$7 Billion Market for Air Filters Next Year

Sales of filters to purify indoor air will be just under $7 billion in 2014. This is the conclusion reached by the McIlvaine Company (USA) in Air Filtration and Purification World Markets.

The market will grow at a robust rate due to expansions of commercial and industrial markets in Asia. Equally important is the quality upgrading which is raising the price per filter unit. In the power segment air filters are used to prevent contaminants from damaging the high speed gas turbines. Where the medium efficiency filter was the most popular in the past, gas turbine operators are now choosing high efficiency filters. They realise the additional cost to protect the turbine is more than justified.

There is a similar upgrading in the residential and commercial sectors. Whereas low efficiency filters were the leading choice in the past, medium efficiency filters are now selected.

Air filters are used in most industrial plants. Many of these plants are utilising exhaust hoods, dust collectors and stacks which discharge the air outside the plant, so the inlet air volume is considerably greater than would be required just for conventional HVAC. All of the incoming air must be filtered.

The highest efficiency requirements are in semiconductor plants. As the line sizes on chips are reduced the potential damage from small particles increases, so efficiency needs keep increasing.