There’s hardly pollution,contamination or environmental problem that cannot either be prevented or remediated through the use of filtration, separation or coalescing.

I’ve been making the above statement for 20 plus years and have never had its veracity questioned or challenged. A few processes may not be 100 percent perfect, but the principal remains and hard to dispute.

The filtration industry has many major subdivisions, including separations, de-misting and coalescing; each with their own unique and special ability to provide performance solutions to both manufacturers and end-users.

The industry is comprised of close to 30 major market segments; aerospace, automotive, medical, microelectronics, pharmaceutical, water and wastewater, and many other areas. For the most part, each segment has different filter configurations and filtration media requirements. Only a few filter manufacturer’s access more than 3-4 of the major segments, because of diverse product and use requirements. Many filter manufacturers concentrate on a limited number of industry segment… similarly to filtration media suppliers. Each medium requires specific manufacturing equipment for a specific filter medium type. Nonwoven fabric companies do not make wire cloth and membrane producers aren’t producing filter aids or weaving monofilament woven fabrics and so on. With a few exceptions each company specializes in a limited number of products, markets and end-use applications.

In the case of filtration media, there are eight major categories and many other specialty media types, with an almost endless list of variants, each with specific constructions to serve varying filtration needs. The eight major media categories are:

• Ceramics
• Filter Aids & Precoats
• Membranes
• Monofilament woven fabrics
• Porous plastics
• Nonwoven fabrics
• Wetlaid materials
• Wire cloth

With filtrations ability to prevent, remediate pollution and serve to improve product quality for manufacturers, there remains a surprising number of un-met needs and room for improvement, allowing for future innovations as new product offerings.

The fundamental characteristics of the industry are important to understand. Filtration is still largely a razor blade market, growth generally outpaces the GDP by 2-6 percent per year with some segments growing up to 10 percent per year and more. Liquid filtration tends to be more profitable than air for filter makers, but there are exceptions.

Product cycles often last as long as 20-25 years. There is both considerable upstream product development with customers, yet a large number of off-the-shelf product standard offerings available.

The major megatrend driving new industry opportunities in recent years is legislation at all levels; local, state, national and international. If anything, this trend is apt to accelerate in future years as demands for a cleaner and healthier environment creates growth at a level few manufacturing industries can match. Other mega trends include:

• A continuing need and shift to finer filtration
• Increasing filtration media specialization for unique needs and niche applications
• Environmental consciousness to create longer-life filter with more dirt holding capacity and few disposables in favor of cleanable filters
• One world manufacturing as filter companies are following their customers overseas, building production facilities in the local territory. This is especially the case with higher performance filtration products.

Technical textiles have replaced the term industrial textiles in recent years.  Increasing performance requirements include close to 30 major market segments and approximately 150 individual end-uses.

Technical textiles comprise the largest overall market of textiles made in North America. Unlike apparel and home furnishing fabrics, the industry has not lost significant production to Asia. Although there have been a few exceptions; one notable being low-cost PVC coated fabrics from plastisol common in signage, banners, tarpaulins etc.

The world market for technical textiles is approximately $140 billion with North America roughly 30 percent of world production sustaining a growth rate of 3-8 percent per annum depending on the specific segment.

Depending upon the sector and territory, growth and margins vary greatly.  Overall, geotextiles has the highest growth of 5-6 percent per year, but operates from a somewhat modest base.  In North America, “contract fabrics” for use in offices, hotels, healthcare and event furnishings. Along with textiles in transportation, including seating and headliner textiles, air bag fabrics, carpeting / trunk liners are two of the next largest industry categories. General industrial textiles, include fabrics for filtration.  Also, performance workwear, and mechanical rubber goods, rope are next, followed by building and construction textiles with medical fabrics following closely behind.

Drivers of future growth are expected from a number sectors including:

• Carbon fiber and other high-tenacity and modulus yarns and other materials for composites.  New performance fibers and processes will continue to emerge.
• Fire resistant fabrics for fire suits, industrial workwear for oil field and electric arc protection and protective apparel in general.
• Geotextiles Several sources are projecting significant CAGR growth, mostly from nonwoven fabric, some as high as 17% in India and as low as 7% percent in Europe with 10+ % in North America between now and 2020.
• Medical fabrics for specialty surgical procedures and medical devices such as woven implantable textiles.
• New military fabrics as required by the Berry Amendment in the United States.  Watch for more use in FR protection, stealth and environmentally friendly textiles. They are already emerging.
• Digital fabrics are emerging to replace PVC coated fabrics, along with the advent of equipment capable of small runs as well as very high-speed printing machines.
• New Technologies:  The industry is ripe for and welcomes new technologies, especially those contributing to incremental improvement over incumbent offerings whether fiber, yarn, textiles or nonwoven fabrics in the vast majority of market segments.

Although nonwoven fabrics and wetlaid materials are not generally considered technical textiles.  In some cases they, in fact, are borderline technical textiles when used in technical applications such as filtration media, wound dressings, fire blocker and geotextiles. Filtration happens to be the largest single use of nonwoven fabrics in North America and arguably the most profitable nonwoven market segment.

Technical textile and nonwoven fabric producers are quite innovative and generally embrace new ideas. Although, bringing new products to market, is a process that requires both persistence and adequate funding over time. Yet there remain many un-met needs in a number of market segments.  New suppliers with a performance solution are warmly welcomed by potential customers who are open-minded and perfectly willing to explore alternative and innovative solutions.  Current commodity nonwoven companies will grow, but specialty suppliers will prosper.

Recent examples include the use of PLA bio-polymers, along with new fire resistant polymers, which are non-toxic and halogen free for use in fibers as well as a replacement of PVC coatings/films and laminates, bi-component fibers for yarns and nonwoven fabrics.  Fabric and yarn finishes have also experienced major strides in recent years. Watch for these and other technologies to influence chances in many segments of technical textiles and nonwovens going forward. These examples are no different than previous new industry technologies.  They include automotive airbag fabric, high-performance protective clothing and fabric reinforced polymeric materials used in single-ply membrane roofing, which totally revolutionized the flat roof market over the last 30 years.  Ideas and innovations from inspired suppliers, along with dogged persistence created demand from brand-owners and throughout the entire value chain.  The future will be no different, including emerging growth in the use of lower-cost carbon fibers, which presently show considerable R&D promise.

Polymers are generally classified in two broad categories: thermoset elastomers; e.g, EPDM, phenolic, epoxy, nitrile, SBR, silicone; and thermoplastics e.g. ABS, nylon, PEEK, polyolefins, polyester, polyvinyl chloride and many others.

Commodity polymers abound and make life livable, yet specialty polymers and compounds create enhanced and extended opportunities for improved product performance, particularly where superior material properties are used for such attributes as improved fire resistance, extreme temperature flexibility, pH tolerance, corrosion and steam resistance and more.  Specialty polymers, also known as engineered polymers allow for flexibility of design and products to meet demanding requirements for management of applications, often in hostile and extreme environments.

In recent years a new category of polymers has arrived; bio-polymers, materials made from corn, soy, sugar cane and a variety of natural materials.

Although bio-polymers are used as an alternative to commodity hydrocarbon based applications, innovative bio-scientists are increasingly improving ease of processing and range of properties.  It’s a matter of time until material specifiers will have a much larger palette of materials, compounds and bio-polymers find their way into more durable applications.

Examples of more widely used specialty polymers used in filtration, nonwovens and technical textiles are:

Aramid:  Aramids come in two forms; Meta-Aramid; Nomex (DuPont) and Conex (Teijin), used in race car, military pilot and fire fighter suits.  Kermel (France) is also sometimes considered a Meta-Aramid in some quarters.  Para-Aramid: Kevlar (DuPont) and Twaron (Teijin) used in ropes and ballistic garments racing sails, because of it high-strength to weight ratio and other reasons.

Fluoropolymer:  End-uses range from fibers and yarns to e-PTFE microporous membranes in filtration, GoreTex® running apparel, coatings on building exteriors and are known for their chemical resistance, low surface energy and wide temperature range.  Fiber has existed for some time in both multifilament and monofilament with nonwoven fabrics emerging.

Ultra-High Density Polyethylene (UHMWPE):  Two well-known brands are by Honeywell (Specta) and DSM (Dyneema) best known for use in protective apparel for ballistics protection, ropes, sail cloth, protective gloves, fishing lines, lifting slings and other applications where a combination is low specific gravity and very high strength are prized.  Tensylon (DuPont) is typically offered in tape width.

Polyphenylene sulfide:  Often known as PPS.  An organic polymer found in synthetic fiber and textiles derived from this polymer are best known to resist chemical and for thermal resistance.   PPS is used in filtration media for baghouse filters, coal boilers, papermakers felts, electrical insulation, membranes, gaskets, packings and other demanding markets.

Polyethersulfone:   A high-temperature polymer with low-toxicity and char-forming properties when burned, allowing its use in the interiors of commercial aircraft and the most widely used polymer in membranes as it can be steam sterilized and ultrafiltration membranes, because it can be readily cleaned with aggressive chemicals for reuse in food applications.  Like fluoropolymers, fibers and nonwoven fabrics are emerging.

Overall, many specialty polymers are known to satisfy the demanding requirements in salt water as commercial fishing nets and cables anchoring oil rigs to the ocean floor to uses in the space program, including the airbags constructed from Vectran (Kuraray) fabrics for balloons and parachutes used for the Mars Exploration Rover landings.

Polymers are no longer just a replacement material for metal, paper etc., but have evolved to become materials of choice.  As the industry continues to mature, specialty and engineered performance polymers are where market leaders and an  increasing number of customers are trending for performance applications.