Experimental characterization of engine oil filter materials and determination of permeability

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As fuel is transported, it gets contaminated with inorganic particles from pipe scales and water and hydrocarbon condensates, which degrade the quality of oil. As a result, filtration of suspended liquid/solid contaminants from different type of oils (fuel, lubricant and hydraulic system oil) is an important step in many industries. One of the most effective ways of filtering solid particles or liquid droplets is the use of filter media. Currently, all automotive engines, whether gasoline or diesel, come with filtration device to improve oil cleanliness and thus extend the life of the engine resulting in total annual oil filter sales of about 425 million only in the US. In this research, a new proprietary design of concentric coalescer and separator filter in one single unit will be tested by varying different operating conditions. This design is expected to have much lower pressure drop and will be more compact compared to the existing designs. In addition, process models based on convection-diffusion equation in porous media will be developed to determine permeability as a function of thickness of the membrane material, oil properties, and operating variables, and will be validated using experimental data.