Ahlstrom, a leader in high-performance fiber-based materials, is proud to
announce the completion of an exclusive licensing agreement with the
Argonide Corporation to manufacture and commercialize their patented
electropositive nano fiber filter media. The new Ahlstrom product is
based on Argonide technology developed through basic research over the
last 5 years. The development was partially funded by NASA, aimed at
purifying recycled water in advanced space vehicles, used on the moon and
beyond. Argonide’s NanoCeram® water filter received the Space
Foundation’s Hall of Fame award for 2005. Ahlstrom and Argonide
have been working closely together to obtain independent test data
validating the effectiveness of the technology and to initiate the
commercialization process.
Disruptor™ is a wet laid technology that is designed to be used in
pleated, spiral wound, disc or flat sheet media formats. The key to the
effectiveness of Disruptor™ is the grafting of alumina nanofibers onto
microglass fiber. The microglass fiber acts as a platform for the
nanoalumina while also enhancing flow rates through the creation of pore
space and providing mechanical retention for large or uncharged
particles. The nanoalumina fibers are approximately 2 nm in diameter and
several hundred nm in length, having a typical surface area of 350-500 m2
per gram. The blend of the nano and macro fibers in Disruptor™ allows for
the creation of media with exceptional pressure drop to efficiency ratios
and an incredible dust holding capacity. Because it is a depth
filter it has inherent reliability benefits over polymeric membranes.
Disruptor™ media has a pore size of approximately 2 microns. Due to the
vast surface area and huge electropositive charge of the nanoalumina
fibers, the media can remove 98% of all 0.025 micron particles (based on
MS2 virus) with one layer, 99.98% with two layers and 99.9999% using
three layers of media.
Disruptor™ technology has been proven to
remove a wide range of contaminants from water including: bacteria,
virus; metals such as lead iron, tin, copper, chrome 3, and aluminum as
well as colloidal minerals such as carbon dust and silica.
These
unique characteristics make Disruptor™ an excellent choice as an
alternative filter media to membranes for many applications. These
include: Point Of Entry and Point Of Use potable water, pharmaceutical
make up water, boiler feed water, chiller water, metals removal from
waste water; filtration of gelatin, inks, starch, carbon, paint pigments
and many other industrial and pharmaceutical processes.
Contacts:
Henry Frank, Director of Marketing, Argonide
Corp. 1-407-322-2500, henry@argonide.com
Rod
Komlenic, VP Filtration Business Development, +1 717 486 6401,
rod.komlenic@ahlstrom.com
Jerome Barrillon,
Director of Marketing, +1 860 654 8607, jerome.barrillon@ahsltrom.com
Ahlstrom in brief:
Ahlstrom is a global leader in the
development, manufacture and marketing of high performance fiber-based
materials. Nonwovens and specialty papers, made by Ahlstrom, are used in
a large variety of everyday products, e.g. in filters, wipes, flooring,
labels, and tapes. The company has a strong market position in several
business areas in which it operates, built upon the company's unique
fiber expertise and innovative approach. Ahlstrom's 5,700 employees serve
customers via sales offices and production facilities in more than 20
countries on six continents. In 2005, Ahlstrom's net sales amounted to
EUR 1.55 billion. Ahlstrom's share is listed on the Helsinki Stock
Exchange. The company website is www.ahlstrom.com.
# # #
Argonide Corporation
291 Power
Court,
Sanford, FL 32771 USA
Phone: 407.322.2500
NanoCeram®
is a registered trademark of the Argonide Corporation
Disruptor™ is a trademark of Ahlstrom
