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Engine Air Filter Selection

Engine Air Filter Selection

2025-07-15

Engine Air Filter Selection

In many equipment operators and even part of the technical staff, there is usually a wrong understanding: in the engine's “three filters” in the diesel and oil filter is very important, must be replaced regularly, and the air filter even if it is dirty or a little damaged can be insisted on the use of a period of time. Do not know, a lot of early engine wear and engine air intake system, some because of air filter damage, some because the intake pipeline loose, so that part of the intake did not go through the air filter directly into the engine. Let us look at such a set of data: in general, high-speed engine, each burning 1 diesel fuel must have about 800L of air through the air filter. Therefore, in order to reduce engine wear and prolong the service life of the engine, it is necessary to stop the dust and pollutants in the air into the engine. Playing this task is the air filter.

latest company news about Engine Air Filter Selection  0

1. Air filter evaluation criteria
In liquid filtration terminology, we often see the term “micron rating”, according to which the filter's filtration accuracy is judged. In general, however, air filters are evaluated using industry standards for life and efficiency.
(1) Air filter life
The life of an air filter is evaluated in terms of the total mass of inhaled dust (g) or in terms of laboratory life (h), and is determined in an environment where the standard test dust (see attached table) concentration is 1 g/m'. The completion of the life test is determined by the airflow resistance, and when a predetermined pressure difference is reached, the test is stopped and the mass of the filter is weighed. The capacity or life of the filter is determined by the mass of test dust absorbed by the filter.
Under the same operating conditions, the main determinants of air filter life are the type of filter media and the surface area of the filter media. The more filter media used in a filter of the same type, the larger the surface area of the filter media, the greater the capacity to contain dust and pollutants in the air, and the longer its service life.

latest company news about Engine Air Filter Selection  1

  • Filter Materials of Air Filters
    (1) Traditional Filter Materials
    The most commonly used filter material in air filters is natural fiber – paper. However, it is vastly different from the paper we usually refer to. Filter materials do not filter particles in the air through mesh holes like a sieve as we might imagine. Because if the mesh holes of a sieve are small enough, although they can block all particles, the accompanying problem is that the sieve will get clogged quickly, causing unacceptable resistance to the intake system. Therefore, the filter material in an air filter is made into a complex grid structure (see Figure 1), which allows air to pass through while capturing pollutants.

 

(2) New Filter Materials
With the development of engine technology, higher requirements have been put forward for air filters. In response to these requirements, new technologies and filter materials are constantly being developed, such as the EON™ microfiber filter material technology from Donaldson Company in the United States. This technology can make submicron pollutants stay on the surface of the filter, rather than allowing air to carry pollutants to diffuse deep inside the filter when the air circulation area is insufficient. The filtration resistance of EON™ microfiber filter material is lower than that of traditional filter materials, and it has smaller and finer fiber gaps (see Figure 1), thus ensuring fewer pollutants pass through the filter into the engine while achieving higher filtration efficiency.
  1. In actual production activities, to reduce production costs, most engine manufacturers do not produce filter elements themselves. When needed, one can choose filters from the filter manufacturers that supply supporting products to the engine manufacturers. These filters are of exactly the same quality as those provided by the engine manufacturers, except that they are printed with the logo of the filter manufacturer instead of that of the engine manufacturer. For example, most of the filters  for Caterpillar's products are supplied by Donaldson Company. It must be noted that air filters should never be selected solely based on the criteria of identical appearance or similar size. Poor-quality air filters will unknowingly accelerate engine wear, leading to premature overhauls of the engine.

    latest company news about Engine Air Filter Selection  2

    latest company news about Engine Air Filter Selection  3

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Blog Details
Created with Pixso. Home Created with Pixso. Blog Created with Pixso.

Engine Air Filter Selection

Engine Air Filter Selection

2025-07-15

Engine Air Filter Selection

In many equipment operators and even part of the technical staff, there is usually a wrong understanding: in the engine's “three filters” in the diesel and oil filter is very important, must be replaced regularly, and the air filter even if it is dirty or a little damaged can be insisted on the use of a period of time. Do not know, a lot of early engine wear and engine air intake system, some because of air filter damage, some because the intake pipeline loose, so that part of the intake did not go through the air filter directly into the engine. Let us look at such a set of data: in general, high-speed engine, each burning 1 diesel fuel must have about 800L of air through the air filter. Therefore, in order to reduce engine wear and prolong the service life of the engine, it is necessary to stop the dust and pollutants in the air into the engine. Playing this task is the air filter.

latest company news about Engine Air Filter Selection  0

1. Air filter evaluation criteria
In liquid filtration terminology, we often see the term “micron rating”, according to which the filter's filtration accuracy is judged. In general, however, air filters are evaluated using industry standards for life and efficiency.
(1) Air filter life
The life of an air filter is evaluated in terms of the total mass of inhaled dust (g) or in terms of laboratory life (h), and is determined in an environment where the standard test dust (see attached table) concentration is 1 g/m'. The completion of the life test is determined by the airflow resistance, and when a predetermined pressure difference is reached, the test is stopped and the mass of the filter is weighed. The capacity or life of the filter is determined by the mass of test dust absorbed by the filter.
Under the same operating conditions, the main determinants of air filter life are the type of filter media and the surface area of the filter media. The more filter media used in a filter of the same type, the larger the surface area of the filter media, the greater the capacity to contain dust and pollutants in the air, and the longer its service life.

latest company news about Engine Air Filter Selection  1

  • Filter Materials of Air Filters
    (1) Traditional Filter Materials
    The most commonly used filter material in air filters is natural fiber – paper. However, it is vastly different from the paper we usually refer to. Filter materials do not filter particles in the air through mesh holes like a sieve as we might imagine. Because if the mesh holes of a sieve are small enough, although they can block all particles, the accompanying problem is that the sieve will get clogged quickly, causing unacceptable resistance to the intake system. Therefore, the filter material in an air filter is made into a complex grid structure (see Figure 1), which allows air to pass through while capturing pollutants.

 

(2) New Filter Materials
With the development of engine technology, higher requirements have been put forward for air filters. In response to these requirements, new technologies and filter materials are constantly being developed, such as the EON™ microfiber filter material technology from Donaldson Company in the United States. This technology can make submicron pollutants stay on the surface of the filter, rather than allowing air to carry pollutants to diffuse deep inside the filter when the air circulation area is insufficient. The filtration resistance of EON™ microfiber filter material is lower than that of traditional filter materials, and it has smaller and finer fiber gaps (see Figure 1), thus ensuring fewer pollutants pass through the filter into the engine while achieving higher filtration efficiency.
  1. In actual production activities, to reduce production costs, most engine manufacturers do not produce filter elements themselves. When needed, one can choose filters from the filter manufacturers that supply supporting products to the engine manufacturers. These filters are of exactly the same quality as those provided by the engine manufacturers, except that they are printed with the logo of the filter manufacturer instead of that of the engine manufacturer. For example, most of the filters  for Caterpillar's products are supplied by Donaldson Company. It must be noted that air filters should never be selected solely based on the criteria of identical appearance or similar size. Poor-quality air filters will unknowingly accelerate engine wear, leading to premature overhauls of the engine.

    latest company news about Engine Air Filter Selection  2

    latest company news about Engine Air Filter Selection  3