Study of Flow through Air Filter for Off Highway Vehicle - A Preliminary CFD Approach

The primary purpose of automotive air induction systems (AIS) is to reduce the airborne contaminant level ingested by engines, especially abrasive contaminants which can cause engine wear. A superior air filter performance is necessary for automotive AIS to protect the engine from wear and to provide the engine with required amount of air. The buildup of dust on the filter surface increases the resistance of the filter medium to flow, which in turn increases the pressure drop across the filter. The problem is so severe in high dust environments like off highway application.

At present, with numerical techniques it is possible to calculate flow through a filter and predict average pressure loss of the flow knowing the initial properties of the filter medium. In this work an attempt has been made to consider the deposition of dust on the filter and the resulting changes in the filter medium properties, which lead to increasing pressure loss across air filter. Dust distribution and pressure drop are predicted for a constant flow rate of air. For this approach commercial CFD code Fluent is used.