3 Jul. 2018 (11:10)

Palas® celebrates its 35-year jubilee

In September over 35 years ago, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Leander Mölter founded Palas® GmbH in Karlsruhe together with two partners.

35 Jahre Palas®
Photo: Company co-founder Dipl.-Phys. Wolfgang Mölter with the company's first filter test rig as unveiled in 1985 at the Filtech trade fair in Utrecht.

Back then they discovered a market niche in the development and series production of devices to generate and measure aerosols. Today, the company founded in 1963 by Dipl.-Ing (FH) Leander Mölter employs over 60 permanent employees. The number of jobs, as well as the sales volume, almost tripled in the last 10 years alone. Since 2015, Mr. Mölter has been supported in executive management by Dr. Ing. Maximilian Weiss as a further Managing Director.


Today, the products and expertise of Palas® are in demand worldwide for environmental measurement, in the fields of Automotive & Industry, as well as in laboratory and research institutions. The share of exports is over 60 percent. On the occasion of the 35-year jubilee, we are taking a look back over the most important milestones of the company history.

T-aperture technology

In 1985 in Utrecht, Palas® presented the public with the first filter test rig for separation efficiency determination of filter media. While the company founders initially concentrated on aerosol generation, particle measurement increasingly moved into the spotlight over the years. An important step towards this was the development of "T-aperture technology". This extremely precise counting method could be used to measure particles without border zone errors and with coincidence detection. The patented innovation forms the basis of the welas® white-light aerosol spectrometer, which the company developed from 2003 onwards. The modular construction with various sensors could be used for individually adaptable solutions for a broad spectrum of different measuring tasks and still forms the basis for the aerosol spectrometers today.

welas® digital and Promo® system

Palas® attained the next milestone in 2008 with its development of the welas® digital system and in 2009 with the Promo® system. These aerosol spectrometers enabled even higher concentrations up to 106 particles per cm3 to now be determined reliably and reproducibly, practically without coincidence error, as well as the particle size distribution and particle concentration. At the same time, the welas® 2070, 2100, 2300 and 2500 sensors were developed in order to optimally measure different particle concentrations. The company evolved into the market leader in the development and production of filter test rigs and optical aerosol spectrometers.

Certified Fidas® fine dust measurement systems

Building upon the proven welas® system, since 2008 Palas® has developed the Fidas® fine dust measurement system, which has proven very successful in the market. All fine dust monitors from the Fidas® 200 system are today suitability-tested and certified in accordance with the EN 12341, EN 14907, EN 15267 and EN 16450 standards and are therefore approved for use in public measurement networks. Fidas® fine dust monitors deliver the measured values PMtot, PM10, PM4, PM2.5 and PM1, as well as particle count concentration Cn. Additionally, the associated particle size distribution is determined simultaneously in the range 0.18 to 18 µm. Today Palas® is the only company worldwide that can count each individual particle and determine the size with one optical and certified fine dust measurement system.

Nanoparticle measurement technology

Palas® has also been active in the field of nanoparticle measurement technology since 2011. For instance, Palas® has developed the U-SMPS system, the CPC system and the Charme® electrometer. These new measuring devices made many things possible, including the MFP system in the field of filter testing, which has expanded filter characterisation to include particles in the nanometer range. In recent years, interest has intensified in science and the public for ultrafine particles, such that we can address a current topic with this product line and has again demonstrated the company's innovative power.

Receive updates on exciting products & valuable news!