LIQUID FILTRATION MEDIA

1 . A liquid filtration medium comprising at least one nonwoven sheet comprising polymeric fibers wherein the nonwoven sheet has a water flow rate of at least 10 ml/min/cm 2 /KPa and a tortuosity filter factor of at least 3.0.

2 . The liquid filtration medium of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric fibers are made from polymers selected from the group consisting of polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, polyaramids, polysulfones, polyimides, fluorinated polymers and combinations thereof.

3 . The liquid filtration medium of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric fibers have non-circular cross sections.

4 . The liquid filtration medium of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric fibers are plexifilamentary fiber strands.

5 . The liquid filtration medium of claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven sheet is a uniaxially stretched nonwoven sheet in the machine direction.

6 . The liquid filtration medium of claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven sheet has a filtration efficiency rating of at least 50% at a 0.5 micrometer particle size and a life expectancy normalized to the basis weight of the nonwoven sheet of at least 2.9 min/g/m 2 .

7 . A filter system for filtering particles from liquid comprising a liquid filtration medium comprising at least one nonwoven sheet comprising polymeric fibers wherein the nonwoven sheet has a water flow rate of at least 10 ml/min/cm 2 /KPa and a tortuosity filter factor of at least 3.0.

8 . The filter system of claim 7 , wherein the polymeric fibers are made from polymers selected from the group consisting of polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, polyaramids, polysulfones, polyimides, fluorinated polymers and combinations thereof.

9 . The filter system of claim 7 , wherein the polymeric fibers have non-circular cross sections.

10 . The filter system of claim 7 , wherein the polymeric fibers are plexifilamentary fiber strands.

11 . The filter system of claim 7 , wherein the nonwoven sheet is a uniaxially stretched nonwoven sheet in the machine direction.

12 . The filter system of claim 7 , wherein the nonwoven sheet has a filtration efficiency rating of at least 50% at a 0.5 micrometer particle size and a life expectancy normalized to the basis weight of the nonwoven sheet of at least 2.9 min/g/m 2 .

13 . The filter system of claim 7 , wherein the filter system further comprises at least one additional liquid filtration medium selected from the group consisting of a pre-filter layer wherein the pre-filter layer is positioned adjacent to and in a face to face relationship with the nonwoven sheet and is positioned upstream of the nonwoven sheet, a microfiltration membrane wherein the microfiltration membrane is positioned adjacent to and in a face to face relationship with the nonwoven sheet and is positioned downstream of the nonwoven sheet and combinations thereof.

14 . The filter system of claim 7 , wherein the filter system is selected from the group consisting of an automatic pressure filter, a cartridge, a filter bag, a pleated filter bag and a filter sock.

15 . A process for producing a liquid filtration medium comprising:

flash spinning a solution of 12% to 24% by weight polyethylene in a spin agent consisting of a mixture of normal pentane and cyclopentane at a spinning temperature from about 205° C. to 220° C. to form plexifilamentary fiber strands and collecting the plexifilamentary fiber strands into an unbonded web;

uniaxially stretching the unbonded web in the machine direction between heated draw rolls at a temperature between about 124° C. and about 154° C., positioned between about 5 cm and about 30 cm apart and stretched between about 3% and 25% to form the stretched web; and

bonding the stretched web between heated bonding rolls at a temperature between about 124° C. and about 154° C. to form a nonwoven sheet wherein the nonwoven sheet has a water flow rate of at least 10 ml/min/cm 2 /KPa and a tortuosity filter factor of at least 3.0.