Over 1300 business and product developers converged at Chicago’s Navy Pier for the inaugural edition of FiltXPO, North America’s only exhibition and technical conference dedicated exclusively to filtration and separation products and processes. Well over 100 exhibitors (several exhibitors from China had to withdraw due to the COVID-19 situation) displayed their products and services to an inquisitive crowd that included many first-time attendees, and the concurrent Technical Conference featured seven distinct sessions and 31 outstanding presenters during the three-day event Feb. 26-28.

Many exhibitors praised the high-quality interactions they had with senior-level decision makers they met on the floor for the first time. These new acquaintances were seriously looking for new materials and solutions to current design challenges they are facing. “The ability to forge new connections with first-time attendees in new business areas provided strong value that will generate high returns,” says Doug Brown, president, Biax-Fiberfilm.

New technologies featured on the FiltXPO show floor included:

• TSI International demonstrated automated filter testers
• Albarrie representatives discussed new designs and presented fabric samples for air and liquid filtration
• Ahlstrom-Munksjö shared their new approaches on protecting the environment and people with its industrial filtration offerings
• Air Techniques International tested filter media on site for efficiency and resistance

The Technical Conference, chaired by Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Ph.D., associate dean at North Carolina State University and executive director of its Nonwovens Institute, featured sessions on Biopharmaceutical Filtration, Membrane Filtration, Air & Gas Filtration, Nanofiber Filter Media, Water Filtration, Macro/Nano Modeling and Separation & Filter Media Technology. Conference attendees were impressed with the caliber and content of the speaking professionals.

The two-day Filter Media Training Course, conducted by Chris Plotz, director of Education & Technical Affairs at INDA, the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, drew the maximum of 35 attendees who were extremely pleased with the level and quality of the instruction provided.

FiltXPO replaces the International Filtration Expo and Conference, which was organized annually by INDA for 27 consecutive years and, in the later years, alternated between Chicago and Philadelphia. FiltXPO is intended to be broader in scope, covering separation and membrane technologies, processes, and equipment. FiltXPO will be fixed in location at the Navy Pier in Chicago and take place every 18 months, with the next edition taking place October 12-14, 2021.