Ahlstrom - one of the leading players in the global filtration industry - is investing in a new production line for molecular filtration media in Turin, Italy, to expand further its offering for indoor air quality and electric vehicles.

Air quality in closed environments such as buildings and vehicles is a major concern in many areas of the world. In this context, particulate filter media play an important role in removing solid particles and aerosols from the air.  Molecular filter media are used in complement, removing gaseous pollutants, including volatile organic compounds, inorganic gases (such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia), and odours, and delivering the cleanest air to people and processes.

The new line is being designed to produce the highest-performance adsorbent materials for premium filtration applications, including next-generation cabin air and fuel cell air intake, as well as a complete range for HVAC and cleanrooms. It will enable Ahlstrom to offer superior solutions for customers and support their industrial filtration application development as well as the transition to electric vehicles.

The investment is made in synergy with Ahlstrom’s Fine Fiber platform in Turin, which will be upgraded to produce HEPA filtration layers. Fine Fiber media can be combined with molecular filtration materials also to deliver the best protection against the finest particles.

“This new capability to produce molecular filtration solutions comes on top of recent investments in Europe, which reinforce our ability to better serve our customers by combining materials and technologies in multi-layer concepts,” stated Giuseppe Costa, VP Filtration EMEA & Asia.

“These steps further extend our commitment to be the preferred supplier to our global customer base and to introduce the next generation innovations, which align with our purpose to purify and protect with every fibre for a sustainable world,” he added.

Ahlstrom is a global leader in combining fibres into sustainable specialty materials. The company serves five growing and distinctive end markets, which form the basis for our five divisions - Filtration, Food & Consumer Packaging, Healthcare, Building Materials, and Technical Materials. Ahlstrom net sales in 2022 for continuing operations amounted to Euro 3.3 billion.