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.

Guest blog by Paul Hulme, Business Development Manager, John Crane

Before the recent shifts in the global economy, the polymer industry had been expected to grow with a CAGR of 3.9% over the period 2015-2020. The demand for polymers is driven by growth in multiple end use markets, such as packaging, automotive, infrastructure, transport and telecommunication, and mainly from emerging economies. Polymer is continuously substituting metals, glass, paper and other traditional materials in various applications due to its light weight and strength, design flexibility and low cost.

The American Filtration & Separations Society will devote its entire fall conference on December 2 and 3 to the air filtration industry’s response to COVID-19: What we have witnessed, what we have learned, and what is on the horizon. To accommodate a wide range of time zones, the virtual conference will take place from 10am to 2pm CST on both days.

The conference includes a keynote address each day:

The American Filtration & Separations Society will devote its entire fall conference on December 2 and 3 to the air filtration industry’s response to COVID-19: What we have witnessed, what we have learned, and what is on the horizon. To accommodate a wide range of time zones, the virtual conference will take place from 10am to 2pm CST on both days.

The conference is offering six sessions covering various industry areas responding to the pandemic:

The American Filtration & Separations Society will devote its entire fall conference on December 2 and 3 to the air filtration industry’s response to COVID-19: What we have witnessed, what we have learned, and what is on the horizon. The conference has been timed from 10am to 2pm CST, to accommodate a wide range of world time zones.

To drill down into specific filtration areas that are responding to the pandemic, the conference is offering six sessions:

The American Filtration & Separations Society will devote its entire fall conference on December 2 and 3 to the air filtration industry’s response to COVID-19: What we have witnessed, what we have learned, and what is on the horizon.

To drill down into specific filtration areas that are responding to the pandemic, the conference is offering six sessions:

The American Filtration & Separations Society will devote its entire fall conference on December 2 and 3 to the air filtration industry’s response to COVID-19: What we have witnessed, what we have learned, and what is on the horizon.

To drill down into specific filtration areas that are responding to the pandemic, the conference is offering six sessions:

The American Filtration & Separations Society will devote its entire fall conference on December 2 and 3 to the air filtration industry’s response to COVID-19: What we have witnessed, what we have learned, and what is on the horizon.

To drill down into specific filtration areas that are responding to the pandemic, the conference is offering six sessions:

The filtration industry has been thrust onto center stage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Never before have we had to confront so immediately and intensely the power of an airborne pathogen to endanger the lives of millions, rock public health and lay waste to the world economy.

The American Filtration & Separations Society will devote its entire fall conference on December 2 and 3 to the filtration industry’s response to COVID-19: What we have witnessed, what we have learned, and what is on the horizon.

Need a new supplier for a filtration product or service? Let the AFS Buyer's Guide be the first place you look. We have cross-refenced the goods and services of our corporate sponsors into an easy-to-explore catalog.

Our Buyer’s Guide is organized first by primary categories:

The new AFS Learning Center recently announced four two-hour live virtual courses now available for registration. All courses are $195/members and $295/nonmembers, and all employees of AFS Corporate Sponsors (see list here) can register at the member rate.

The upcoming courses include:

Both the North Central and Southeast Chapters of the American Filtration & Separations Society are holding virtual meetings in October. The meetings are an easy way to pick up some specific and valuable knowledge from industry experts. The meetings are free for all AFS members, and just $15 for non-members.

The North Central Chapter will meet Tuesday, October 6, from 10:00 to 10:45 am central time. The topic, “Water Issues in the 21st Century,” will be presented by Peter Cartwright of Cartwright Consulting.

The next meeting of the Southeast Chapter of the American Filtration & Separations Society is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29, from 1:30 to 2:15 pm central time. This virtual meeting is free to AFS members and $15 for non-members.

The topic will be Continuum Approach to Optimizing Downstream Final Drying with Upstream Solid-Liquid Filtration, presented by Barry Perlmutter, President and Managing Director of BHS-Sonthofen Inc.

AFS has a new website! Our new platform for membership, conference registration and abstract submission will be a simpler and more user-friendly experience for all. 

We will launch the much-anticipated Learning Center in the coming weeks. In the Learning Center, you will be able to access virtual courses on demand, past conference proceedings, journal articles and One Minute Filtration articles.

As the rate of technological advance continues to increase exponentially, there are few disciplines that are expected to keep up with as great an amount and variety of needs. Filtration and separations represent one of those disciplines. Our innovations are critical to countless applications in hundreds of industries, from biopharmaceuticals to emission control, from space travel to freshwater scarcity, and from power generation to virus filtration. There is hardly an area on the frontier of technological change that doesn’t depend on filtration and separations.

The International Delegation on Filtration (INDEFI) was founded by filtration professionals in France, UK and the United States and created the first World Filtration Congress in 1974. Its prime mission is to share information and keep up with the increasing problem-solving demands of filtration and separations technology. INDEFI now includes 13 member countries – Austria, Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Korea, Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden), UK and the Unites States. Held every four years, this gathering is like no other filtration event due to the extraordinary array of technical and educational offerings and based on the number of countries and industries represented among the thousands of attendees.

Now approaching its 13th Congress (September 20-24, 2021 in San Diego), this exceptional technical forum attracts a wide variety of professionals, including scientists, researchers, academic professors, engineers, practitioners, entrepreneurs, end-users, university students of different disciplines and legislators.

While the American Filtration and Separations Society (AFS) is serving as official host of the 13th World Filtration Congress (WFC13), five companies are providing major sponsorships that are making the event possible.

SWM has secured a Diamond Sponsorship. SWM is a leading global performance materials company. Their highly engineered papers, films, nets and nonwovens are designed and manufactured using natural fibers and polymers for a variety of industries and applications. End markets served include filtration, transportation, infrastructure and construction, medical, industrial, tobacco, energy, food services and home décor. SWM and its subsidiaries manufacture on four continents, conduct business in over 90 countries and employ approximately 3,400 people worldwide. For more information, visit www.swmintl.com.

The event’s Emerald Sponsors are Eaton Filtration and Filtration Technology Corporation.

Guest blog by Paul Marold, President of Lydall Performance Materials

Clean air is the most essential resource for life. One could live without food for a few weeks, and without water for a few days; but without air, one would only survive a few minutes, if that.