The air filtering element in any internal combustion engine greatly influences the performance and service life of the engine. The pressure drop across the air filter affects the engine power. Furthermore, the fine dust carried by the air permeated through the filtering element remarkably affects the development of wear in cylinder liners and piston rings. Therefore, a great care should be given to the selection of filtering element in the process of engine design.
This paper presents a set of experiments conducted in order to investigate the characteristics of six different types of commercial filtering elements used in the production of local air filters. Two paper, two synthetic, and two wire types of filtering elements were selected for this purpose. They were tested for the resistance characteristics at different values of air flow rate in natural room conditions. For measuring the efficiency and capacity characteristics of filtering elements, tests were conducted at constant air flow. In general the paper type was found to have higher pressure drop and higher efficiency but with lower capacity to retain dust compared to synthetic and wire materials. Analysis of the results in addition to conclusions are included.