Advancements have been made during the past five years to not only increase the strength of the as-manufactured clay bonded silicon carbide candle filter materials, but also to improve their high temperature creep resistance properties. This report reviews these developments, and describes the results of preliminary qualification testing which has been conducted at Westinghouse prior to utilizing the advanced clay bonded silicon carbide filters in high temperature, pressurized, coal-fired combustion and/or gasification applications.