Air filters
A typical powerful diesel engine requires between 13 000 and 20 000 litres of air to burn merely one litre of fuel. In normal road conditions, the air consumed by a 16-litre engine (such as your truck-tractor has) to cover a distance of 100 000km, contains almost 20 kilograms of pollution!!!
Therefore it is necessary to use better and better filters. In new generation engines the minimum life is about 10 000 h while in the 30s, when air filters were introduced, it was 5 000 h.
Since within 4 hours an engine consumes completely 1 gram of dust, how important an air filter becomes. For instance, an air filter with 99% efficiency lets into the engine twice as much dust than a filter with 99.5% efficiency. If we refer to a filter with 99.9% the difference in efficiency is 10 times more (see table).
| Filters examined |
Efficiency |
Amount of dust getting into the engine |
| Filter 1 |
99,0% |
2,0 gram / hour |
| Filter 2 |
99,5% |
1,0 gram / hour |
| Filter 3 |
99,6% |
0,8 gram / hour |
| Filter 4 |
99,7% |
0,6 gram / hour |
| Filter 5 |
99,8% |
0,4 gram / hour |
| Filter 6 |
99,9% |
0,2 gram / hour |
HOW TO ASSESS THE QUALITY OF A FILTER...
It is the resultant of many factors that decides the efficiency of filtration. These elements are:
- the degree of air pollution, - temperature, - humidity, - the efficiency of the filtrating material (ability to stop dirt), - the filter’s capacity, - resistance to flow put up by the filter, - other
In the construction of Fleetguard filters all the above mentioned factors are taken into account and optimized so that our product is suitable for the technical conditions set by a given engine and so that it has appropriate life span.
Filtrating material
Depending on the application of filters, Fleetguard uses different types of filtrating paper. The most important technical parameters taken into account when selecting paper for the (given) filter are: the size, shape and distribution of fibres, the sizes and distribution of pores, the thickness of paper, mechanical durability and weave. Filtrating paper is impregnated with special resins and undergoes other processes which improve its most important qualities.
Paper pleating
The purpose of pleating paper is to maximize its amount closed in given space so that the filter catches the maximum amount of dust, i.e. so it has the optimal load capacity calculated in grams. A filter which has not got enough pleats will sooner reach its maximum load capacity, and consequently will sooner become blocked. Too many pleats may mean that they will stick to each other. Inner surfaces of the pleats which are stuck together do not participate in the process of filtration, because the dust does not have access to them. Even if the number of pleats is appropriate, the fast flowing air causes the paper to vibrate, and consequently the initial distribution of paper in the filter may change. In order to prevent the paper from sticking, Fleetguard uses special creases on the outer and inner edges of the pleats. The creases allow the pleats to maintain a uniform distance from each other throughout the whole period when the filter is used. To ensure additional stability, the outer surfaces of very big air filters are in some places covered with narrow strips of resin. Fleetguard Filters are always constructed for the optimal - not too small and not too big - number of pleats and the appropriate distance between them is ensured due to creases on their edges and reinforcement with resin strips.
Gluing
Even the smallest details are significant. When a filter installed in the casing is not tightly integrated with it, dirty air is sucked directly into the engine. Therefore gaskets used by Fleetguard are made from appropriate materials and constructed in a way ensuring a proper and durable seal between the filter and the casing.
Sooner or later you will see that the choice of a filter for the right application has a significant influence on the durability, exploitation cost and functioning of your Diesel engine.
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