAIL: sales@dwt-inc.com
WEBSITE: www.dwt-inc.com
CONTACT: Mr. Pat McGrenera
DWT is located just north of Houston, Texas and acts as the filtration arm for the Dorstener Group. Dorstener is a leading producer of woven wire cloth, sintered wire cloth, and filter elements made from these materials. Our fully integrated manufacturing centers allow us to control production from start to finish. Our products are used in numerous industries including; oil & gas, polymer, and countless industrial filtration applications. Filter Cloth I Filter Elements I Filter Manufacturer I Filter Media I Filters & Strainers I Laser Cutting I Liquid Filtration I Media Fabrics Woven I Perforated Products I Wire Mesh I Woven Fabrics Wire
Elsner Engineering Works Inc.
475 Fame Avenue
Hanover, PA 17331
TEL: 1-717-637-5991 • FAX: 1-717-633-7100
EMAIL: eew@elsnereng.com
WEBSITE: www.elsnereng.com
CONTACT: Jay Roth
Designers and manufacturers of automated converting machinery for filter media. Automating tasks for the manufacture of spiral wound filters including rewinding, folding, gluing and taping. Founded in 1934, Elsner services and supports over 3000 machines in 60 countries.
Engineering Services Design/Build I Filter Elements I Filter Manufacturing Automation I Filter Winding Machinery I Glue Machines I Liquid Filtration I Membrane Filtration (RO, NF, UF, MF) I Rewinders I Testing Engineering I Ultrasonic Bonding I Ultrasonic Custom Machinery Building I Water Filtration
Enpress LLC
34899 Curtis Blvd.
Eastlake, OH 44095
TEL: 1-866-859-9274 • FAX: 1-440-510-0202
EMAIL: info@enpress.com
WEBSITE: www.enpress.com
CONTACT: Michael P. Mormino
ENPRESS PIONEER ® the first-of-its-kind POE filtration system NSF/ANSI 53 certified for the removal of LEAD, CYSTS, PFOA/PFOS, and ARSENIC. Cartridge Tank ® is a direct replacement for Stainless Steel cartridge and bag housings, or small and inefficient 2.5” or 4.5” housings, 100% non-metallic NSF 42, 44, 53 and 61 listed. The exclusive and patented products designed by ENPRESS provide superior performance and water saving solutions ... 100% Made in the USA!
Cartridge Filters I Cartridge Filtration I Filter Housing I Filtration Systems
Epic Resins
600 Industrial Blvd.
Palmyra, WI 53156
TEL: 1-800-242-6649
EMAIL: sales@epicresins.com
WEBSITE: www.epicresins.com
CONTACT: Jon Zarnstorff/Matthew Veenhuis
Founded in 1958, Epic Resins has earned an international reputation as a leading formulator, manufacturer and supplier of epoxy resin and polyurethane solutions. Our philosophy is based on listening to your needs and developing quality solutions to meet your challenges. We built our company on technologyproven chemistry and a wealth of market and application knowledge. This guarantees consistent products and maximum value. An ISO 9001/14001 registered company.
Epoxies/Urethanes I Filter Components I Liquid Adhesive/Sealants for Filter Applications
Filterbag.com
TEL: 1-847-680-0566
EMAIL: sales@filterbag.com
WEBSITE: https://filterbag.com
Filterbag.com is a leading online provider offering a range of liquid and dust filters. Our selection includes replacements for Pall FSI liquid bag and cartridge filters, popular gaskets, and select filter housings. We are the exclusive stocking supplier of the NSF 61 compliant Midwest Filter X100+ polypropylene vessel. Additionally, we offer dust collector cartridges and pleated bags.
Fabric Filter Bags I Filter Bag-Liquid I Filtration Components I Liquid Filtration I Water Filtration
Filters S.p.A.
Via della rimembranza, 1 10060 Piscina (TO), Italia
TEL: + 39 011 98 66 231 (230)
EMAIL: info@filters.it
WEBSITE: www.filters.it
CONTACT: Dr. Stefania Pistore (Ms.), Marketing & Proposal Specialist
Established in 1989, Filters SpA has continually evolved to become a leading manufacturer of filtration systems, filter elements, pressure vessels, and complete skid-mounted units for the treatment and conditioning of liquids and gases. With a strong presence in sectors such as Oil & Gas, naval, water treatment, and aerospace; FILTERS SpA continuously seeks innovation to meet the needs of its customers worldwide.
Cartridge Filtration I Filter Manufacturing I Filtration Systems I Oil/Water Separation I Water Filtration
WEBSITE: https://www.ftc-houston.com/contact/ CONTACT: Global/Regional (see website)
FTC provides industry leading filtration and separation solutions to the chemical production, oil & gas, power generation, water treatment, food & beverage, and general industrial markets. We engineer, manufacture, and deliver the highest quality solutions and technology backed by unparalleled service and support.
Cartridge Filters I Cartridge Filtration I Coalescers I Filter Bags Housing I Filter Bags Liquid I Filter Cartridge Housings I Filter Elements I Filter Housing I Filter Manufacturer I Filtration Systems I Liquid Filtration I Separators
FiltXPO™ | International Filtration Conference & Exhibition
1100 Crescent Green, Suite 115 Cary, NC 27518
TEL: 1-919-459-3754
EMAIL: sales@inda.org
WEBSITE: www.filtxpo.com
CONTACT: Dan Noonan, Exhibit Sales
FiltXPO™ is the North American conference and exposition dedicated to the filtration industry bringing together both technical and commercial sectors. Connect with 100+ exhibitors and 1,200+ professionals involved in the design, manufacture, sales, and use of filtration/separation products, and services. Trade Show
GESSNER
Global production sites in Europe, USA, and Asia
EMAIL: gessner@mativ.com
WEBSITE: www.gessner-filtration.com
GESSNER provides Filtration Solutions to solve the most complex customer challenges. As a global leader in the filtration industry we’re protecting people, machineries, and the environment with our filter media, pleat supports cores & tubes to ensure a better, cleaner, and healthier world.
Air Filtration & Media I Filter Media I Liquid Filtration I Plastic Netting & Tubing I Water Filtration
Global Expanded Metals
4455 River Green Parkway
Duluth, GA 30096
TEL: 1-770-641-1052 • FAX: 1-7770-594-7195
CELLPHONE: 1-770-595-9592
EMAIL: jzauderer@zauderer.com
WEBSITE: www.globalexpandedmetals.com
CONTACT: Jim Zauderer
Global Expanded Metals is a manufacturer of expanded metal in many patterns utilizing steel, aluminum, aluminized steel, copper, prepainted steel & pre-painted aluminum. We supply coil, sheared parts and die cut over 1,000,000 conical blanks per year. In house state of the art powder coating system for the HEPA Filter Industry. Global is ISO 9001 Certified. In business since 1978.
Expanded Metal
Hayward Flow Control
One Hayward Industrial Drive Clemmons, NC 27012 USA
TOLL-FREE: 1-888-429-4635 • FAX: 1-888-778-8410
EMAIL: hfcsales@hayward.com
WEBSITE: www.haywardflowcontrol.com
Hayward Flow Control, a division of Hayward Industries, is a leading U.S. based manufacturer of industrial thermoplastic strainers, filters, valves, actuation, corrosion resistant pumps, and other fluid handling products for use in water and wastewater treatment, chemical processing & handling, chemical feed, aquatic life support and other processing systems. Hayward Flow Control is an ISO 9001:2015 certified manufacturer based in Clemmons, North Carolina.
Filter Bags Housing I Filter Bag Liquid I Filter Cartridge Housings I Filter Housing I Strainer In-Line I Valves
Helix International
950 Hollywood Avenue
Itasca (Chicago), IL 60143
TEL: 1-847-709-0666 • FAX: 1-847-709-0667
EMAIL: dnaismith@helixinternational.com
CONTACT: Drew Naismith
Helix International has been the world’s leading producer of Spiral Filter-Core Machines for almost 40 years. As an industry leader in the production of spiral metal and plastic filter tubes, we can service any of your filtration requirements from one of our North American facilities. Our Machines and Tubes are made with a passion for design, quality, and reliability –all at fair prices. Contact us today!
Air Filtration Equipment I Center Cores I Expanded Metal I Filter Caps I Filter Caps & Components I Filter Components I Filter Products I Filtration Components I Metal Expander I Perforated Tubes I Plastic Filtration Components I Spiral Tubes
HIFYBER
Sumer Mahellesi Cal Caddesi No: 78, 20175 Merkezefendi Denizli/Turkey
TEL: + 90 258 251 50 57 • FAX: + 90 258 251 50 59
EMAIL: info@hifyber.com
WEBSITE: www.hifyber.com
CONTACT: Mehmet Gonullu
HIFYBER is a mass producer of polymeric nanofiberbased filter media (roll goods) for a variety of filtration applications. Our focus applications include Industrial Dust Collection, Gas Turbine Air Intake, HVAC and Cabin Air. HIFYBER makes manufacturing in Turkey and serves through local partners in US, Europe and Asia. We can slit master rolls, laminate, corrugate and coat with top quality nanofibers on needle-free equipment.
Air Filters & Media I Air Filtration & Media I Filter Media
Industrial Netting
10300 Fountains Drive
Maple Grove, MN 55369
TOLL-FREE: 1-800-328-8456
TEL: 1-763-496-6355 • FAX: 1-763-496-6356
EMAIL: info@industrialnetting.net
WEBSITE: www.industrialnetting.com
CONTACT: Corey New
The world’s largest in stock selection of plastic netting, rigid extruded mesh tubes, and woven mesh products. Utilize high quality custom converting services of precision slitting, die cutting, or sonic welding to meet your product specifications upon request.
Center Cores I Filtration Components I Netting I Plastic Filtration Components I Plastic Netting & Tubing
Innovative Resin Systems, Inc.
257 Wilson Avenue
Newark, NJ 07105
TEL: 1-973-465-6887 • FAX: 1-973-465-0592
EMAIL: info@rez-cure.com
WEBSITE: www.rez-cure.com
CONTACT: Manny Nerantzoulis
IRS, Inc. is a leading formulator and manufacturer of high performance epoxy, polyurethane acrylic and radiation cured systems. We have more than 50 years of technical expertise in developing and implementing new chemistries that help our customers optimize performance and maximize cost effectiveness. Epoxies I Urethanes
IZUMI AMERICA, Inc.
JCEM Inc.
2606 River Green Circle
Louisville, KY 40206
TOLL-FREE: 1-866-866-8931
EMAIL: Chris.Lyons@JCEM.group
WEBSITE: www.jcem.ch
CONTACT: Chris Lyons
JCEM GmbH
Engineering Manufacturing
Industrie Allmend 27
CH-4629 Fulenbach/Switzerland
TEL: + 41 62 926 44 80
EMAIL: Jannis.Christakos@JCEM.group
CONTACT: Jannis Christakos
TAG GmbH
Engineering Manufacturing
An den Ritterhufen 5
D-14513 Teltow/Germany
TEL: + 49 3328 4595 21 • FAX: + 49 3328 4595 0
EMAIL: Martin.Hilpert@JCEM.group
CONTACT: Martin Hilpert
JCEM Group, which includes JCEM GmbH (Switzerland), TAG GmbH (Germany) and JCEM INC (USA), is the global leader for all types of pleating equipment, offering the world’s most innovative, efficient, and robust pleating systems available anywhere in the globe. Our equipment lineup consists of the latest generation P7 model which offers worldrecord pleating speeds, Turnkey Blade & Mini Pleat systems, Cabin Air lines, Custom requirements, and much more.
Pleaters Blade Type I Pleaters Rotary Type I Pleating Custom I Pleating Machinery I Pleating Scoring
INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry
1100 Crescent Green, Suite 115 Cary, NC 27518
TEL: 1-919-459-3754
EMAIL: sales@inda.org
WEBSITE: www.inda.org
CONTACT (INDA): Dan Noonan, Director of Memberships and Business Development
INDA serves the nonwovens industry with events, courses, market data, and advocacy to provide the industry the information they need to execute their business strategies. INDA Media is INDA’s businessto-business publishing arm, sharing news, views, interviews, articles and advertising in the International Fiber Journal and International Filtration News
92 Argonaut, Suite 220 Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
TEL: 1-949-916-1840
EMAIL: info@izumiamerica.com
WEBSITE: www.izumiamerica.com
CONTACT: Ken Ennis/Kazuya Oimatsu
Izumi America offers AXTAR™ spunbond nonwoven a 100% polyester continuous filament, made by Toray Industries, Inc. It’s the ideal material for a wide range of uses, including filter materials in industrial applications, gas turbines, automotive. It has been the top choice for manufactures in the North America for over 30 years. Master & Slit rolls are available in the U.S. and Canada and available for immediate delivery. Air Filters & Media I Air Filtration & Media I Bicomponent Fibers I Dust Collectors I Filter Media
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
1400 Holcomb Bridge Rd. Roswell, GA 30076
TEL: 1-404-281-5911
EMAIL: susan.fite@kcc.com
WEBSITE: www.kcprofessional.com
CONTACT: Susan Fite, Senior Marketing Manager
For more than 140 years, Kimberly-Clark® has been a leader in non-woven technology. Utilizing this expertise, Kimberly-Clark Professional™ Filtration Products offer a broad range of highly efficient air filter media solutions for a variety of HVAC applications including pleat, pocket and minipleat filters for commercial, residential and industrial locations, designed to meet the needs of various essential markets. These products provide better indoor air quality and deliver superior quality and performance.
Air Filtration & Media I Filter Media I Filtration Components I Liquid Filtration I Media Fabrics I Woven
Lenzing Filtration
Werkstrasse 2
A-4860 Lenzing Austria
TEL: + 43 0 7672 701 3479
FAX: + 43 0 7672 918 3479
EMAIL: filter-tech@lenzing.com
WEBSITE: www.lenzing-filtration.com
Lenzing Filtration, a division of the Lenzing Group, is specialized in the development and manufacturing of high-quality filtration devices for solid-liquid separation. The wide product range offers PREMIUM selfcleaning patented filtration systems of its three umbrella brands OptiFil, ViscoFil and CakeFil, also a wide disposable filtration portfolio with its CoreLine. The product range AutoLine accomplished the divers line of business with its conventional automatic filtration systems. Filter Manufacturer I Filters Automatic I Filters & Strainers I Filtration Systems I Liquid Filtration I Water Filtration
Newark Wire Cloth
25 Rutgers Avenue
Cedar Grove, NJ 07009
TEL: 1-973-778-4478 • FAX: 1-973-778-4481
EMAIL: Sales@newarkwire.com
WEBSITE: www.newarkwire.com
Industry supplier for over 100 years. We supply wire cloth and fabrications including stamping, welding, forming, laser and water jet cutting. Largest supplier of specialty alloys. DFARS Compliant material available. ISO 9001, AS9100, NADCAP welding and brazing certified. We supply to all industries from our multiple locations in the U.S., Export also available.
Filter Cloth I Stainless Steel Vessels I Strainer In-Line I Wire Mesh I Woven Fabrics, Wire
Pall Corporation
25 Harbor Park Drive
Port Washington, NY USA
TEL: 1-800-717-7255
EMAIL: contact@pall.com
Phifer Incorporated
P.O. Box 1700
Tuscaloosa, AL 35403-1700
TEL: 1-205-345-2120 • FAX: 1-205-750-4890
EMAIL: info@phifer.com
WEBSITE: www.phifer.com
CONTACT: Greg Rhoden
Aluminum, steel, bronze, vinyl-coated fiberglass and polyester meshes for filtration. Broad mesh ranges, precision slitting and custom packaging. Custom annealing and epoxy, polyester and acrylic coatings for aluminum, steel and bronze mesh. ISO registered.
Filter Cloth I Filter Components I Media Fabrics, Woven I Wire Mesh I Woven Fabrics Wire
Magnetool, Inc.
505 Elmwood Troy, MI 48083
TEL: 1-248-588-5400 • FAX: 1-248-588-5710
EMAIL: magnetool@aol.com
WEBSITE: www.magnetoolinc.com
CONTACT: Michael Wright
MADE IN USA. Manufacturer of magnetic coolant cleaners, inline magnetic filters, filter bag magnets, magnetic tubes, magnetic material handling and work holding equipment.
Fabric Filter Bags I Filter Fabric I Liquid Filtration I Magnetic Separation I Strainer In-Line
Mezger, Inc.
170 Metro Drive
Spartanburg, SC 29303 USA
TEL: 1-864-542-8037
EMAIL: info@mezgerinc.com
WEBSITE: www.mezgerinc.com
MEZGER INC is a leading distributor of a wide range of products for various types of highquality filtration devices for solid-liquid separation. We also provide thermal cleaning systems and ultrasonic systems for the removal of polymers from metal filter medias and process equipment. Applications range from air filtration, polymer filtration, water, oil & gas, and may others requiring liquid-solid separation. Air Filters & Media I Cartridge Filtration I Fabric Filter Bags I Filter Bag Housing I Filter Cartridge Housing I Filter Cleaning I Filter Housings I Filter Media I Filters
Automatic I Filters & Strainers I Filtration Systems I Liquid Filtration
WEBSITE: www.pall.com
Pall Corporation is a filtration, separation and purification leader providing solutions to meet the critical fluid management needs of customers across the broad spectrum of industries. Pall works with customers to advance health, safety, and environmentally responsible technologies. The company’s engineered products enable process and product innovation and minimize emissions and waste. Pall Corporation serves customers worldwide. For more information visit www.pall.com. Air Filtration & Media I Coalescers I Filter Housings I Filter Elements I Filtration Manufacturing I Filtration Media I Filtration Systems I Hydraulic Filtration I Liquid Filtration I Membrane Filtration I Oil/Water Separation I Testing Filtration/Laboratory
Parker Hannifin
11501 Outlook Street, Suite 100 Overland Park, KS 66210
TEL: + 1-913-374-3300 •
TOLL-FREE: + 1-800-821-2222
EMAIL: filtration@parker.com
WEBSITE: www.parker.com/BHA
CONTACT: Larry Lammers
Innovations to improve your operations. We can make any dust collection filter you need, and we can make it better. Parker is the filtration resource for customers working in dust collection. State-of-the-art labs, advanced filtration research back us, and world-class manufacturing processes and application engineering experience for any filtration challenge. We provide all types of dust collection filters, DustHog baghouse accessories. Visit www.parker.com/wicked to read about BHA
Now, plants operating at extreme temperatures have a choice in their filter element. With Wicked High Temp you get low operating differential pressure and 90% reduction in pulse-cleaning emissions.
Air Filters & Media
Compressed Air & Vacuum Filtration Collectors
Pleating Systems & Equipment, LLC
132 Citizens Boulevard Simpsonville, KY 40067
TEL: 1-502-722-3740
EMAIL: chris.pierce@pseusa.com
WEBSITE: www.pseusa.com
CONTACT: Chris Pierce
As a leading supplier of high quality manufacturing equipment, Pleating Systems & Equipment offers a wide range of filter manufacturing solutions. Our product lines include: Precision CNC servo driven blade pleaters, high speed rotary pleaters, mini-pleat systems for glass and synthetics, cabin air production lines and much more. When it comes to cost effective high-end automated production lines, we are proven
Polyset
65 Hudson Avenue • PO Box 111
Mechanicville, NY 12118
TEL: 1-518-664-6000 • FAX: 1-518-664-6001
EMAIL: filter.adhesives@polyset.com
WEBSITE: www.polyset.com
CONTACT: Niladri Ghoshal
For more than 40 years, Polyset has been a leading custom formulator of two-component polyurethane adhesive, elastomer, and foam systems for commercial and industrial filtration applications. These polyurethane systems meet many different requirements including low-out-gassing for HEPA filters, excellent chemical/temperature resistance for Oil/Gas filter applications, chlorine and mildew/mold growth resistance for Pool/Spa filters, and exceptional hydrolysis resistance for Reverse Osmosis/Ultrafiltration applications.
Our polyurethane products also feature soft to rigid durometers, high tear strength, flame retardancy, super adhesion, ultra-low viscosity to thixotropic, and are FDA and NSF compliant. Polyset is both ISO 9001 and MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) certified. Epoxies, Urethanes I Filter Components I Liquid Adhesives I Sealants for Filter Applications
Rosedale Products, Inc.
3730 W. Liberty Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48103
TEL: 1-734-665-8201 • FAX: 1-734-665-2214
TOLL-FREE: 1-800-821-5373
EMAIL: filters@rosedaleproducts.com
WEBSITE: www.rosedaleproducts.com
Rosedale Products, Inc. is a leading technology developer of liquid filtration systems and waste
CONTACT: Winfried Schaefer, Senior Sales Manager Your Performance – Made by Roth Roth Composite Machinery GmbH are ranging the tailor-made solutions being offered for your technical requirements. We offer a worldwide extensive, highperformance machine program for your pleating production procedures. Every working widths and pleat heights can be realized. We develop a specific mechanical solution for you resulting in the decisive advantage in the market competition.
Mini Pleat I Pleaters Blade Type I Pleaters Rotary Type I Pleating Machinery I Pleating Scoring
Shelco Filters
100 Bradley Street
Middletown, CT 06457
TEL: 1-860-854-6121 • FAX: 1-860-854-6120
EMAIL: info@shelco.com
WEBSITE: www.shelco.com
Leading manufacturer of commercial and industrial filters, including stainless steel filter housings; filter bags & bag filter housings; Wound, pleated and depth style cartridges.
Cartridge Filters I Filter Bag Housings Filter Products
Solent Technology, Inc.
85 Old Barnwell Road West Columbia, SC 29170
1-803-739-0770 • FAX: 1-803-739-0814
sales@solentech.com
Ken Lucas
www.solentech.com
Manufacturers of Soltech Mini-Pleaters for GLASS media and SYNTHETIC H.E.P.A. Other pleaters, WE ALSO OFFER A CONTRACT PLEATING SERVICE. Mini Pleat I Pleating Custom I Pleating Machinery
Sonobond Ultrasonics
1191 McDermott Drive West Chester, PA 19380
TOLL-FREE: 1-800-323-1269
TEL: 1-610-696-4710 • FAX: 1-610-692-0674
EMAIL: skarmilowicz@sonobondultrasonics.com
WEBSITE: www.sonobondultrasonics.com
CONTACT: Sara Karmilowicz
Manufacturer of ultrasonic cutting and bonding equipment to assemble filtration products. The units cut and/or seal in one pass, can be used on varying thicknesses or layers, and operate without the use of consumables.
Filter Manufacturing I Filter Ultrasonic Sealing & Die Cutting I Pleating Machinery I Ultrasonic Bonding
STOCKMEIER Urethanes USA, Inc.
20 Columbia Boulevard Clarksburg, WV 26301-9606
TEL: 1-304-624-7002
CELL: 1-304-880-8709
EMAIL: b.blundell@stockmeier.us.com
WEBSITE: www.stockmeier-urethanes.com
CONTACT: Ben Blundell
STOCKMEIER Urethanes GmbH & Co. KG
Im Hengstfeld 15 32657 Lemgo, Germany
TEL: + 49 (0) 52 61 / 66 0 68 0
EMAIL: f.steegmanns@stockmeier.com
WEBSITE: www.stockmeier-urethanes.com
CONTACT: Frank Steegmanns
STOCKMEIER Urethanes is a manufacturer of polyurethane adhesives, sealants, and elastomers for the air, oil, fuel, and industrial filter industry who has four manufacturing and R&D sites worldwide. STOCKMEIER Urethanes is ISO 9001:2015 registered, and holds FDA certified products.
Adhesive Fluid Dispensing Equipment I Epoxies, Urethanes I Liquid Adhesives/Sealants for Filter Applications I Meter, Mix, Dispense Equipment I Urethane Dispensing Equipment
Superior Felt & Filtration
1150 Ridgeview Drive
McHenry, IL 60050
TOLL-FREE: 1-800-255-3358
FAX: 1-815-759-1212
EMAIL: sales@superiorfelt.com
WEBSITE: www.superiorfelt.com
CONTACT: Dennis Cook (CEO), Mark Rath (Filtration Product Manager) and Ping Hao (Technical Nonwoven Product Manager)
Superior Felt & Filtration, LLC is a global leader in the technical nonwovens industry. We provide injection molding, pleating, ultrasonic lamination, and finished goods contract manufacturing solutions for the medical, retail, and personal care markets. Offering a large inventory of spunbond, meltblown, spunlace and needlepunch roll goods. We also offer value-added adhesive coating, slitting, laminating, and dry fabricated sub-components. Our nonwoven market base solutions include cosmetic pads, medical wipes, wound care, hygienic, podiatry pads, and filtration for oxygen concentrators, respiratory, anesthesia, and CPAP filtration, as well as micron and sub-micron liquid and air filtration applications.
Air Filters & Media I Air Filtration & Media I Felts I Filter Components I Filter Fabric I Filter Media I Filter Ultrasonic Sealing & Die Cutting I Filtration Components I Laminating I Liquid Filtration I Plastic Injection Molding I Pleating I TRUPOR® Submicron Filtration
TWE Nonwoven US Inc.
2215 Shore Street
High Point, NC 27263 USA
TEL: 1-336-431-7187
WEBSITE: www.twe-group.com
CONTACT: David Tolchin VP Sales and Commercial Development
With production facilities worldwide, including three in the U.S., the TWE Group is a global leader in providing technical nonwoven filtration media solutions. In HVAC, paint booths, household applications, automotive and industrial applications, our products ensure premium filtration and performance. Please call us at 1-336-431-7187 or visit our website at www.twe-group.com for sales, service, and support.
Air Filters & Media I Air Filtration & Media I Filter Media I Filter Products I Filtration Components
United Filters International
901 S. Grant Amarillo, TX 79105
TEL: 1-806-373-8386 • FAX: 1-806-371-7783
EMAIL: a.arriaga@unitedfilters.com
WEBSITE: www.unitedfilters.com
CONTACT: Angie Arriaga
United Filters is a manufacturer/supplier of filter cartridges, vessels, and fluid handling devices used for consumer, commercial/industrial, petrochemical/gas, and municipal applications. Manufacturing locations in Texas and California are ideally located for domestic and offshore customers’ needs. Products are NSF42/61 certified.
Cartridge Filters I Filter Manufacturing I Filter Replacement I Filtration Systems I Stainless Steel Vessels
Valco Melton
497 Circle Freeway Drive
Cincinnati, Ohio 45246
TEL: 1-513-874-6550
EMAIL: Ask@ValcoMelton.com
WEBSITE: www.valcomelton.com
CONTACT: Patrick Dowling
Valco Melton is a global leader in adhesive dispensing and quality assurance solutions, offering hot melt, cold glue, and quality inspection systems designed to reduce waste and downtime while improving product quality for industrial manufacturing applications. With a direct presence in over 96 countries, our team is dedicated to supporting and ensuring the ongoing success of our customers worldwide.
Adhesive Fluid Dispensing Equipment I Air Filters & Media I Glue Machines I Laminating Machinery I Meter, Mix, Dispense Equipment
Wallner Expac
1274 Slater Circle Ontario, Calif. 91761
TEL: 1-909-481-8800
EMAIL: ttimbs@expac.com
WEBSITE: www.expac.com
CONTACT: Timmy Timbs
Wallner Expac is North America’s largest expanded metal manufacturer for HVAC filters. Our product portfolio features over 60 standard and decorative expanded metal patterns including our patented X-Mesh ® , specifically engineered for filter media backing – U.S. Patent 8,696,781, and MicroForm® expanded metal micromeshes. Headquartered with manufacturing in Ontario, California, we have two additional plants in Kennesaw, Georgia and El Paso, Texas.
Expanded Metals I Filter Elements I Filtration Components I HVAC/HEPA/ULPA
Zauderer Associates, Inc.
TEL: 1-770-641-1052
CELLPHONE: 1-770-595-9592
EMAIL: jzauderer@zauderer.com
WEBSITE: www.zauderer.com
Zauderer Associates, Inc. – custom engineered component parts and assemblies for over 70 years. If you purchase EXPANDED METAL, ALUMINUM EXTRUSIONS, PLASTIC EXTRUSIONS, INJECTION MOLDING, CNC METAL MACHINING, CNC PLASTIC MACHINING, WIRE FORMS, or FILTER CLIPS, we welcome your inquiries. We provide custom engineered solutions and excellent customer service throughout the entire manufacturing process. Please visit www. zauderer.com for more information.
Aluminum Extrusions I CNC Machined Parts I Expanded Metal I Filter Clips I Injection Molding I Plastic Extrusions I Plastic Filtration Components I Wire Forms
By Bob McIlvaine President
The McIlvaine Company
Bob McIlvaine is the president of The McIlvaine Company, which is helping filter suppliers understand the true cost of their products and the impact on the Serviceable Obtainable Market. He can be reached at rmcilvaine@ mcilvainecompany.com or +1 847.226.2391
Questions by ULPA Filter Purchasers in the Semi-Conductor Industry
By Robert McIlvaine and Hunter Hall
ULPA filters require more energy and therefore higher energy costs but are more efficient than HEPA filters. Where is this efficiency needed?
HEPA or ULPA filters are needed in a number of locations in a semi-conductor industry. They are needed in the pods which transport wafers from tool to tool. They are needed in the tool location, and they are needed in the general environment surrounding the operations.
There is some controversy about the need for very low particulate levels in the areas surrounding the enclosed pods and tools. The fact that line sizes keep decreasing means smaller and smaller particles can be detrimental. Therefore, the industry is tending to use highly efficient filters in the ambient areas around the operations. But the particulate levels in the ambient air would be considerably different than those in the tools themselves. Another factor is the pre-filter, the HEPA filter, and ULPA filter life will be a function of the efficiency of the pre-filter and is not a given.
Glass Versus Synthetic
There is a debate between the use of glass media and synthetic media filters. American Air Filter makes the case for the synthetic media in the following example.
A global semiconductor company needed to improve energy efficiency in one of its newest manufacturing facilities in the U.S. In particular, the customer focused on a new fab with 5,800 4’x4’ fan filter units (FFUs) with glass media filters installed. Within other cleanrooms in similar facilities supporting wafer manufacturing, the traditional glass media drove energy costs up due to its relatively high-pressure drop. Additionally, it was prone to damage during filter installation, maintenance, changeouts and storage.
To achieve the required energy savings in the new fab, AAF recommended:
• MEGAcel II ePTFE ULPA filters, which have only about half the resistance of glass media filters and offer superior durability.
AAF became involved through the general contractor overseeing the project, whose primary
mission was to supply a more energy-efficient alternative at a competitive price. For the customer to fully understand the value that the MEGAcel II ePTFE ULPA membrane media filters provide, it was imperative that AAF work with them directly. AAF presented a total cost of ownership (TCO) summary to the customer to demonstrate the long-term energy, labor and material cost savings achieved by switching to membrane media ULPA filters. After reviewing the side-by-side comparison of glass versus membrane ULPA filters, the customer purchased 5,800 MEGAcel II ePTFE ULPA filters for the facility.
Hollingsworth and Vose
Hollingsworth and Vose make the case for the glass media filters. H&V have glass ULPA filter media installations all over the world. The media has high retention capacity for particulate so that the loading increases slowly. This is cited as an advantage over synthetic media where the pressure drop rises more quickly with dust loading.
An unanswered question in the case of the synthetic filters is whether the pressure drop across the filter would increase substantially overtime, and therefore the savings would be less compared to the glass filters after a number of years of operation.
AMC
Another variable is the AMC or filter. Airborne molecular contamination is a concern, and there are filters devoted, just for removing these contaminants. So, the question is what impact the selection of the AMC filter has on the selection of the ULPA filter.
Concerns of Glass and Synthetic Filters
The fragility of the glass filters is a question of concern for several reasons. One it slows down the installation process if some of the filters are rejected because of breakage. Also, the potential for breakage impacting the efficiency of the installed filters is of concern.
One of the concerns about synthetic filters is the potential for PFAS contamination. The semiconductor industry association is devoting funds to minimize products that utilize PFAS in the pro-
HEPA or ULPA filters are needed in a number of locations in a semi-conductor industry. They are needed in the pods which transport wafers from tool to tool.
duction of the chips. All membrane alternatives to ePTFE are becoming available but the questions are cost and performance.
Energy Cost
Energy cost decisions are complex. Sustainability dictates that energy consumption be evaluated regardless of cost. Whereas the local purchasing group is looking at the cost of the higher energy. There is a wide variation in energy cost per kilowatt hour within states in the U.S. and certainly from country to country. So, on a particular case, the energy cost may be half what it is in another country, but the CO2 omissions would be the same.
Decision-Maker
Another consideration is the decision-maker behind the filter purchase. Is it the end-user or is it the tool manufacturer or is
it the supplier of the main environment? In the case of the Taiwan purchase of AAF filters, the decision-maker was the contractor. However, the guidance by the end-user may have been substantial.
Purchase Options
Is there a package advantage to the semi-conductor purchase? In other words, if the supplier offers the fan filter unit, the ULPA filter, and the AMC filter, can the semiconductor manufacturer be assured of greater reliability?
In the rapidly changing semiconductor industry, developments, relative to alpha filters need to be continually reviewed.
McIlvaine editors invite readers to provide their comments on this ongoing saga.
By Len LaPorta Managing Director, Mergers & Acquisitions, Pickwick Capital Partners, LLC
Len LaPorta is a Managing Director of Investment Banking at Pickwick Capital Partners, LLC based in White Plains, NY.
Len has significant experience in cross-border M&A transactions between USA and Europe, advises business owners on sell-side opportunities. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with MBA from Boston College. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, and a former owner of a contract manufacturing firm. laportal@pickwickcapital.com, (203) 451-7799.
Positioning Your Company for an M&A Exit
The normal sell-side M&A process takes seven to nine months. Your preparation of a data room is critical to a successful outcome.
Acompetitive Sell-Side process requires a significant time commitment of the management team over a nine-month timeframe. The owner of the firm should ensure their direct reports understand their role in building confidence in the overall business model. The lack of senior management participation will most likely lead to a lower valuation. Too many times, a business owner thinks that going down the path of “trusting” only their intuition will lead to a great outcome in valuation and meeting the personal goals of the selling family or shareholder. That assumption generally is not correct.
Proper preparation is a key to a successful transaction. Many middle market company owners are reluctant to pull together the necessary data – either because they do not have good record keeping systems or they want to avoid the extra time and effort to collect the data. Other owners do not believe the bidder needs certain information.
Recently, the day after “exclusivity’ was granted to the winning bidder in a competitive auction, that bidder introduced me to 65 third-party consultants that needed access to the data room. The seller felt this was similar to having a couple of root canals at one time.
Momentum is the key to a successful transaction. The lack of momentum usually results from a weak data room with many missing documents that bidders look to review. For instance, a key performance indicator (KPI) report that has been kept on a napkin by the owner needs to be transcribed to an Excel file and the management team has to review four years of data. This type of activity takes time and it better be accurate. Does the management team feel comfortable under pressure to create such a document? The answer is “no.” The solution is to start early.
In one example, we requested a business owner begin the process of pulling together items on our high-level Due Diligence List in August. She refused our suggestion saying, “I will wait for the questions” and promptly negotiated in earnest with a larger firm before striking the deal in October. The deal was scheduled to close by year-end, but was delayed into the following year. Why? The bidder came in with a list of 100 questions on a Due
Diligence List during Q4 and the seller had already made vacation plans to be out of the country for nearly three weeks over the holidays – she refused to ruin her vacation.
Representative Due Diligence questions that are typically addressed in the first 30-days of a new sellside mandate:
1. Provide a description and timeline of the formation of the company and expand on its operating history, including any significant events contributing to its development and current position from its date of inception.
2. Discuss the competitive landscape of the business. In particular, discuss the company’s competitors and how company value proposition is differentiated.
3. Describe the business development process and expand on how the company attracts and retains customers who purchase its product and service offerings. Provide the company’s sales breakdown by product line for 2018-2024 by year.
4. Describe the pricing strategy for the company’s product mix offerings. Distinguish between the pricing strategy for one-time services/solutions and recurring services.
5. Describe the types of material utilized in the company products.
6. List any current or outstanding product returns or service issues due to warranty/contract issues since 2015.
7. Does the company provide any long term product warranties? If so, describe in detail.
8. Made in the USA versus other brands. Is this a requirement? If yes, for whom? Specific certifications required of vendor to prove USA source?
9. Discuss why customers in the past have exited or terminated their relationships with the company.
10. List of current work backlog and forecast start/ end dates of each project.
11. List of open quotes with project value + start/ end dates of each quote.
12. What % of business involves competitive bidding through RFQ process?
13. Provide a list of the company’s suppliers/vendors and total vendor/supplier spend for 2018-2023 by year; length of relationship, products/services received, and key contract terms, if any.
14. Describe the salesforce of the organization, its structure, and any key performance indicators (KPIs) used to measure performance.
15. Provide a list all IT, software, or information systems utilized by the company and detail how each is leveraged in tandem with benefits received (e.g., ERP systems, financial reporting software, HR systems, software tools used for project management, billing, or compliance, etc.)
16. Describe how the company processes order fulfillments for its product offerings and how services are managed across its many service and customer types.
17. Provide information on covenants, not-to-competes, and any other management contracts, employment agreements, or confidentiality agreements that the company uses.
18. Does the company have third-party
sales person/group actively looking for new opportunities for the company? If yes, what commission structure utilized?
19. Provide a breakdown of the company’s sales and profit margin for 20182024 by business segment within its product and service offerings.
20. Provide a list and detailed description of the company’s capital expenditures and depreciation between 2020-2024 and the anticipated capital expenditures and depreciation in the 2025-2026 forecasted period. Please distinguish between expansion, maintenance, and facility improvements capex.
21. Disclose any contingent assets and/ or liabilities that do not appear on the company’s balance sheets.
22. Discuss any existing or threatening litigation, as well as any other legal issues including open workers’ compensation claims.
23. Discuss any change of control provisions embedded within customer or vendor contracts.
Now might be a good time to learn about the timeline to complete a sell-side process for 2025. The more comprehensive and complete the data room – the better. We would encourage you to ask your professional advisors to invite an investment banking team to speak with you.
Ahlstrom Adds new Line in Brazil to Support Filtration Customers
Ahlstrom, in its ongoing dedication to addressing the global need for clean air and water, has successfully completed a EUR 2 million investment for a new laminator at its Louveira plant in Brazil. This investment not only reinforces Ahlstrom’s 50-year commitment to the global filtration industry but also marks a significant expansion of its product offerings in the South American market for industrial air, industrial liquid, and fuel filtration, including products currently produced in European and North American markets.
“The new laminator increases our manufacturing capabilities and brings needed flexibility to supply our local customers with the best-in-class filtration solutions,” said Andre Pereira, Head of Sales, Filtration, Latin America. “Efficient supply chain management prevents interruptions to the supply stream, and shorter transport distances reduce carbon emissions and lower environmental impact,” he continues.
Combining filtration materials by lamination offers several advantages: enhanced efficiency, extended service intervals, and reduced energy consumption of filtration units. Laminated fuel filtration materials adapted for EURO 5 and EURO 6 standards optimize fuel consumption and reduce the emissions of harmful pollutants. In industrial filtration applications, multilayer materials support the trend for higher filtration performances and the ability to purify air and liquids to protect people and the environment. www.ahlstrom.com
Pall Opens $150 Million Facility in Singapore
Pall Corporation, a leader in filtration, separation and purification technologies, recently held its opening ceremony for a new stateof-the-art manufacturing facility in Singapore that will serve regional and global customers within the growing semiconductor industry. Pall has invested approximately US$150 million on the facility which will primarily produce lithography and wet-etch filtration, purification and separation solutions that will help meet the high demand for advanced node semiconductor chips.
“Throughout an almost 80-year history, Pall has been on the forefront of solving some of the world’s most complex challenges using advanced filtration. This new facility is not only an important development for advancing semiconductor manufacturing technology, but also an important next step for Pall. We will continue to leverage our experience and expertise to help solve global challenges, from the increased demand for advanced chips to aiding in the transition to greener manufacturing,” said Mr. Naresh Narasimhan, Danaher Group Executive, High Growth Markets & Pall Corporation.
The now-completed seven-acre facility will include more than 18,000 square meters of high-volume manufacturing (HVM) and office space and will integrate core research and development capabilities in the future. The new facility will allow customers in highly demanding industries to meet growing end market demand for data processing and storage.
It is expected that the new site will create up to 300 jobs over the next few years across science, engineering and advanced manufacturing, with an emphasis on training and developing new talent as well as enabling transfer of knowledge to contribute to the growth of the sector as part of Singapore’s longterm strategy. There will be a consistent focus on talent development aligned to broader strategic national priorities to ensure that the advanced manufacturing industry can thrive in Singapore. With the addition of Pall’s new facility, Pall is building more capacity to support cutting-edge technologies and help scale new applications like generative AI. www.pall.com
Hengst Filtration Acquires Canadian-American Filter Company
German filtration company Hengst Filtration is acquiring North American hydraulic filter manufacturer Main Filter, which is based in both Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and Lincolnton, North Carolina. Hengst described Main Filter as a “respected manufacturer of hydraulic filters for more than 35 years.” The acquisition comes three years after Hengst acquired the hydraulic filter business of Bosch Rexroth.
“We are working hard to be the most competent partner for our customers and to provide them with the best possible service. Main Filter is a crucial piece of the puzzle, especially in the North American market,” CEO of Hengst Filtration, Christopher Heine said.
According to Hengst, Main Filter has a wide range of products and is key to Hengst’s ability to supply local customers in North America through local production.
“This is a win-win for the industry and in particular, we are delighted to have partnered with Hengst, who will, as a filtration specialist, continue to provide great service and quality products for our clients. I’m confident, that the culture and leadership of Hengst, aligned with our values and long-term aspirations, will be a great home to all of our employees,” said Bill Horne, CEO of Main Filter. www.hengst.com
p David Young, VP Operations, Main Filter; Malte Röcke, managing director, Global Hydraulics, Hengst; and AJ Bisceglia, general manager, Main Filter.
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