The world of filtration came to Philadelphia earlier this month as crowded aisles and standing-room-only conference sessions combined to make the Filtration 2010 International Conference and Exposition one of the the largest and most important filtration industry events in the world.

With the business of filtration continuing to play a vital role in the personal and business applications around the globe, Filtration 2010 drew 1400 attendees to the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Penn., November 30-December 2.

Living up to its reputation as a key industry event, Filtration 2010 featured 129 total exhibitors. A total of 28 exhibitors were from outside of the United States and 17 were first-time exhibitors at a Filtration show.

“Attendees at Filtration 2010 were able to see and touch the latest developments in raw materials, machinery and finished products from both established and new companies from everywhere filtration products are made and used,” says Rory Holmes, President of INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry, organizer of the annual event. “The future of the filtration industry was certainly on display at Filtration 2010.”

In addition to the Exposition, the well-attended three-day Filtration 2010 Conference focused on a number of vital topics to the business of filtration in 2010 and beyond. “The Conference this year highlighted such vital topics as energy efficiency, sustainability and the environment, in addition to the latest product technology,” says INDA’s Technical Director, Steve Ogle. “It was the best place in the world this year for filtration executives to learn about the technical developments that will continue to drive this business in the 21st Century.”

Among the highlights of Filtration 2010 a Best Booths competition which was held to recognize and reward the most attractive and innovative displays at the show. Winners were announced in three categories — Large Booth (more than 200 square feet), Ahlstrom Filtration; Small Booth (200 square feet or less), Finetex; Best Booth for a New Exhibitor, FibeRio Technology.

 Attracting a standing-room-only crowd for most of the morning was a session on Sustainability – Innovative Business Models. The topical session featured presentations on the sustainability efforts at PGI, Freudenberg Filtration, Ahlstrom Filtration, Camfil Farr and 3M.

Also attracting a large crowd were an Air Tutorial session led by R. Vijayakumar of Aerfil and a first-day session on the Fundamentals of Filtration & Testing, headed by Dr. Norman Lifshutz, Hollingsworth & Vose.

Filtration 2011 is scheduled for November 15-17, 2011 at Navy Pier in Chicago, Illinois. For more information visit www.inda.org