Europe a total of 1399 t of nonwovens was produced for various applications
(Schumann and Erth, 2006) including 3.9% for liquid filtration and 2.4% for gas
and air filtration (see Fig. 9.1). Increasing demand and ongoing development of
new applications continues to fuel an increase in growth of the use of nonwovens
in filtration. As can be seen from Fig. 9.2, growth is expected not only in America
and Europe but also in Asia and other regions (Anon., 2008).
Rigby (2003) showed that the annual growth rate of nonwovens in filter
applications in 2005 was expected to be 8% and to reach a growth of 8.6% by 2010.
For comparison the growth rate of general nonwovens production, independent
from application was expected to increase by about 4.7% by 2005 and about 5% in
2010 (David Rigby Associates, 2002). Thus, the use of nonwovens for filter
applications is one of the fastest growing sectors in the nonwoven market.