NEWS RELEASE                                                                                        SEPTEMBER 2012

Sales of Filters to Purify Indoor Air Will Exceed $6.7 Billion Next Year 

Revenues for filters to purify the air inside buildings and residences will exceed $6.7 billion in 2013. This is the latest forecast in the McIlvaine Air Filtration and Purification World Markets.

Air Filters Revenues ($ Millions)

 Sales of the lower efficiency filters (categorized as G1-4) are stagnant, where the sales of medium efficiency filters (M 5-6 and F 7-9) are soaring. The reason is the home and building owners are placing a high value on air purity and are willing to spend two or three times as much for their filters.

Another reason for the projected $3.3 billion market in the medium efficiency filters next year is the use in gas turbine intakes.  In this application, ambient air is filtered before entering the turine where it is used for combustion. Both static and pulsed filters are used for turbine intakes. Recently there has been a shift toward a series of filters with the final filter being the high efficiency (H10-17).  Turbines are operating at higher rotating speeds and are more sensitive to damage even from relatively small particles, so the benefits far outweigh the additional cost.

The biggest markets for the high efficiency filters are in Asia. This is where nearly all the flat panel and photovoltaic cell manufacturing is taking place. The majority of the new semiconductor plants are also being built in Asia. The cleanrooms in these facilities require ultraclean air.

Membranes compete with wet laid micro fiberglass in the high efficiency segment. However, the bulk of the purchases are still the micro fiberglass. Membranes have made inroads for small filters which are integral to a component (e.g. disk drive filter).

There is a growing market for gas phase filters. Homeowners want to eliminate odors. High tech manufacturers want to avoid molecular contamination.  These filters are available either as an activated carbon coating on a non-woven filter or as a granular bed of activated carbon.

For more information on Air Filtration and Purification World Markets, click on: http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/air.html#n022