In the dynamic and global filtration industry, news and information is breaking on a daily basis. International Filtration News is tracking stories relevant to our industry from air and gas filtration to liquid filtration and the various end-uses for filtration technology. Here we will post news stories relevant to filtration and its downstream applications on an ongoing basis. Please check back for regular updates. If you have news that you feel should be added to this summary report, please email it to Ken Norberg: ken@filtnews.com
Most recent update: January 31, 2023
New Management for Mann+Hummel’s Water and Membrane Solutions division
Cedric Dackam has been appointed president and general manager for Mann+Hummel’s Water and Membrane Solutions division. Dackam has been with the German company since 2002, and most recently he served as senior vice president Automotive Aftermarket for Asia-Pacific and Middle East-Africa regions.
In his new role, Dackam will become a member of Mann+Hummel Group’s senior leadership team and report to president and CEO Kurk Wilks.
Fua Nipah will now focus on Mann+Hummel’a air filtration division as president and general manager Air Filtration Solutions. Nipah continues to head Mann+Hummel’s Life Sciences & Environment headquarters in Singapore.
Xylem to Acquire Evoqua
Xylem Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Evoqua Water Technologies Corp., the water treatment solutions and services company, in a US$7.5 billion all-stock transaction.
Evoqua complements Xylem’s portfolio of solutions with advanced water and wastewater treatment capabilities, an extensive service network and access to a number of attractive industrial markets including life sciences, microelectronics, power and food and beverage. The company is also a leader in the remediation of emerging contaminants, including PFAS.
The two companies had combined revenues of over US$7 billion in the 12-month period ending 30 September 2022.
Membrion to Collaborate with W. L. Gore & Associates to Develop Ultra-Thin Ceramic Iion Exchange Membranes
Membrion, a ceramic desalination membrane manufacturer that enables recovery of up to 98% of water in harsh environments, recently announced their collaboration with W. L. Gore and Associates, a global leader in advanced materials research and investigative science, to perform commercial testing of their jointly developed ultra-thin ceramic ion exchange membranes.
Membrion and Gore have successfully demonstrated up to a 4-fold enhancement in salt flux above Membrion’s industry leading CeramIX®️ membrane in a commercial scale. This enables energy efficient salt, mineral, and metal removal in concentrated brines, many of which have other contaminants such as acids, oxidizers, foulants or scalants that make them hard-to-treat.
Freudenberg Performance Materials Unveils New Filter Media Brand
Freudenberg Performance Materials announced the launch of Filtura, its new product brand for filter media solutions. Filtura is a comprehensive portfolio of innovative high-performance filter media products and customized solutions for air and liquid filtration. The leading global supplier of innovative textiles is debuting Filtura at Filtech, the international trade fair for the filtration technology industry, in Cologne in February 2023. Freudenberg Performance Materials looks forward to welcoming visitors to Stand R10 in Hall 7.
Freudenberg Performance Materials’ established and successful Colback®, Enka®solutions, Evolon®, Karbofil and Lutradur® brands are being brought together under the Filtura brand. With the new brand, Freudenberg Performance Materials is pooling its know-how more effectively across products lines and giving innovations for the filter media market a further boost. Customers will benefit from the different types of advanced technologies and the broad know-how of the leading global supplier of innovative technical textiles. Filtura will also bring greater clarity to the filter media market and enable Freudenberg Performance Materials to extend its position in this market.
The US Patent Office Grants Memsift Innovations Patent for its STOMATE® Membrane
The US Patent Office (USPTO) has granted Memsift Innovations Pte Ltd US patent number 11530178 that covers the formulation and the method of making the STOMATE® membrane and its various applications. STOMATE® is a highly hydrophobic hollow fiber membrane with unique surface chemistry for vapor permeation. For efficient thermal membrane separation and membrane distillation (MD) process, the membrane should ideally exhibit several optimum characteristics in terms of membrane thickness, porosity, pore size, chemical and thermal stability, membrane surface chemistry (hydrophobicity) and high liquid entry pressure (LEP). Memsift Innovations has purposely developed a highly hydrophobic 2D material and hollow fiber membrane STOMATE™ with unique surface chemistry and enhanced performance for Membrane Distillation application.
The technology has been well demonstrated together with the TS-30™ Improved Membrane Distillation system for industrial liquid-waste treatment and resource recovery focusing on pharmaceutical, chemical/pulp and paper/metal finishing/mining industries. It helps to close the industrial liquid-waste loop and recover up to 100% chemicals (metal salts, acids and other chemical compounds) and water at >80% lower operating cost compared to traditional evaporators. Moreover, the technology also reduces the overall carbon footprint significantly.
K&N Engineering Launches Industrial Group
K&N Engineering, the company behind high-performance automotive filtration solutions, announced a new industrial group created to bring high-performance, sustainable, air filtration solutions to providers of mission critical infrastructure, including data centers and other industrial applications and markets.
Thousands of tons of air filter waste produced by data centers end up in landfills each year. K&N Engineering is revolutionizing data centers and other industrial applications with first-of-its-kind, high-performance and reusable air filter solutions. K&N Engineering’s proprietary air filtration technology saves money, lowers energy costs, and provides significant sustainability benefits for data center and other industrial applications everywhere.
Mann+Hummel expands in Northern and Eastern Europe
The Mann+Hummel Group announced a strategic investment in M-Filter Group, one of the largest filter manufacturing companies in Northern and Eastern Europe with several production facilities in Finland and Lithuania.
Founded in 1962 in Finland, M-Filter initially produced automotive filters although today, the focus is mainly on HVAC and air filtration including HEPA filters and oil/hydraulic filters for engines. It also has a strong footprint in both OEM as well as in the commercial HVAC sector across Scandinavia and in the Baltic countries.
While the Filterpak brand will complement Mann+Hummel’s existing portfolios in commercial and residential HVAC, M-Filter will also provide a strong input in the OEM products for industrial and engine filtration, allowing Mann+Hummel to expand across the region whilst offering customers a broader product portfolio.
Fibertex Corp.’s North American fiber operations acquired by Stein Fibers
Stein Fibers, LLC, a leading distributor of textile products, announced that it has acquired Fibertex Corporation’s North American fiber operations.
The combination of Fibertex and Stein Fibers will expand the leading fiber product portfolio in North America and allow each company to better serve its customers.
Ernest Elias, president of Fibertex, said, “I am excited to partner with the Stein Fibers organization, which shares the same core values and believe the combination will provide an opportunity to grow our relationships with both customers and suppliers.”
Jaren Edwards, president of Stein Fibers, said, “It is a privilege to partner with such a well-respected industry expert in Ernest, who takes so much pride in customer service and business integrity.”
Robert Taylor, chief operating officer of Stein Fibers, added, “We are truly excited to work with Ernest as Fibertex and Stein Fibers have similar histories rooted in a deep family commitment to the textile industry that has stretched generations. We look forward to continuing to be the premier textile partner for our customers and suppliers.”
Hollingsworth & Vose to invest $40.2 million in Virginia
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced that Hollingsworth & Vose (H&V), a global manufacturer of advanced materials used in filtration, battery and industrial applications, will invest $40.2 million to expand its operation in Floyd County, Va.
The company will add over 28,000 square feet to its facility at 365 Christiansburg Pike Northeast to accommodate new production equipment to meet increased demand. Virginia successfully competed with Georgia for the project, which will create 25 new jobs.
“Hollingsworth & Vose has generated positive economic impact and job opportunities in Floyd County for more than four decades, and this significant investment further solidifies the company’s commitment to Virginia,” said Gov. Youngkin. “Businesses with a long history of expansion in the Commonwealth offer powerful testimonials on why a Virginia location is a foundation for success, and we look forward to a continued partnership with H&V.”
Sonobond Ultrasonics President Retires
Janet Devine, president of Sonobond Ultrasonics, Inc. announced that she will retire effective January 3, 2023.
2022 began with her decision to retire as president of Sonobond at the end of the year. General Manager, Manning Smith IV, will be taking over as president and Devine has happily agreed to continue in a technical advisory position during a transition period.
Earlier this year Devine announced that Sonobond had become a part of Inductotherm Group’s Welding Division. Although Sonobond has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Inductotherm Group’s parent company for over 30 years, the company now has greater access to advanced power supply technologies through the Welding Group’s global service contacts and expanded supply chain resources.
“I leave Sonobond Ultrasonics after starting as a junior member of the team that invented ultrasonic metal welding, as well as participating in the many other ultrasonic innovations the company has achieved. These include being part of the company’s successful development of ultrasonic welding equipment for the non-ferrous metals industry, and the growing market for EV vehicles. It has been an interesting journey!
“I am confident Sonobond’s success will continue under Manning Smith’s and Inductotherm Group’s expert technical and management capabilities,” Devine said.
Ingersoll Rand acquires SPX Flow’s Air Treatment business
Ingersoll Rand Inc. has completed the acquisition of SPX Flow’s Air Treatment business in an all-cash transaction of approximately $525 million.
The Air Treatment business, which is now part of Ingersoll Rand’s Industrial Technologies and Services (IT&S) segment, brings a highly complementary product portfolio of energy efficient compressed air dryers, filters and other consumables, with brands including Hankison, Pneumatic Products, Jemaco, Deltech and Delair.
Nearly 50% of the business’s expected 2022 revenue of approximately $180 million is from aftermarket sales to its installed base.
Koch Separation Solutions partners with Aqana on anaerobic wastewater treatment
Koch Separation Solutions (KSS) is partnering with Aqana to offer anaerobic wastewater treatment technology to industrial customers in North America.
The partnership will focus on moving bed biofilm reactors (MBBR), membrane bioreactors (MBR), and reverse osmosis (RO) to meet the demands of a variety of industrial wastewater treatment challenges.
“We are delighted to be working closely with Aqana, one of the most innovative suppliers of high-rate anaerobic wastewater technology. The synergies between our technologies will allow us to offer a full scope of wastewater treatment systems,” said Manny Singh, president of Koch Separation Solutions.
“I am very happy and proud that a prominent company such as KSS has chosen our robust and efficient DACS technology to complement their already extensive range of solutions for the industry. This partnership will enable many industries in North America to include a profitable anaerobic wastewater treatment step where previously this seemed unfeasible or did not bring them the expected benefits,” said Olaf Teunissen, CEO of Aqana.
Sartorius names Maurice Phelan as new President for North America
Sartorius, a leading international partner of life science research and the biopharmaceutical industry, announced Maurice Phelan has assumed the role of President of Sartorius North America. He succeeds Mary Lavin, who has retired after nearly 35 years.
Sartorius North America, headquartered in Bohemia, New York, currently employs more than 3,000 employees across 17 sites in the United States and Canada.
Phelan has spent many years in the industry and recently rejoined Sartorius from Repligen, where he was Vice President of Fluid Management. Before that, he served as Head of Operations of the Sartorius site in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Previously, he held leadership roles at GE Healthcare and Merck Millipore. Mr. Phelan holds degrees in chemistry and experimental physics from the National University of Ireland.
Sulzer separation technologies selected for world-first e-methanol plant
Sulzer Chemtech’s advanced separation technologies are being used to enable the world’s first commercial scale e-methanol plant, constructed by European Energy.
The innovative facility, in Kassø, Aabenraa, Denmark, will produce 32,000 metric tons of carbon neutral fuels per year, helping to decarbonize the heavy transportation sector. As a lightweight fuel produced from solar and wind, e-methanol enables the effective storage and transport of renewable energy.
European Energy is applying an innovative process to convert renewable electricity into e-methanol. The Kassø plant will be supplied with power from the adjacent 300 MW solar park owned by European Energy, and it represents the first step in bringing this e-fuel to market at scale.
Sulzer Chemtech will deliver two distillation units with a customized design to the facility. This key technology will enable the production of e-methanol of extremely high purity for use in combustion engines and as a chemical feedstock. Half of the total plant output, 16,000 metric tons per annum, will be delivered to AP Moller – Maersk to fuel the company’s first container ship capable of operating on green methanol.
