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 06, 2025
Applied Industrial Technologies Completes Acquisition of Hydradyne, LLC
Applied Industrial Technologies announced it completed the acquisition of Hydradyne, LLC on December 31, 2024. Based in Dallas, Texas with locations across the Southeastern U.S., Hydradyne is a premier provider of fluid power solutions with advanced service capabilities and product offerings in hydraulics, pneumatics, electromechanical, instrumentation, filtration, and fluid conveyance.
Neil A. Schrimsher, President & Chief Executive Officer for Applied, commented, “We are excited to announce the completion of this acquisition and officially welcome Hydradyne to the Applied team. This transaction will enhance our leading fluid power distribution position in the U.S. by leveraging complementary technical capabilities and innovative engineered solutions across legacy and emerging end markets.
Applied affirms it expects the acquisition will contribute approximately $260 million in sales and $30 million in EBITDA before anticipated synergies, as well as be accretive to EPS, within the first 12 months of ownership prior to transaction-related expenses and the impact of purchase accounting adjustments. Additional financial and operational details, including EPS accretion guidance, will be provided when it reports fiscal 2025 second quarter results later this month.
UL Researchers Make Breakthrough in ‘Forever Chemical’ Filtration
Researchers at Bernal Institute and University of Limerick in Ireland along with colleagues from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany have developed a new material that can eliminate so-called ‘forever chemicals’ from water, also known as PFAS.
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals that have been in use since the 1940s. Due to their ability to resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water, PFAS have been widely used across a range of industrial and consumer applications, from non-stick cookware and water-repellent fabrics to firefighting foams and industrial processes.
However, their chemical stability — key to their effectiveness in these uses — also means they persist in the environment and the human body. Known as ‘forever chemicals’, the substances can accumulate in the body via food and drinking water and cause serious illnesses. Prolonged exposure can cause liver damage, tumours and hormonal disorders and they are considered a severe threat to human health.
The researchers at Bernal, UL and TUM have developed a new, efficient method of filtering these substances out of drinking water. They rely on so-called metal-organic framework compounds, which work much better than the materials commonly used to date. Even extremely low concentrations of PFAS in the water can still be captured.
Dr. Soumya Mukherjee, member of the Bernal Institute and an Assistant Professor of Materials Chemistry at UL’s Department of Chemical Sciences, working with researchers in TUM, developed the porous, sponge-like metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that can filter these PFAS chemicals out of drinking water.
“The filters delivered removal performance even when they were present in extremely low concentrations of a few parts per billion, that is, only a handful of PFAS molecules among billions of water molecules,” explained Dr Mukherjee.
It will take some time before this can be scaled up to broad use by waterworks.
