- Email: [email protected]
Dividends
Filtration Industry Analyst
September 2001
A EUROPEAN
NEV~ I ' R ( ) i ) I I ( ' T I)E~'EI,()I'M ENTS
~r ~r ~r
PERSPECTIVE
Filtration Industry Analyst's European correspondent Ken Sntherland wonders how the industry is perceived. What does the average chemical engineer, let alone a freshly graduated engineer, think of at the mention of the word
filtration? Almost certainly, the image will be of a large piece of equipment, as used in the chemical and process industries: a plateand-frame filter press, for example, or a band filter, a tower press or a rotary vacuum drum filter, even possibly a large fabric filter on an exhaust gas application, or maybe a cartridge filter, probably in a duplex installation. The most likely reason for this is that the process applications are of the greatest interest to a process engineer. The mysteries of cake filtration make a good subject for a university course, and provide plenty of operating problems for the practising engineer. The more utilitarian functions of filtration are much less glamorous. But how does the industry regard itself?. One obvious way to check on this is to look at the way in which the filtration industry advertises its wares. A survey of the advertisements in our sister publication Filtration + Separation, for the first part of this year shows that half of the advertisements relate to filter media of one sort or another. An important reason for this apparent imbalance in the picture of the industry, as seen from advertisements, is that utility applications for filtration are very much more important than is normally understood. Utility here means those applications in which filtration is involved in cleaning fluids of all kinds prior to their use in some completely different application, such as the purification of cleanroom air,
10
respiration masks, engine filters (air, fuel, oil, coolant), automotive cabin air filters, compressed gas filters, pneumatic and hydraulic system filters, the cleaning of semiconductor wash water, and so on. A major feature of these kinds of filter is that they are relatively simple in construction - certainly by comparison with, say, a rotary vacuum filter. Some are very little more than a pad of filter medium held in a simple flame. The properties of the filter medium itself are paramount in the design and selection of such filters, hence the importance to the industry of filter media availability. Elsevier Advanced Technology's Profile of the Interna-
tional Filtration and Separation lndustry- Market Prospects to 2003 makes reference to the utility applications in contrast to the process uses of filtration, and from that publication it is possible to estimate that these utility applications form a large part of the filtration market. In terms of media only, the utility applications probably represent over half of the market. The filtration industry should be more positive about its value in these utility applications. Many of them are, after all, the main drivers in the provision of ever-cleaner fluids, leading to the availability of finer media for all applications. Ken Sutherland has run his process engineering and marketing consultancy, Northdoe, for 20 years. Northdoe is largely devoted to filtration and other separation technologies. He can be contacted at: Tel- +44 1737 242499 Fax: +44 1737 242465 E-mail: [email protected]
• A four-page product brochure detailing model specifications, system design and applications of the Osmo BEV Series is now available from Osmonics. The BEV Series is a new line of membrane filtration systems engineered specifically for use in beverage water applications, such as bottled water, carbonated soft drinks, teas, fruit juices, low-sodium products and sports drinks. Four standard models are all available for delivery in 6-10 weeks, and have capacities ranging from 9000- 36 000 gallons per hour (gph). Osmonics h a s a l s o launched a new line of Autotrol brand Performa series high-performance backwash filter control valves. This line consists of three different control valve configurations, allowing for extensive application flexibility. All filters are designed for high-flow applications that enable this control valve to be used in large residential and light commercial filter systems. • The latest development in the DCF range of mechanically cleaned filters from Ronningen-Petter is a new twin actuator option and an enhanced seal design on the DCF 800 and DCF 1600. • A separation system designed specifically for the continuous removal of solid particles in liquid food products is now available from the Thermal Division o f A l f a Laval Ltd, UK. The Confilt module uses a self cleaning strainer and a hydrocyclone to remove particles such as fibres, sand, rust, clay, seeds and pips.
I)IVI I)EN I)N • Donaldson has announced a quarterly cash dividend of US$0.075 per share, payable on 13 September 2001 to shareholders of record at 24 August 2001. The declaration is the 184th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the company. • BHA has declared a cash dividend of US$0.03 per share payable on 7 August 2001, to shareholders of record at the close of business on 31 July 2001. The company also reports that it has accumulated 2.4 million shares of the 3.0 million shares of BHA common stock authorized by its board of directors for repurchase. • Baker Hughes' regular quarterly cash dividend of US$0.115 per share of common stock was paid on 24 August 2001, to holders of record on 6 August 2001. • Crane Co's regular US$0.10 dividend on common stock for the third quarter of 2001 is payable on 13 September 2001 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on 4 September 2001. • Scotland's Weir Group is paying an interim dividend of £0.0315 per share, a 5% increase on last year. • G U D Holdings, parent company of Ryco Filtration, plans to pay a A$0.075 per share, fully franked final dividend to shareholders on 8 October 2001. This follows the interim dividend payment of A$0.075 per share, making a A$0.15 payout for the year. On the current share price of A$1.83, GUD shares are yielding 8.2%. • The Textron board has approved a quarterly dividend of US$0.325 per share on the company's common stock.
September 2001
A EUROPEAN
NEV~ I ' R ( ) i ) I I ( ' T I)E~'EI,()I'M ENTS
~r ~r ~r
PERSPECTIVE
Filtration Industry Analyst's European correspondent Ken Sntherland wonders how the industry is perceived. What does the average chemical engineer, let alone a freshly graduated engineer, think of at the mention of the word
filtration? Almost certainly, the image will be of a large piece of equipment, as used in the chemical and process industries: a plateand-frame filter press, for example, or a band filter, a tower press or a rotary vacuum drum filter, even possibly a large fabric filter on an exhaust gas application, or maybe a cartridge filter, probably in a duplex installation. The most likely reason for this is that the process applications are of the greatest interest to a process engineer. The mysteries of cake filtration make a good subject for a university course, and provide plenty of operating problems for the practising engineer. The more utilitarian functions of filtration are much less glamorous. But how does the industry regard itself?. One obvious way to check on this is to look at the way in which the filtration industry advertises its wares. A survey of the advertisements in our sister publication Filtration + Separation, for the first part of this year shows that half of the advertisements relate to filter media of one sort or another. An important reason for this apparent imbalance in the picture of the industry, as seen from advertisements, is that utility applications for filtration are very much more important than is normally understood. Utility here means those applications in which filtration is involved in cleaning fluids of all kinds prior to their use in some completely different application, such as the purification of cleanroom air,
10
respiration masks, engine filters (air, fuel, oil, coolant), automotive cabin air filters, compressed gas filters, pneumatic and hydraulic system filters, the cleaning of semiconductor wash water, and so on. A major feature of these kinds of filter is that they are relatively simple in construction - certainly by comparison with, say, a rotary vacuum filter. Some are very little more than a pad of filter medium held in a simple flame. The properties of the filter medium itself are paramount in the design and selection of such filters, hence the importance to the industry of filter media availability. Elsevier Advanced Technology's Profile of the Interna-
tional Filtration and Separation lndustry- Market Prospects to 2003 makes reference to the utility applications in contrast to the process uses of filtration, and from that publication it is possible to estimate that these utility applications form a large part of the filtration market. In terms of media only, the utility applications probably represent over half of the market. The filtration industry should be more positive about its value in these utility applications. Many of them are, after all, the main drivers in the provision of ever-cleaner fluids, leading to the availability of finer media for all applications. Ken Sutherland has run his process engineering and marketing consultancy, Northdoe, for 20 years. Northdoe is largely devoted to filtration and other separation technologies. He can be contacted at: Tel- +44 1737 242499 Fax: +44 1737 242465 E-mail: [email protected]
• A four-page product brochure detailing model specifications, system design and applications of the Osmo BEV Series is now available from Osmonics. The BEV Series is a new line of membrane filtration systems engineered specifically for use in beverage water applications, such as bottled water, carbonated soft drinks, teas, fruit juices, low-sodium products and sports drinks. Four standard models are all available for delivery in 6-10 weeks, and have capacities ranging from 9000- 36 000 gallons per hour (gph). Osmonics h a s a l s o launched a new line of Autotrol brand Performa series high-performance backwash filter control valves. This line consists of three different control valve configurations, allowing for extensive application flexibility. All filters are designed for high-flow applications that enable this control valve to be used in large residential and light commercial filter systems. • The latest development in the DCF range of mechanically cleaned filters from Ronningen-Petter is a new twin actuator option and an enhanced seal design on the DCF 800 and DCF 1600. • A separation system designed specifically for the continuous removal of solid particles in liquid food products is now available from the Thermal Division o f A l f a Laval Ltd, UK. The Confilt module uses a self cleaning strainer and a hydrocyclone to remove particles such as fibres, sand, rust, clay, seeds and pips.
I)IVI I)EN I)N • Donaldson has announced a quarterly cash dividend of US$0.075 per share, payable on 13 September 2001 to shareholders of record at 24 August 2001. The declaration is the 184th consecutive quarterly dividend paid by the company. • BHA has declared a cash dividend of US$0.03 per share payable on 7 August 2001, to shareholders of record at the close of business on 31 July 2001. The company also reports that it has accumulated 2.4 million shares of the 3.0 million shares of BHA common stock authorized by its board of directors for repurchase. • Baker Hughes' regular quarterly cash dividend of US$0.115 per share of common stock was paid on 24 August 2001, to holders of record on 6 August 2001. • Crane Co's regular US$0.10 dividend on common stock for the third quarter of 2001 is payable on 13 September 2001 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on 4 September 2001. • Scotland's Weir Group is paying an interim dividend of £0.0315 per share, a 5% increase on last year. • G U D Holdings, parent company of Ryco Filtration, plans to pay a A$0.075 per share, fully franked final dividend to shareholders on 8 October 2001. This follows the interim dividend payment of A$0.075 per share, making a A$0.15 payout for the year. On the current share price of A$1.83, GUD shares are yielding 8.2%. • The Textron board has approved a quarterly dividend of US$0.325 per share on the company's common stock.