[Fwd: Re: [Chrysler300] Dry air filters-1955 C300]

[Rich Barber <barber@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks to John and Joe for their prompt and incisive input. 

I suppose my reasons for inquiring started with slopping oil out of the 
pots the first time I removed the delta wing assembly.  I am quite 
familiar with air filtration design, operating and evaluation 
techniques, having engineered and managed gas pipeline compressor 
stations for a number of years--including stations in Kansas and 
Nebraska.  Arizona road dust is a good test as is the grit in a good old 
Kansas dust storm.  The filters have to work in dust storms and 
blizzards.  Typically, there is a vacuum relief valve that will pop open 
and bypass the filter if it gets plugged with dirt, snow or ice.  I have 
cleaned hundreds of oil-bath air cleaners while working in a Phillips 66 
station in the mid-50's and know they are effective as witness the oily 
mud referred to. 

I am glad my C-300 has its original delta wing air cleaner in good shape 
and it is always an attention getter at shows.  Any change to dry media 
would have to be cosmetically invisible and reversible for picky judging 
shows.

As a result of many years of experimentation with air filters, I 
concluded that my gas turbines would still have to "eat" a lot of dirt, 
even with 99%+ filtration efficiency.  My company and other operators of 
GE Frame Size 3 9,100HP gas turbines experienced catastrophic turbine 
failures due to fine dust accumulating in the firtree base portion of 
turbine blades.  Filtration was upgraded to rollup sticky media and the 
turbine hubs and blades were revised to solve the problem.  A stream of 
cooling air also received a cyclone style air cleaner with constant 
bleed to further reduce dust ingestion.

Naturally-aspirated reciprocating piston engines are better able to 
tolerate dirty combustion air with little effect other than increased 
wear rates. and, perhaps, accelerated fouling of plugs combustion 
chambers and piston rings.  Gas turbines tend to run with 400% excess 
air as the excess air is essentially used for cooling.

So, I am looking for an easy and reversible modification--strictly for 
convenience sake.  If there is no such fix, NBD to me.  If someone has 
already invented this wheel, I'll share with the server.

Rich Barber
Brentwood, CA

(Deleted HTML address-RWB) wrote:

> From my time working in the Air Cleaner Lab at Chrysler Engineering, I 
> can tell you that the oil bath type air cleaner only got about 85-87 
> percent efficiency, but that it would go on forever at that rate 
> because the dirt was constantly being washed out of the filter by 
> the oil being swept up into the filter material and deposited in the 
> sump of the filter.  It was good on industrial stuff and tractors 
> because of capacity.  If you've ever cleaned one of these things you 
> remember the packed-down sludge in the bottom.
>  
> We (The Industry) used Arizona Desert dust for testing.It was 
> specially ground to have known percentages of various size particles.  
> It was manufactured by a division of Generous Motors.  We fed it into 
> air cleaners being tested while varying airflow rates in a 
> predetermined routine.  All dust that got through the filter was 
> captured in an "Absolute Filter" before getting into our vacuum pump.  
> By weighing all filters before and after testing we could determine 
> percentage of efficiency.
>  
> The paper filters started out at over 98 percent efficiency when new 
> and climbed even higher, to over 99 percent, as they got slightly 
> clogged.  Eventually the restriction got so bad as to restrict airflow 
> and degrade performance.  I don't recall one ever collapsing, though, 
> unless you tightened the cover down so tight as to deform the element.
>  
> The very worst filters that I ever saw were the foam ones that were 
> fitted over a frame on the top of the carburetor.  They were oiled, 
> then squeezed out.  They only filtered to about 70 percent when newly 
> installed.  Then, as they accumulated a layer of dirt in the oiled 
> foam the restriction went up to the point where they would 
> catastrophically fail and dump a huge gob of oily dirt down into the 
> carburetor!  I don't remember if they ever got into production on 
> Chrysler Corp. products.  I sure see a lot of foam filters on engines, 
> but they are always a thick block, so can't collapse.
>  
> Without mentioning any names, I am leery of foam filters, and laws of 
> physics tell me that the only way to maintain high filter efficiency 
> and lower airflow restriction is to use a larger filter!
>  
> My 2 cents worth...
>  
> Joe Savard
> Lake Orion, MI





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