By: Edward C. Gregor

There are many similarities betweenthe fiber, textile and nonwoven fabric industry and the filtration industry.The most obvious is that textile materials are used widely in the filtration asfilter media. However, what is not so obvious and what few in the textile industryrealize is that the filtration industry is as broadly segmented and highly fragmentedas are the materials and applications in the fiber, textile and nonwoven fabricindustry. Companies in both industries tend to specialize in a limited numberof market segments, as its impossible to concentrate on too many segments andunderstand the nuances and remain an effective supplier in the marketplace.Secondly, no supplier has the variety of materials necessary to access morethan a narrow number of distinct segments.

Filtration is also like anotherindustry in many ways: plastics. Both filtration and plastics continue tooutperform the overall economy. Although there are ups and downs, both demonstrateunabated growth. Further, legislation is filtrations best friend. Not many industriescan make such a claim.

With that said, this article willtake you on a trip through the filtration industry and point out the mostcommon applications using fibers, textiles, nonwoven fabrics and wire cloth filtrationmedia. You will be pleasantly surprised how widely these materials have found theirway, in whole or in part within filter configurations, and in such a variety ofapplications.

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Author is a new business development consultant in thefibers, textiles, nonwoven fabric, polymer and filtration industries.

Originallypublished in New Cloth Market: April 2010