Membrane Filters Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Membrane Filters Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Membrane Filters Market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 8.8% during the forecast period (2022 - 2027).

The outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide has a significant impact on the market because sterilization or filtration is crucial for the removal of all microbes, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa, which may contaminate medicinal drugs, vaccines, or alternative substances, chemicals, food, and other products and thereby, represent health hazards. For instance, according to an article published in December 2020 titled Primary concentration – The critical step in implementing the wastewater-based epidemiology for the COVID-19 pandemic: A mini-review’’, the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the wastewater-based epidemiology has attracted a significant amount of attention to quantifying the SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA in wastewater samples, and then utilizing this knowledge to estimate the prevalence of infection. It has been observed that various techniques including ultrafiltration are efficient in filtering viruses from a water sample and can effectively prevent fouling due to the rapid, tangentially directed crossflow. Thus, COVID-19 has impacted the market growth.

Certain factors that are propelling the market growth are the increasing awareness and regulations for water safety and filtration and the launch of new transforming and innovative technologies. For instance, the Department of Science & Technology (DST) initiatives encourage national and cooperative developmental research to solve current and future water concerns. Also, the Water Technology Initiative encourages research and development (R&D) activities for the provision of clean drinking water at reasonable costs and in sufficient quantities by utilizing relevant scientific and technological interventions developed through regional initiatives. Similarly, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of India collaborated on a joint program on water quality (worth EUR 8.4 million) to better understand the transport, transformation, interactions, and fate of natural and man-made pollutants in the environment and assess the risks they pose to people and the environment. Such initiatives by the government and the countries are also contributing to market growth.

With the increasing pharmaceutical spending on research and development, adoption of various business strategies, and advanced technology, and the advantages offered by the membrane filters such as high percentage of contaminant removal, increased efficiency, ease of operation, and reliability, membrane filters methods are being increasingly adopted in the pharmaceutical industry, boosting market growth over the forecast period. According to the data published by the Congressional Budget Office, in 2021, it has been observed that pharmaceutical industries have spent nearly USD 200 billion on research and development in 2020 globally compared to USD 83 million in 2019. Thus, the increasing investment in research and development by the companies further increases the capabilities of the company to adopt innovative technologies and filtration systems, thereby increasing market growth.

Furthermore, the rising company activities in adopting and utilizing membrane-based technologies and increasing product launches are also contributing to market growth. For instance, in October 2020, Merck KGaA increased the production capacity of Millipore Express membranes. This helps help the company to meet the increasing demand in the growing biopharmaceutical market. Also, in December 2020, Xiaomi launched a Xiaolang Ultrafiltration Water Purifier for JPY 499 (USD 76). The product was developed with an ultrafiltration membrane which uses a high-efficiency hollow fiber membrane as the core filter layer. The filter layer has a filtration accuracy of 01. um and can successfully filter out harmful contaminants from the water, get rid of odors, and enhance the taste.

However, the stringent government regulation for the validation of the filtration process and membrane fouling degrading filtration efficiency are expected to hinder market growth.

Key Market TrendsUltrafiltration Segment Expects to Register a High CAGR in the Membrane Filters Market Over the Forecast Period

The ultrafiltration segment is expected to witness significant growth in the membrane filters market over the forecast period owing to the factors such as the increasing adoption of ultrafiltration technologies, growing research and development spending, and rising awareness of water safety and filtration.

Ultrafiltration (UF) is a membrane technology used to remove dissolved and colloidal material at low transmembrane pressure. The dissolved metal ions (low-molecular weights or hydrated ions) can pass through the ultrafiltration membrane as these membranes have large pores that are greater than dissolved metal ions.

Several advantages offered by ultrafiltration are their low operating pressure, low energy consumption than nano-filtration or reverse osmosis, few manual actions required, cheap, good permeate yield depending on the supply of water and membrane choice, and can be disinfected easily. Ultrafiltration has its application in the dairy industry, food industry, metal industry, textile industry, pharmaceutical industry, and chemical industry.

In addition, as per an article published by the Elsevier Public Health Emergency Collection, April 2021, titled A review on hospital wastewater treatment: A special emphasis on occurrence and removal of pharmaceutically active compounds, resistant microorganisms, and SARS-CoV-2’’, a pilot-scale study was conducted using membrane bioreactors (MBR) with shallow ultrafiltration fiber membranes to treat hospital wastewater (HWW), which shows 95% removal of total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and ammonia after an HRT of 14 h. Similarly, according to an article published in March 2021, titled ‘Recovery and Purification of Protein Aggregates from Cell Lysates Using Ceramic Membrane: Fouling Analysis and Modeling of Ultrafiltration’, membrane ultrafiltration can be used to purify larger size and insoluble protein aggregates as compared to expensive chromatography steps. This is expected to increase the adoption of ultrafiltration technologies in the industries, thereby propelling segment growth.

Furthermore, the rising company activities are also expected to increase the market growth over the forecast period. For instance, in March 2022, LG Electronics, India launched an Ultrafiltration + Ultraviolet (UF+UV) water purifier on World Water Day. These water purifiers remove heavy metals from the water. Also, in June 2020, Synder Filtration launched OptimaFlow Series elements. The new product line is available for all current standard and MAX membrane types for ultrafiltration and microfiltration in the standard element sizes and models. Similarly, in June 2020, Microdyn-Nadir launched a new brand for its hollow fiber PVDF ultrafiltration (UF) product line, Microdyne PureULTRA module for treating surface water, groundwater, seawater, and tertiary treated wastewater.

Thus, owing to the aforementioned factors, the market is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period.

North America is Expected to Dominate the Market During the Forecast Period

North America is expected to hold a significant market share in the membrane filters market owing to the factors such as the rising research and development expenditure and increasing technological advancements in membrane filters.

The spending on research and development (R&D) by various pharmaceutical companies and government organizations has been increasing recently, which is anticipated to drive market growth over the forecast period. For instance, as per the annual reports-2021 of 3M Company, in 2021, the company invested USD 1.994 billion in its research and development as compared to USD 1.878 billion in 2020. In addition, another company, Danaher Corporation invested USD 1,742 million in its research and development in 2021, as compared to USD 1,348 million in 2020. This is expected to increase the adoption of new technologies in filtration system which provides better accuracy and reduce fouling parameter, thereby fueling the market growth.

In addition, Environmental Protection Agency announced the availability of USD 1 billion in funding, in FY2022, and the first of USD 5 billion, for the fiscal year 2022-2026, in grants under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other emerging contaminants in drinking water, particularly in small or disadvantaged communities. The Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities Grant Program's objective is to prioritize grant funding in small or disadvantaged communities so that they can concentrate solely on addressing emerging contaminants in drinking water, including PFAS. Thus, the rising government initiatives and funding related to water safety and filtration are expected to increase the demand for membrane filters and their use in the filtration process thereby propelling the market growth.

Furthermore, the new product launches of membrane filters and related filtration systems in the region are also expected to boost market growth over the forecast period. For instance, in November 2021, DuPont Water Solutions (DWS) launched a new reverse osmosis membrane filter, TapTec LC HF-4040, which is designed to combine high flow rates with reliability, for use in commercial buildings.

Thus, owing to the aforementioned factors, the market is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The market for membrane filters is moderately competitive with the presence of global as well as local companies. With the rising use of membrane filters, few small to mid-sized companies are expected to enter the market and these companies are believed to gain substantial share in this market in the future. Some of the key players in the membrane filters market are Cytiva, 3M Company, Danaher Corporation (Pall Corporation), Merck KGaA, Sartorius AG, and Novasep.

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