American Filtration & Separations Society (AFS) articles

The next meeting of the Southwest Chapter of the American Filtration & Separations Society is scheduled for Tuesday, July 14, from 1:30 to 2:15 central time. This virtual meeting is free to AFS members and $15 for non-members.

The topic will be Molecular Separators for Promoting Process Separations in Industrial Applications. Our speaker will be Dr. David Engel of NexoSolutions.

There are a number of different methods for enabling process separations. Depending on the tech

Surgical masks and respirators are typically made of nonwoven polypropylene fabric and mostly consist of three (or more) layers. The first and third layers are generally spunbond, while the middle layer is meltblown. This composition is commonly referred to as SMS technology (Spunbond/Meltblown/Spunbond).

Three layers of respirator fabric

While the efficiency of face masks is measured by norms defined by ASTM or NIOSH, producers of nonwoven materials need to have insi

Wetlaid technology has played a major role in the production of filtration media for many years. Due to its versatility, this technology has been challenged and continues to evolve with many advances allowing it to produce more and more unique specialized products. Capitalizing on the latest technological developments coupled with new and enhanced raw materials, wetlaid technology will continue to play a prominent role well into the future.

New and unique manmade fibers have been deve

Technological advances over the last 30 years have increased the amount of sub-micron particles in the air we breathe. Manufacturing processes, material off-gassing and emissions are all adding to the airborne particulate matter that human bodies are not designed to filter. These particles can enter our bloodstreams through our lungs and cause a range of health problems.

Indoor air pollution has become an industry focal point, not just to the human processes that have created more sub

Our world is changing faster than ever. How does this change affect filtration, and is there room for filtration in our world in 2050? This provocative title suggests that we can expect massive impacts from various megatrends such as new mobility, renewable energy, increasing health awareness and digitalization.

The electrification of the powertrain in vehicles will lead to a massive reduction in filtration needs. Several filter categories, such as oil and fuel filters, will disappear

For natural gas processing plants, amine scrubbing is a common unit process that relies heavily on filtration and separation technology. It is well documented that solid contaminants contribute to process challenges such as corrosion, erosion, fouling and foaming. Therefore, the operational stability of gas “sweetening” plants is largely dependent on the mitigation of contaminants.

Operators understand the high cost of inefficient filtration. They recognize that low effici

Co-chaired by Prof. Chao Tan and Dr. Shagufta Patel, the Environment Symposium at the 13^th World Filtration Congress will focus on the role of filtration and separation to remove the ever-increasing volume of contaminants in earth’s air and water.

Air Pollution

Today, we live in a polluted world filled with particulates and harmful gases in the air due to the results of human activities, including emissions from vehicles, power plants, buildi

A bit ironic, but attendees at the American Filtration & Separations Society (AFS) Fall Conference, who were in Charleston to dive deep into the transportation industry, found themselves experiencing a more intense transportation schedule than expected – as they had to leave just hours after they had arrived. The mandatory evacuation ordered by South Carolina governor Henry McMaster came on Monday, after Hurricane Florence exhibited a dramatic growth in strength and direction toward

The use of filtration in the transportation industry is so significant that are devoting an entire conference to it. We hope to see you next week at the AFS Fall Conference: Filtration on the Move – Protection for the Automotive and Aerospace Industry. We will be digging deep into the many ways that filtration is improving the performance and ability of transportation.

As transportation has evolved over the last 150 years,

Filter aids are used to assist filtration of colloids, extra fine particles, gel like, and highly compactible materials, which are difficult to be filtered due to low filtrate rate, unacceptable filtrate clarity, high cake moisture content, or serious filter medium clogging. They can be used as “precoat” on the surface of filter media or in conjunction with feeding suspension as “body feed” (or “admix”), or a combination of “precoat” and “