This is the latest forecast in Air Filtration and Purification World Markets published by the McIlvaine Company. The East Asian market will account for nearly one-third of all sales in 2013. This is due to a number of factors. The number of commercial and residential buildings is growing rapidly. In China, the amount of floor space per urban citizen has increased from just 15 m2/capita in 1990 to over 30 m2/capita now. Over the next twenty years the per capita space is projected to grow by 20%.The growth of industry in East Asia is also a factor. The semiconductor industry utilises large quantities of expensive high efficiency particulate filters. China, Taiwan and Korea are the growth centres for semiconductor manufacture.The one market where Europe and the U.S. are maintaining their lead is in air inlet filtration for gas turbines. These areas are switching to the lower carbon emitting turbines. These turbines are subject to damage from smaller and smaller particulates as they evolve to higher performance. It is now common for the inlet air to be filtered with high efficiency particulate filters of either microglass or membranes. W.L. Gore has introduced a high efficiency membrane filter which can be pulsed. Freudenberg, AAF and others offer a variety of new higher efficiency alternatives to their previous offerings.Nanotechnology is likely to boost the filter market substantially. New research shows that particles just 20 nanometers in diameter are contributing to autoimmune and other diseases. In order to capture these particles, it is necessary to use ultra high efficiency (ULPA) particulate filters. These filters are more costly and will boost revenues per filter unit as well as extending the applications to processes which are using nanotechnology.
