What is an air filter for?
The engine air filter is a structural element of the engine power system, which is responsible for filtering the incoming air into the combustion chambers. As you know, not a single internal combustion power unit can function without air, which enters through the throttle (in new cars) or through the intake manifold (carburetor-type engines).
The filter element is designed to filter the incoming air into the combustion chamber. This oxygen must be clean, free of dust and dirt. It is this part that is responsible for ensuring that the air entering the engine is clean.
Historically, there are different types of filters, which will be described below. They all have a different design, but their purpose remains the same.
What should you pay attention to when choosing an air filter for your car?
To answer the question which air filters for cars are better, you need to listen to certain criteria that will help you choose a decent filter:
- The air filter for a car directly depends on its size. It must have appropriate dimensions suitable for the place where it is installed under the hood;
- working filtration. It is based on checking the filter element for loss of its functions over a certain period of operation, which renders the part unsuitable for use;
- the efficiency of the filter in allowing dust particles to pass through. The skip rate is up to 1%. In this case, the resistance value should be equal to 2.5 kPa;
- build quality. The air filter must be original from the manufacturer or have a high-quality assembly;
- The quality of the seal plays a significant role. A soft seal does not cope with its task of holding the function within the appropriate mounting frames, but a hard seal ensures reliability and prevents contaminated air masses from entering the engine.
Design features
Most air filters consist of three elements: a housing, a filter membrane and a rubber seal, which is located along the contour to prevent dust and dirt from passing between the housing and the filter element itself. The filter is placed in a special housing, which has an inlet for air intake and an outlet that leads to the combustion chambers.
Depending on the design of the car and the manufacturer, the filter housing may have different dimensions, location, and location of structural elements. There are mainly round and rectangular housings and filters themselves.
HEPA and ULPA
HEPA filters for ventilation are very popular. The filter material is paper impregnated with a bactericidal composition. The paper sorbent perfectly protects against the penetration of microparticles into the room. Bactericidal protection prevents the accumulation and proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms inside the product. The filter element is protected from mechanical damage by a durable plastic housing. Sometimes the filter element is made not of paper, but of synthetic materials. This allows you to reduce the cost of the product. HEPA filters with a paper cassette provide better cleaning.
Ultrafine air purification filter ULPA is used where it is necessary to provide a sterile environment in accordance with GOST R 51251-99. The minimum particle size retained by a ULPA filter element is 0.12 microns. The operating principle is based on mechanical air purification: dust particles adhere to the filter fibers, and over time the quality of cleaning only improves due to the special structure of the filter material. ULPA filters are installed in laminar flow cabinets, filter cells, ventilation ducts, and filter-ventilation modules.
Types of Air Filters
Air filters are divided according to the composition of the filter membrane. There are several options for making filter “fabric”:
- Paper. Quite common on old cars of domestic and foreign production. This type can be found on old Zhiguli and Volga cars. It was considered quite effective until the mid-90s of the 20th century.
- Cotton. It began to gain popularity among car manufacturers in the 90s. It replaced paper because it could easily let air through even when clogged.
- Fibrous type. One of the most common options because it perfectly filters polluted air. Of course, there is a limit to everything, so you should adhere to the fact that filters must be changed in due time.
- Carbon filters. They have become quite common recently, because in addition to filtration, they also saturate the engine with the necessary oxygen. Also, they filter not only dust and dirt, but also gases with which the air is saturated.
How often do filters need to be replaced?
In order for the filter to work successfully and clean the air from harmful impurities, it must be replaced in a timely manner.
As a rule, they need to be replaced during maintenance every 10-15 thousand kilometers. At the same time, you should not lose sight of the operating conditions of the vehicle. For example, if there are frequent dust storms in your region, then the filter needs to be changed more often. If you rarely drive a car and it is not always possible to drive 15 thousand in 2 years, then the element should still be replaced. By the way, replacing the filter yourself is not such a difficult operation, so you can always do it yourself. Our partners:
Principles of replacing the air filter
Replacing the engine air filter is a fairly simple process. As practice shows, most motorists try to perform this procedure on their own, without resorting to the help of a car service.
Many motorists ask the question: how often does it need to change the engine air filter? The answer is quite simple: according to the technical documentation of the car, as well as the recommendations of the manufacturer. As a rule, the period for replacing an engine air filter is 15-20 thousand kilometers.
So, how to actually change the air filter:
- Remove the top cover.
- We take out the filter.
- We install a new filter element.
- We close the case.
Based on the short replacement instructions, you can understand that replacing the air filter is a simple process that will not take much time.
HOW TO CHOOSE THE CORRECT FILTER ELEMENT
If the question - why change the air filter is more or less clear, then many owners simply do not know how to choose an air filter for their car. This is largely due to the manufacturers themselves, who produce a huge number of modifications of devices. The materials of the filter element itself, the shape, degree of filtration, operating conditions, as well as the number of cleaning stages differ. To choose the optimal element, you should first read the recommendations of the vehicle manufacturer - be independent, and changing the type of filter installed is not always possible.
For many car owners, the determining factor when choosing a new air filter is its service life. Most manufacturers are now using increasingly modern materials and technologies so that they have to be changed less frequently, and the degree of air purification remains as high as possible. Despite all the achievements of the developers, it should be understood that almost any “air purifier” will sooner or later have to be replaced with a new one, so you should constantly monitor the engine’s operation, and if specific signs of air shortage appear, it is better to replace the filter element.
Often, many car owners, especially of expensive foreign cars, prefer to purchase not original air filters, the cost of which can be more than five thousand rubles, but cheap fakes. Owners of cars with a turbocharged diesel engine are especially guilty of this, since on such engines the filter replacement interval is more frequent, and its cost is more expensive - this is due to higher requirements in terms of air purification.
It should be understood that any counterfeit air filter does not fulfill its main task, only creating the appearance of protection. In addition to the lack of effective purification of the air entering the engine, counterfeits often and seriously reduce its volume, which leads to over-enrichment of the mixture, a significant increase in fuel consumption, and incomplete combustion of the mixture stimulates the process of premature wear of the main components of any engine.
Filters for sports cars
Everyone knows that old American sports cars are structurally different from other cars. But not everyone knows that they have open-type air filters. This is due to the fact that the engine must breathe a large amount of air.
On some older muscle cars, the air filter element does not have an outer housing, but only has an upper and lower plate that cover the filter. With such power and torque, a large amount of air is needed. It was these filters that could provide the required amount of oxygen for the formation of an air-fuel mixture.
Tuning options
Many modern car enthusiasts are tuning their cars, and therefore engine improvement is inevitable. One of the elements of modernization is the air filter. Over the last 10 years, no new innovations have been made in this improvement, so two types of filter elements are used:
- Zero resistance. This filter does not have air resistance, unlike the standard type, which allows more air to enter the combustion chamber.
- Direct flow type. These filters resemble “nuliviks” in their design features, but the essence of the design is slightly different. There are several membranes with different permeability, which makes it possible to more effectively filter the air that enters the combustion chamber.
Photocatalytic
The main disadvantage of traditional filters, where dust particles and other filtered substances accumulate inside, is the need to regularly clean the device or replace the filter material. FKO (photocatalytic) filters do not accumulate, but decompose dust, dirt and other filtered substances.
The filter in FKO is a special porous glass coated with a thin layer of catalyst - titanium dioxide. This substance ensures the decomposition of organic matter into water and carbon dioxide in the presence of UV radiation (its presence is a prerequisite for photocatalysis). Dirt accumulates in the micropores of glass, and in the presence of titanium dioxide, it breaks down into water vapor and carbon dioxide. Another advantage of FKO ventilation elements is their low level of energy consumption. The power of the pump that the filter is equipped with is much lower than that of models with other types of filtration.
The difference between filters
Many car enthusiasts begin to confuse filters, especially for modern foreign cars. Particular confusion arises with the cabin filter. It is worth understanding that the air filter elements in the cabin and the engine are different, they have different catalog numbers and even sizes.
Cabin filter – what is it? This is a filter element. which is installed in the car interior to filter heating and ventilation air, and in no way relates to an engine element such as an air filter. Therefore, before buying a filter, you need to understand exactly where it is installed.
Coal
Designed to remove aerosol particles from the air and eliminate odors. Coal sorbents are good at retaining gas molecules with high molecular weight. The quality of cleaning depends on the area of the filter element and the number of microscopic pores of the carbon sorbent.
To capture gases with low molecular weight, chemical compounds are added to the filter element that bind molecules of light gases (aluminum and potassium compounds). Carbon sorbents must be used in conjunction with mechanical cleaning filters, otherwise large dirt particles quickly clog micropores, and the degree of purification from aerosols is sharply reduced.
It is not advisable to use carbon products in rooms with high humidity, since water molecules also damage the filter element. To effectively use carbon filtration at high humidity, chemical sorbents are added to capture water molecules from the air.
Innovations
As always, let's look at some innovations. One of these is the air filter sensor, which is responsible for the contamination of this element. The first implementation and testing was carried out in 2015 on cars with a hybrid engine - the Dodge Challenger from GM. The first tests showed that this sensor has shortcomings, but improvement continues.
The difference between this device and the mass air flow sensor is that it analyzes the quantity and quality of air immediately after the filter and indicates the condition of the product, as well as when it needs to be replaced. Many car enthusiasts will say that this is a pointless feature, but one by one, car manufacturers are picking up this idea and developing their own innovations in this unit.
