As I conclude my year as Chair of the American Filtration Society, I’d like to take the opportunity to commend our organization and our many volunteers, sponsors and staff who continued to support and promote the missions of AFS in the past year.

When I assumed the role of Chair one year ago, we were six months into the COVID-19 pandemic with little understanding of how the virus would expand and persist. In February of this year, we entered a second year of the pandemic, and continued to explore new ways to engage with our members and distribute technical knowledge and filtration education. In a time when filtration couldn’t be more important, we bolstered our commitment to providing the resources necessary to maintain the flow of information, the building of professional relationships and the mentoring of tomorrow’s filtration leaders.

When you join AFS, you’ve taken only the first step to realizing value from your membership. Conference and short course discounts, access to continuing education and networking opportunities are all great reasons to join AFS. But people who get the most from their AFS memberships are those who join a committee and form long-lasting bonds with other AFS members. Joining a committee helps create relationships that can expand your access to knowledge and industry developments, and foster activity for your career and business. And by bringing your experience to the committees, AFS benefits as well.

AFS currently maintains the following committees:

The American Filtration and Separations Society wishes to extend its sincere congratulations and warm appreciation to Professor George Chase, as he retires from a long and distinguished career with the University of Akron (UA).

Professor Chase joined UA in 1989 as Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, a post he held until his recent retirement. For the past four years, he also has served as interim director of Research Initiatives and president of the University of Akron Research Foundation.

The AFS Learning Center provides a great wealth of technical knowledge for filtration and separations professionals. Our hub of educational resources represents the many years of technical knowledge we have assembled.

The AFS Learning Center contains two-hour and four-hour virtual courses on a variety of topics designed to educate both novice and expert filtration professionals and taught by leading experts in the filtration industry. Courses are priced affordably with discounts for AFS members and for the employees of AFS Corporate Sponsors. Learn more about joining as an individual or becoming a corporate sponsor here.

The AFS is presenting a new short course, “Membrane Fouling and Cleaning,” which will be taught by industry veteran Peter Cartwright.

Plant operators often deal with expensive elements fouling prematurely, creating additional maintenance expenses. This course will provide an understanding of the mechanisms of fouling of crossflow, pressure-driven membrane elements. Attendees will learn numerous strategies for minimizing fouling and cleaning membranes.

The AFS is presenting the short course, “Requirements and Classifications of Facemasks and Respirators for General, Medical and Industrial Use,” taught by Christina Crimi, Business Manager – Chemistry for SGS North America.

Included in this course will be coverage of:

AFS FiltCon 2021 included a plenary presentation from Brian Lane, expert filtration industry consultant and retired Vice President of Engineering, Technology and Innovation at Parker Hannifin. His presentation, “How Global Mega Trends, Particularly the 'Race to Zero Emissions' and COVID, are Impacting the Filtration Industry,” provided valuable insight into the state of the filtration industry, especially in light of the events of 2020.

Brian began by referencing the 2017 AFS Point of View Publication, written by former AFS Chair Tom Ramsey. Brian highlighted six global mega trends that formed the basis for chapter two of the report, emphasizing that after four years, all are still vigorous drivers of change in the filtration and separations industry: Population Growth and Social Change, Disruptive Digital Technology Changes, Rapid Urbanization on a Global Scale, Climate Change and Natural Scarcity, Transformative Healthcare Advances, and Reduce, Reuse and the Race to Zero Emissions/Discharge. In fact, the events of 2020 even accelerated the pace of change for several of them, most notably in the social change, healthcare and emissions areas.

The World Filtration Congress is a global congress with presenters, exhibitors and attendees from all over the world. Originally scheduled for April 2020, WFC 13 was forced to postpone due to the pandemic. At that time, we were hopeful that by September 2021 we would be able to resume this event. Unfortunately, the virus continues to rage in many parts of the world, with government and corporate travel restrictions still in place.

Therefore, AFS and WFC leadership have again made the decision to postpone WFC 13, this time to October 5 – 9, 2022. Short courses will be offered Wednesday, Oct. 5, and the Congress will run Thursday, Oct. 6 through Sunday, Oct. 9 at noon. The Expo will be open Thursday morning through Saturday afternoon.

The American Filtration and Separations Society (AFS) is pleased to announce the results of its recent board of directors election. The following filtration professionals have been elected to two-year terms that will begin September 1 of this year:

By Shagufta Patel, AFS Chair

An upcoming AFS Short Course, “Review of the Regulatory Requirements and Classifications of Respirators and Facemasks,” will help attendees gain a fundamental understanding of the medical mask and respirator industry. It also will provide must-know information about usage, regulatory and test methods. It is an excellent course for anyone who aspires to learn more than the basic information about medical masks and respirators. It is especially useful for those interested in this market, as it will provide the information needed to make informed decisions regarding a possible market entry.

The course will be presented live online on Tuesday, April 13, from 9 to 11am central and will be taught by Matthew McGarrity of AFS Corporate Sponsor SGS-IBR Laboratories. The course fee is $245 for AFS members and $345 for non-members.

A primary mission of the American Filtration & Separations Society (AFS) is to provide a forum for the exchange of information among engineers, scientists and technologists from all areas of our industry. One initiative that upholds this mission especially well is our upcoming major conference, FiltCon 2021.

FiltCon 2021 will be held virtually April 19-21, and our full conference schedule is now online. The conference will feature two plenary presentations, 42 technical presentations, an expo and a student poster competition. New Product Awards for 2019 and 2020, as well as Honorific Awards for 2020, will be announced at the awards ceremony on Tuesday morning.

John Crane recently released a webinar on Seal Gas Filtration to provide insight on API 692, the latest standard for Dry Gas Sealing Systems for axial, centrifugal, rotary screw compressors, and expanders.

In this webinar on Seal Gas Filtration, Rogier Verheijen and Brian Adamson share the John Crane in-depth understanding of the newest API standard and its implication for the industry. Taking a close look at key changes to specifications, the rationale and in-the-field benefits of API 692 are explained in a practical manner, including changes to operation and documentation. Where applicable, API 692 optimized products such as new filtration systems are discussed.

The Great Lakes Chapter will meet Thursday, March 18, from 9:00 to 9:45 am central time. The topic, “Overview of the Current Requirements for General Barrier Face Coverings,” will be presented by Matthew McGarrity of AFS Corporate Sponsor SGS-IBR Laboratories. The meeting will be held virtually and is open to everyone.

AFS chapter meetings are an easy way to pick up specific and valuable knowledge from industry experts. The meetings are free for all AFS members and just $15 for non-members.

PureAir Filtration’s FiberShield^TM is a Nylon 6,6 nonwoven spunbond microfiber material impregnated with silver (Ag) ionic nanoparticles. The silver ionic mesh creates an antimicrobial Zone of Inhibition around and in between the fibers that deactivates viruses, bacteria and fungi. For example, FiberShield deactivates >99.89% of the SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).

FiberShield^TM has a basic weight of 34 g/m² per layer and a pressure drop of 0.11 iwg (27 Pa). The thin and light substrate allows for more pleats in the same size filter housing, increased media surface area and dirt holding capacity, lower pressure drop, and smaller and lighter weight filters. The particle filtration capability is rated as MERV 4. The melting point of the fiber is 265^oC, and its heat capacity is 1.47 J/g*K, with thermal stability that can withstand 150°C consistently.

Nominations are now open for key AFS leadership positions, including multiple 2-year Board positions (2022-2024) and 2^nd Vice Chair, who serves one year as 2^nd Vice Chair, a second year as 1^st Vice Chair, a third year as Chair and a final year as Immediate Past Chair. All terms begin September 2021.

All nominees and nominators must be current members of the American Filtration and Separations Society. Read the AFS leadership nomination guidelines here.

The AFS is presenting a new short course, “Automatic Filtration Technologies for the Chemical Process Industries,” which will be taught by industry veteran Barry Perlmutter.

The use of manual filtration solutions, such as plate filters, bag filters and filter presses, can create process problems and operator safety concerns in chemical manufacturing processes.  This course covers automatic technologies designed to help alleviate these potential problems and is designed to relay first-hand experience on the case for automatic filtration solutions.  Case studies are presented for each technology to illustrate existing problems and the improvements experienced with automatic filtration.

AFS FiltCon, our signature spring conference, will be a fully virtual conference and expo this year, with two concurrent tracks taking place Monday-Wednesday, April 19-21, 2021. Attend the full conference or drop in for select sessions that fit your interests and schedule. All presentations will be available for two weeks post-conference for registered attendees.

The three-day schedule will offer remarkable access to technical content. Through two concurrent tracks over three days, the schedule offers a total of 36 technical presentations.

The AFS Learning Center is now fully launched, providing a great wealth of technical knowledge for filtration and separations professionals. Our hub of educational resources represents the many years of technical knowledge we have assembled.

The AFS Learning Center contains two-hour and four-hour virtual courses on a variety of topics designed to educate both novice and expert filtration professionals. Courses are priced affordably with discounts for AFS members. Learn more about joining here.