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: May 20, 2022
H&V Appoints company veteran Mark Freeman as new Vice President and General Counsel
Hollingsworth & Vose has promoted Mark Freeman, the company’s deputy general counsel since 2017, to the role of vice president and general counsel. A nearly 15-year veteran of H&V, Freeman takes over for Deirdre Murphy, H&V’s vice president and chief legal officer, who retired at the end of April.
“There’s no better choice for this position at H&V than Mark Freeman,” said Josh Ayer, president and CEO at H&V. “He has deep experience within H&V through the various counsel roles he has held since joining us in 2008, and his leadership will enable strategic decisions that protect and enhance the company’s long-term business prospects while also creating strategic and commercial advantage. We’re excited to have him take on this role.”
Freeman joined H&V in 2008 as the corporate & managing IP counsel. He was promoted to deputy general counsel in 2017. Prior to joining H&V, Freeman was a partner at Choate, Hall & Stewart, and before that, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ernest C. Torres of the United States District Court in Rhode Island. Freeman also completed a short rotation as a special assistant district attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
He earned a BA in astronomy, with a secondary major in political science, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and he received his law degree from New York University School of Law.
As H&V’s vice president and general counsel, Freeman will be responsible for managing the legal department and serving as a trusted advisor, business partner and critical leader in the overall growth of the company.
Freeman’s promotion to vice president and general counsel, was effective May 9, 2022.
Pall expands in Singapore to meet growing semiconductor demand
Pall Corporation, a leader in filtration, separation and purification technology, announced the construction of a new manufacturing facility focused on solutions that will serve advanced nodes for semiconductor manufacturers. Pall is investing more than $100M USD for the first phase of expansion, with subsequent investments over the course of construction. The facility will be located in western Singapore.
The new facility will primarily produce lithography and wet-etch filtration, purification and separation solutions that will help meet the high demand for advanced node solutions. The facility will be located on a seven-acre campus that will include more than 18,000 square meters of manufacturing and office space.
Construction of the first phase will begin this summer and high-volume manufacturing capability will be completed between late 2023 and early 2024. Additional capacity will be added in subsequent years as the site undergoes a phased ramp to its full potential. When completed, the site will more than double Pall’s current installed capacity for manufacturing microelectronics filtration and purification solutions.
Pall plans to hire more than 300 employees with science, engineering and manufacturing experience to support the new site.
Source: Pall
Aquatherm Technologies appoints Philip H. Walton as CEO
Aquatherm Technologies (AQT), a Pittsburgh, PA-based water and energy sustainability technology company has appointed Philip H. Walton as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Phil has more than 30 years’ experience operating, founding, and raising capital for small to midsize
businesses, generally in energy, manufacturing, and technology. After starting his career with Accenture
in management consulting, Phil has worked with many large energy and CPG companies throughout his
career providing them with unique and distinctive products and business solutions. This experience
coupled with multiple start-ups and early-stage businesses enables Phil to provide strategic, operational
and financial launch leadership along with capital directives.
Source: Aquatherm.us
Claros Technologies, Kureha partner to develop a cutting-edge PFAS capture-and-destruction system
Claros Technologies announced its strategic partnership with Kureha America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Kureha Corporation Japan, to scale up a state-of-the-art technology that is capable of capturing, concentrating, and destroying “forever chemicals” (PFAS) from wastewater. The comprehensive solution is able to capture and concentrate PFAS chemicals, then permanently break their carbon-fluorine bonds into safe, naturally occurring elements. Kureha will collaborate with Claros to develop a commercially feasible system and install the system for Asian markets.
Per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of extremely stable, water- and oil-resisting
compounds used in a wide variety of industries and consumer products. Found in drinking water of an
estimated 200 million Americans, PFAS pose substantial risk to public and environmental health, having
been associated with immunosuppression, reproductive issues, and a variety of cancers. This risk is
compounded by the inability of natural processes to break PFAS down due to their extremely strong
carbon-fluorine (C-F) bonds, earning PFAS the title of “forever chemicals.”
Source: Claros Technologies
Five PPG Facilities in Ohio Recognized for Sustainability, Health, Safety Practices
PPG announced that the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC) has recognized the company’s Huron, Barberton, Euclid, Cleveland and Strongsville facilities in the state for programs that are advancing sustainability, health and safety.
“At PPG, sustainability is at the core of our business operations,” said Mike Corcoran, PPG global manager, Operational Sustainability. “We are constantly seeking ways to reduce our waste, water consumption and energy use and improve our processes to minimize our impact to the environment and to help ensure each employee goes home safe every day. We’re proud of our facilities that have identified inventive solutions that will contribute to our sustainability goals.”
The five Ohio sites earned a combined seven awards from the OCTC in the environmental and health and safety performance categories.
The Euclid site received an OCTC Environmental Award for its recent wastewater improvements. After identifying the primary producer of wastewater within its operations, the site made a process adjustment that resulted in a 29% reduction in wastewater, waste cost savings of more than $80,000 annually and a $3,900 reduction in annual freshwater costs.
Source: PPG
Toray receives RO Membrane order the world’s largest seawater desalination plant
Toray Industries, Inc., announced that it has received a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane order for the Taweelah desalination plant in the United Arab Emirates. Once the operation commissions in the second half of 2022-, this will be the world’s largest RO desalination facility, with a daily capacity of 909,200 cubic meters of water.
Dammam-based Toray Membrane Middle East LLC (TMME) will provide technical services. Toray will accordingly help alleviate water shortages in the Middle East through TMME, which will ultimately lead to stable energy supply throughout the world.
The district has been considering starting construction of the RO desalination facility for approximately 20 years. Key factors in Toray obtaining this order were that its RO membrane technology and robust record in the Middle East over the past 15 years have delivered lower capital investments and operating costs than conventional evaporation method. Gulf countries are investing extensively in infrastructure to cater to rising population, so the Taweelah facility will be vital to progress.
Over the years, Toray has expanded RO membrane sales, production, and technical support to help resolve global water issues. Applications extend from desalination and wastewater reclamation to industrial usage. The aggregate water production capacity of Toray RO membranes is 105,000,000 cubic meters per day. That is enough to serve the water needs of 730 million people.Providing access to clean water is pivotal to The Toray Group Sustainability Vision, representing a roadmap to the World as Envisioned by Toray Group in 2050, and embodies Toray Vision 2030, through which the Group pursues sound, sustainable growth.
Toray will continue to provide RO membranes and other advanced membrane technologies and strengthen technical services to cater to local demand. It will thereby help resolve water issues in the Middle East and other regions in which industrial and population expansions will likely boost water demand.
Source: Toray
International majors invest 170 million NOK in Norwegian hydrogen Mem-Tech
AP Ventures, Yara Growth Ventures, Shell Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and SINTEF Venture are putting their trust and investment into Norwegian tech company Hydrogen Mem-Tech (HMT). HMT´s palladium membrane technology separates hydrogen from bio and natural gas.
“We are proud and incredibly humbled to have secured what will be one of the largest capital investments in an early-stage Norwegian tech company in recent years”, says Thomas Reinertsen, CEO of Hydrogen Mem-Tech.
The company has developed a technology where clean hydrogen is produced from bio and natural gas, while CO2 and other residual gases are captured to be utilized or sequestered. The HMT palladium membrane technology builds on more than 20 years of research from SINTEF, and it has been extensively tested and piloted over several years.
Source: Hydrogen Mem-Tech
TSG Finishing begins phase 1 of its modernization initiative
TSG Finishing LLC announced it has begun phase 1 of its project to modernize all of its primary textile finishing equipment. TSG currently relies on 7 tenter frames to coat or process almost every yard of fabric it receives. Though the basics of textile coating have not changed, new machinery comes equipped with technology to ensure better quality, efficiency and safety. TSG kicked off phase one of this initiative with a new tenter, purchased from Ehwha, a highly regarded South Korean manufacturer whose machinery is becoming commonplace in the American textiles industry.
TSG Finishing is one of the largest textile finishers in North America. With three processing plants and over 200 employees in the Hickory, North Carolina area, they provide value-added services to all textile markets including medical, military, automotive, construction, home furnishings, and filtration.
Source: TSG
Basotect® as sound absorber in innovative air filters
The air purification specialist UVCclean, Germany, now uses the BASF melamine resin foam Basotect® as sound absorber in its mobile airtubeUVC air filter systems. These filters use UV-C technology to lower the concentration of aerosols that transmit bacteria, spores and viruses such as the coronavirus in the air. They can be installed in schools, kindergartens, offices and restaurants, as well as at hairdressers, in waiting rooms, hotel lobbies, conference rooms and production facilities.
Thanks to its excellent sound absorption properties, its resistance to UV light and fire as well as its many design possibilities, Basotect® is used in various versions of the air filters, both in the interior and on the outside as colored cover. The tailored acoustic elements are made by Bosig, manufacturer of acoustic systems from Gingen, Germany.
Source: UVCclean
BB Engineering shortlisted for Plastics Recycling Awards Europe
BB Engineering has been shortlisted for the prestigious Plastics Recycling Awards Europe 2022 for the category Recycling Machinery Innovation with its PET recycling line VacuFil® Visco+ for fiber-to-fiber inline recycling.
“We are still a recycling newcomer and are therefore particularly proud that our technology has already convinced so far that we are now among the finalists. Our origin lies in extrusion, filtration and spinning technology. We have incorporated our decades of know-how in these fields into the development of our VacuFil® Visco+ process,” said Matthias Schmitz, Head of Engineering Recycling Technology.
BB Engineering GmbH (BBE) is a German machine building company founded in 1997 as a joint venture between Oerlikon Barmag, a subsidiary of Oerlikon Textile GmbH & Co. KG, and Brückner Group GmbH.
Source: BBEngineering
NX Filtration expands in the Americas and China
Tony Fuhrman has joined NX Filtration as country manager for the Americas, while Shoahua Hu is the new country manager for China.
Fuhrman previously served as commercial director and area market director for LG Water Solutions and has held key positions at Hydranautics and Suez. He will support NX Filtration’s commercial roll-out strategy for its direct nanofiltration technology for municipal and industrial applications.
Hu has over 25 years of experience in membranes for water treatment in industrial and municipal markets. He was previously head of Inge in China, where he was responsible for all commercial activities and lead the regional sales team.
Source: NX Filtration
New invention turns seawater into drinking water at the push of a button
Researchers have invented a desalination device that can turn seawater into drinking water at the push of a button. The technology uses a technique that essentially zaps the water with electricity in order to remove salt molecules, bacteria and viruses. This eliminates the need for replacement filters and high-pressure pumps, which current commercially available desalination units require.
Packaged in a suitcase-sized device, it weighs less than 20 lbs. and can be powered with a portable solar panel.
This makes it suitable for use in remote and severely resource-limited areas, according to the team at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who developed it.
The water generated by the desalination unit exceeds World Health Organisation quality standards thanks to a two-stage process that removes both dissolved and suspended solids.
It is designed to be used by nonexperts, and can be controlled wirelessly through a companion smartphone app.
A prototype was successfully tested, generating 0.3 litres of drinking water per hour straight from the sea.
Professor Nidal Hilal, director of the New York University Abu Dhabi Water research centre, said the setup requires expensive materials.
“It would be interesting to see similar systems with low-cost materials in place,” he said.
Source: MIT
The Worldwide Liquid Filtration Industry is expected to reach $2.7 billion by 2027
The ‘Liquid Filtration Market (2021-2026)’ report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.
The Liquid Filtration Market size is forecast to reach US$2.7 billion by 2027 after growing at a CAGR of 6.1% during the forecast period 2022-2027.
Liquid Filtration is the process of removing solids from a contaminated liquid by passing it through a filter media in order to contain solid particles and to allow clean liquid to pass through the system. Different types of liquid filtration systems include particle filtration and membrane filtration such as reverse osmosis and micro-filtration system.
Key takeaways:
- Membrane filtration system in Liquid Filtration Market is expected to see the fastest growth, especially during the forecast period. Its wide range of benefits such as high energy efficiency, and cost-effectiveness made it stand out in comparison to other filtration systems in the market.
- Municipal Industry in Liquid Filtration Market is expected to see the fastest growth, especially during the forecast period, owing to the increasing demand for wastewater treatment from the industry.
- North America dominated the Liquid Filtration Market in 2021, owing to the increasing demand for water treatment due to the shale gas exploration in the region in recent years.
Source: Research & Markets
Cummins signals IPO for filtration business
Cummins Inc. has taken a step forward in what analysts say indicates the company plans to separate its filtration business into a standalone company.
The company announced in April that its filtration business has confidentially filed paperwork for a proposed initial public offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This is a step that companies take before publicly filing IPO paperwork with regulators.
Currently, the timing for the filtration business’ IPO is unclear, but the company said in the regulatory filing that it “is expected to commence after the completion of the SEC review process, subject to market and other conditions.”
Suez JV awarded industrial wastewater treatment project in China
Suez, through its local joint venture Jiangsu Sino French Water Co. Ltd., has secured a 30-year, build-and-operate contract for an industrial wastewater treatment plant in Changshu, China.
Located in the Changshu Economic and Technological Development Zone, the €37 million project has a daily treatment capacity of 15 000 m3. The treatment plant is expected to be commissioned in 2024.
Jiangsu Sino French Water, a 65/35 equity joint venture between Changshu Urban Construction Public Assets Management Co. Ltd., and Suez, will be responsible for designing, constructing and operating the wastewater treatment plant, which will help the many chemical companies in the park meet strict discharge standards.
