THE EFFECTS OF DUST EXTRACTION ON MULTI-CYCLONE AND NON-WOVEN FABRIC PANEL FILTER PERFORMANCE IN THE AIR FILTERS USED IN SPECIAL VEHICLES

Common impurities found in the inlet air to the internal combustion engine of motor vehicles are characterized. Dust concentrations in the air were analysed for different operating conditions of a motor vehicle. It is shown that the most common and the most harmful air impurity for the technical machinery is a mineral dust from roads. The benefits of using the inertial filter (multicyclone) as a first stage of air filtration, including extended engine life are presented. The methods of dust extraction from a dust collector of the air filter multi-cyclone are shown. The necessity of regular ejection dust extraction from the multi-cyclone dust collector is shown. A dust extraction rate m(0) is defined and its effects on the cyclone separation efficiency and flow resistance are shown. The test method and the test conditions for a two-stage filter in multi-cyclone - non-woven fabric filter element configuration are developed. The characteristics of the separation efficiency and flow resistance of the cyclone and the non-woven fabric filter were determined as a function of dust mass supplied with the inlet air to the two-stage filter for three different extraction rates and without dust extraction from the multi-cyclone dust collector. The separation efficiency and flow resistance were determined for a multi-cyclone and a non-woven fabric filter without dust extraction from the multi-cyclone dust collector and with or without periodical maintenance. The benefits of periodical cleaning of the dust collector were shown.