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Many projects, mergers and acquisitions are detailed in monthly updates in the Market Report’s Chapters under Industry Analysis. Click on the links below to view current updates for each industry.

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) measured the release, distribution and fate of particles almost as tiny as the diameter of a single DNA molecule in a "typical dwelling". Particles ranging in size from 100 nanometers down to 2.5 nanometers that were emitted by gas and electric stoves, hair dryers, power tools and candles were tracked and analyzed.*

Monitoring such tiny particles was made possible by NIST advances in measurement capabilities. Measurements were carried out in weeks of experiments at a 340-square-meter (1,500-square-feet) test house on the NIST campus in Gaithersburg, Md. The researchers used the data to develop a model for predicting changes in the size and distribution of so-called ultrafine particles (technically, particles smaller than 100 nanometers) discharged by tools, appliances and other sources.

The measurements and model will further efforts to explain the dynamics of ultrafine particles, an area of growing interest among environmental and health researchers. They also will advance work to develop accurate and reliable methods for determining how changes in heating and cooling systems, often done to reduce energy consumption, will affect indoor environments.

"If we can understand and predict the dynamics of these extremely small indoor air contaminants, designers and equipment manufacturers can avoid potential negative impacts on the environment inside homes and buildings and may even devise ways to improve conditions and save energy at the same time," explains NIST engineer Andrew Persily.

Utrafine particles are produced naturally—by forest fires and volcanoes, for example—as well as by internal combustion engines, power plants and many other human-made sources. Although ever present in outdoor and indoor environments, ultrafine particles have eluded detection, and are not subject to federal or state air quality standards. However, particles with nanoscale dimensions have been associated with a variety of human health problems—especially heart, lung and blood disorders.

Because we spend most of our time indoors, however, the bulk of human exposure to ultrafine particles occurs in homes and buildings. Typically, releases of the tiny particles occur in periodic bursts—during cooking or hair drying, perhaps—but airborne concentrations during these episodes can greatly exceed outdoor levels, according to the NIST team.

The researchers measured the airborne concentrations of ultrafine particles at regular intervals after they were emitted by gas and electric stoves, candles, hair dryers and power tools. With their recently enhanced capabilities, the team could measure particles about four times smaller than in previous studies of indoor air contaminants.

Tests were conducted with the house central fan either on or off, which made a major difference in the behavior of ultrafine particles. With the fan off, these very small particles collide with each other and coagulate—or combine—during the first 2.5 minutes following a blast of ultrafine particles from an appliance or tool. In the process, they form successively larger particles, decreasing airborne concentrations of particles. As particles grow larger, they tend to settle on surfaces more quickly.

With the central fan recirculating air, ultrafine particles tend, in roughly equal proportions, to coagulate or settle on surfaces. Under both fan conditions, ventilation accounted for the removal of no more than about 5 percent of ultrafine particles.

Tests also revealed that for many indoor sources, such as stovetop cooking with gas, more than 90 percent of the particles emitted were smaller than 10 nanometers. In turn, emissions of smaller particles result in higher airborne concentrations that dissipate primarily through coagulation.

*D. Rim, L. Wallace, A. Persily and J. Choi, Evolution of ultrafine particle size distributions following indoor episodic releases: Relative importance of coagulation, deposition and ventilation. Aerosol Science and Technology. Posted online Nov. 15, 2011. DOI 10.1080/02786826.2011.639317. Available online at www.tandfonline.com/action/showAxaArticles?journalCode=uast20.

The global market for nonwoven filter media is projected to experience a 7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next 5 years, increasing from a value of $2.5 billion in 2010 to $3.5 billion in 2015, according to BBC Research.

The largest market, the Asia-Pacific region, is forecast to grow at the most rapid compound annual growth rate (CAGR), approximately 9.5% by 2015. From an estimated value of $923 million in 2010 (37% market share), regional sales will reach nearly $1.5 billion by 2015.

The European and North American markets are relatively mature and face intense competition from other types of filtration media as well as other separation and purification technologies. A compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.2% is forecast for the EU. North America will have a slightly better CAGR, about 5.4%, over the 5-year forecast period.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) estimates housing starts in US residential building in the next two years to increase. The highest level of housing starts for many years in the USA was seen in 2005, at 2.068m. That was followed by four years of significant decline which bottomed out in 2009 with 554,000 starts. 2010 again saw a slight increase, of 5.6% to 585,000 starts; and there is expected to be another slight rise of 1.2% to 592,000 building starts in 2011. NAHB also claims that the recovery in US residential building will accelerate in 2012. The association forecasts that the number of housing starts in 2012 will show growth of 15% to 681,000, while 2013 is to show an improvement of 37.2% to 934,000 residential units.

Privately-owned housing starts in November rose 9.3% to 685,000. This is 24.3 percent above the November 2010 rate of 551,000.

Apartment construction led the increase, with a 32 percent jump to 230,000, while construction of single-family homes rose 2.3 percent above the revised October rate to 437,000.

Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 681,000. This is 5.7 percent above the revised October rate of 644,000 and is 20.7 percent above the November 2010 estimate of 564,000.

Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more led the increase with a 16 percent jump to 224,000 in November. Single-family authorizations in November were at a rate of 435,000, 1.6 percent above the revised October figure of 428,000.

AAF air filtration specialist which has been based at the same site in Northumberland, UK for almost half a century is creating jobs after investing more than £1m in a research and development (R&D) centre.

AAF Power & Industrial has already taken on eight additional staff and has plans to add a further 20 over the next couple of years as it creates new products at its Cramlington centre for the worldwide market.

The company, which employs 230 people in Northumberland and exports around 80% of its products, has been owned by Japan’s Daikin Industries since 2006.

Its parent company is now investing heavily in the site’s technology to help it win business in emerging markets. The new R&D facility is at the centre of a five-year plan to increase its product range and find new overseas business.

Cramlington is the global head office for the brand, which makes industrial air filters used in equipment produced by firms such as Siemens, GE and Rolls-Royce, and has an annual turnover of around £60m.

General manager Bob Carling said: "The investment is not simply about R&D but the continued growth of the site and business. We are targeting growth of 20% plus per annum over the coming five years and new technology investment is key to realising these ambitions. We have achieved good growth in the last few years despite the general global economic downturn which continues to affect most businesses and we are committed to continue to invest in growth for the future. We are managing this by ploughing investment back into the business, developing our people and being aggressive in the market."

AAF, which already exports the majority of its products, recently opened an office in Brazil and is also chasing further business in the Middle East and emerging markets. The new Cramlington R&D centre will work on products aimed at these customers.

Dr Tadashi Ohnishi, the group’s vice-president of R&D, said: "Our focus will be refining and upgrading high-end filtration equipment. In the future we will be strengthening a total package for our customers – from air filtration, through to acoustic housing and exhaust systems for gas turbines.

"R&D will allow the business to offer greater added value to customers and give us a stronger competitive position in the markets we operate."

The Biotechnology Team of Camfil Farr Australia has won a substantial order to supply Esco Biological Safety Cabinets to Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR). The order is the largest ever received by Camfil Farr in Australia.

Camfil Farr has been distributing the Esco cabinet range across Australia for a couple of years. Esco, based in Singapore, is a world leader in biosafety cabinets with thousands of installations at leading laboratories in 95 countries. Camfil Farr has secured the supply of Esco products in Australia because of their unique relationship with biotechnology organizations where they provide regular validation and replacement of their HEPA filters.

The Class II Esco cabinets are fitted with Camfil Farr H14 Megalam HEPA filters. Camfil

Farr will also be responsible for regular Australia servicing of the cabinets, arranging their installation, testing and commissioning, and providing replacement HEPAs.

QIMR is one of the largest and most successful medical research institutes in Australia. Originally established to further the study of tropical diseases in North Queensland, QIMR has broadened its scope of research to include the genetic and environmental influences of a range of diseases.

Ahlstrom is taking another step in expanding in Asia by setting up a warehouse facility for its Filtration Business Area in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

The investment will allow Ahlstrom to better serve its customers in India and shorten lead times in the fast growing local market. Ahlstrom will mainly supply transportation filtration material, but also gas turbine and dust collection filtration markets through the warehouse.

"This is another firm step in executing our growth strategy in Asia. Last year we acquired a filtration materials plant in China and now we are targeting India. We are happy to be able to grow together with our customers," states Tommi Björnman, executive vice president, Filtration Business Area.

Filtration accounts for about 20% of total net sales at Ahlstrom. The business area operates 11 plants worldwide, including Binzhou in China and Hyun Poong in South Korea.

Fiberweb plc announced that it and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fiberweb Holdings Limited, have entered into binding agreements for the sale of the Hygiene Business to Petropar S.A. for a total cash consideration of US$286 million (approximately £179 million).

The sale was approved by Fiberweb Shareholders at a general meeting, and is expected to close at the end of 2011.

This sale will allow Fiberweb to become a focused leader in certain attractive segments of the growing technical fabrics and construction products markets, with leading positions in several attractive market and technology niches, notably in filtration, construction specialties, geosynthetics, agriculture and several medical areas.

The Hygiene Business differs from Fiberweb’s previously reported hygiene division as a result of the following businesses, which were previously reported as part of Fiberweb’s hygiene division, being retained within the Continuing Group as part of the Industrial Business:

• Production and sales of carded products for hygiene applications from the Tenotex business in Italy;
• The fabric softener sheet business in Old Hickory, USA;
• Production and sales of polypropylene spunbond products for hygiene applications from Fiberweb France SAS; and
• The Coronor production line in Germany.

Within the Industrial Business, Fiberweb has built strong positions in selected niche markets including construction and filtration. In 2010, approximately 12 percent of the Industrial Business’ sales were accounted for by Typar housewrap and approximately10 percent were made to the roofing market. Geotextiles and agrotextiles made up approximately10 percent, and approximately 15 percent were attributable to the highly fragmented filtration market.

Taking into account Petropar's assumption of 100% of the FitesaFiberweb Joint Venture's debt and certain pension liabilities, the enterprise value of the transaction is approximately £229 million, representing a 2010 EBITDA multiple of 6.2x and a 2010 EBIT multiple of 14.6x1.

Following Completion, the Group will have technical fabrics operations in Berlin and Aschersleben in Germany, Biesheim in France, Terno d'Isola in Italy and Old Hickory, Tennessee in the USA, and geosynthetics operations in Maldon and Aberdare in the UK, Melbourne, Australia and at Old Hickory.

Lazard & Co., Limited ("Lazard") is acting as sole financial adviser to Fiberweb.

Walker Filtration has moved into 12,000 sq m premises in Washington, Wearside, U.K. - three times the size of its previous site. Its new premises have nine acres of adjoining land for further expansion.

The company has already grown its workforce in the North-East by 30 per cent to 198 during the last three years and has an additional 30 staff based overseas.

Walker Filtration, which was founded in 1983 by Brian Walker, has grown from a small regional business to a global £22.3m turnover enterprise with overseas sites in the US, South Africa and Australia and manufactures a wide range of filtration equipment for compressed air, compressed gas, vacuum pump and medical applications.

The business, which exports 88 per cent of its products worldwide, mainly to equipment manufacturers in Europe and the US, said the new premises has a range of features which will support its growth as well as benefiting customers. These include an increased production capability, fully-integrated flexible production systems, better design and development facilities, an integrated supply chain and improved stock holding capability. The company reckons the re-location will enable it to double its UK turnover in the next five years.

Lianne Walker MBE, director and group general manager, who took over day-to-day running of the business from her father in 2005, said: "We are delighted to have completed our relocation which represents a significant investment and re-enforces our commitment to sustain technical excellence, exceptional product quality and outstanding service as we continue to grow."

Oreck Corporation, a leading manufacturer of quality products in the homecare industry, introduces two new HEPA air purifiers to its lineup with AirInstinct™ 100 and AirInstinct™ 200. Both models feature a three-year HEPA filter and are ENERGY STAR® qualified.

Unlike most air purifiers that offer different speeds but leave users wondering when to turn it on and at what speed, Oreck’s AirInstinct 100 and AirInstinct 200 continuously monitor particles in the air passing through its Smart Air Sensors and adjust airflow speed accordingly when unit is set on automode.

Both models utilize Oreck’s unique PATH™ (Pre-filter, Anti-odor,True HEPA) filtration system that enables users to "turn it on and walk away™." A four-color lighting system lets users know when the unit is working and at what speed.

The Oreck AirInstinct 100 comes with a three-year HEPA filter and a one-year odor filter installed. The Oreck AirInstinct 200 comes with a three-year HEPA filter and a three-year odor filter installed. Filter life on both the HEPA and odor filters will vary with usage and environment. Additionally, AirInstinct 200 has two extra features, a power saving and a sleep mode, both of which minimize energy consumption.

Dexmet Corporation, a manufacturer of precision expanded metal foils (MicroGrid) and polymer films, has added Victrex Aptiv film made with Victrex polyetheretherketone (PEEK) polymer to its PolyGrid range.

Using proprietary equipment and processes which combines a ‘slit and stretch’ function, Dexmet performs an expansion procedure on the polymer to produce a diamond configured, open area mesh product for filtration applications.

Aptiv film was reportedly selected for its superior combination of mechanical strength, chemical and high temperature resistance. "While it technically falls under our high temperature PolyGrid product line," said Ken Burtt, VP of sales and marketing at Dexmet, "APTIV film provides much more than just high temperature capabilities. It also has great chemical compatibility as well as mechanical strength that may be required for certain filter applications in harsh environments making it more of a ‘high performance’ PolyGrid material."

Expanded mesh products are used in applications requiring membrane support, purification, and separation. For applications requiring high temperatures to filter caustic gases or fluids, such as the semiconductor, chemical processing, and petroleum/gas industries, the filtration media typically being utilised is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), perfluoroalkoxy (PFA), and ethylene chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE).

"Although PTFE, PFA and ECTFE have good heat and chemical compatibilities, they lack mechanical strength," said Burtt. "As filter performance demands increase, with higher pressures, temperatures, and aggressive environments, there is a need for better performing material, such as Victrex PEEK polymer."

The Aptiv PEEK films include low outgassing and extractables as well as low moisture absorption.

The advantage of an expanded product, especially important in a filter design, is that the material is one homogenous unit - the strands do not move relative to the other strands so opening sizes don’t change. Another advantage is the geometry of the opening the expanded process produces. The material has a three dimensional geometry which allows for multiple flow directions, improving cross flow while reducing pressure drop.

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