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The solution is adding a Bypass Filter!

New engines and your lube oil require better filtration.
The solution is adding a Bypass Filter!

 

What-functions-of-engine-oil

What are the functions of engine oil?

The engine’s lubricant oil function is to
Control Friction – Reduces heat generation and energy consumption
Control Wear – Reduces mechanical and corrosive wear
Control Corrison – Protects surfaces from corrosive substances
Control Temperature – Absorbs and transfer heat
Control Contaminants – Transports particles and other contaminants to oil filters and centrifuges to increase engine protection

 

Emissions Standards Increased Engine Wear

emission-standards-increased-engine-wearWith the new exhaust emission laws in effect, new fuels, new lube oils, and new engines are designed to help meet the requirements. Exhaust has less soot due to advances in engine design and electronics. Some improvements are due to cleaner burning, and some because the soot is put into lube oil rather than being blown out of the engine’s stacks. The new engines are designed to burn less lube oil since oil is one of the contributors to particulates in the exhaust. This means the engines require less makeup lube oil, reducing the replacement of additives, including detergents.

Design changes include moving rings closer to piston tops to lessen the quench volume in each cylinder. The burn is more complete, but soot, sludge, and contaminants still form. Because of the high rings, more of the soot gets into the crankcase.

Lube oils are different. They have a lower solids content to reduce the ash formed during the burn. Lower ash means lower alkalinity, measured as total base number (TBN), the percentage of alkaline material in the lube oil. That means less detergent. Monitoring TBN helps assess lube oil degradation, the presence of contaminants, and the effectiveness of the oil’s additives. New lube oils have to hold more soot in suspension, but the soot is not as well dispersed with a lower detergent content. Alkaline additives also neutralize acids; without makeup oil, more frequent lube oil changes are needed.

New fuels help. They have less acid-producing sulfur and lower aromatic content. Cetane is improved for a faster, more complete burn. White smoke on startup is reduced, and warm-up time is shorter. This reduces but does not eliminate acid formation and soot contamination.

 

Soot Damages Engines

Soot-Damages-EnginesSoot is a natural byproduct of internal combustion. Soot is an abrasive form of carbon. Soot acts as an oil thickener and produces an increase in viscosity. Lube oil can carry it into critical engine parts. Bearings, cams, lifters, rings, and gear trains will all experience premature engine wear unless soot is removed from the oil. But ordinary full-flow filtration won’t work on micron-sized particles. 

The best way to protect your engine from the effects of soot, abnormal engine wear, and contamination is through ultrafine filtration. Ordinary filtration media cannot remove the particles that do the most damage. Picture a filter as a screen. Openings in the screen determine the sizes of particles that can pass through. As larger particles are trapped, the screen openings are blocked and smaller. Filtering efficiency increases as smaller openings catch finer particles, but the flow rate is reduced as the screen gets blocked. Eventually, the screen clogs, cutting flow entirely. A loss of all lubrication would cause the engine to seize.

Full-flow oil filters are required for protection on all engines. The full-flow oil filter is located after the oil pump before the lube oil galleys into the engine. All full-flow filters have pressure relief valves. During a cold start, when there is a high restriction, the pressure valve opens, letting unfiltered lube oil flow. The manufacturer’s theory is that a small amount of dirty lube oil is better than no lube oil, especially during a cold start.

Full Flow Filters Can’t Remove All Particles

The newest full-flow oil filter captures particles down to 20 microns (1/1000 of a millimeter, or 0.000039″), but even finer soot particles do most of the damage. Sharp, abrasive carbon soot, dirt, engine sludge, and other impurities are as fine as one-tenth of a micron (1/10 µm) and can wear away metal parts. Contaminant particles in the one to ten-micron range (1 to 1/10 µm) do most of the damage. They are carried by the lube oil between all bearing surfaces and rubbing components.

Full-flow oil filters use special filtering paper, pleated, to get more area in the cartridge. The paper is only a few thousandths of an inch thick. Early standard full-flow filter units removed 30 to 35 micron (30-35 µm) grits. Modern full-flow filters still let through almost all the grits smaller than 10 microns (10 µm). They get into clearances between bearings and journals, cam lobes and lifter, rings, liners, and into meshing gear teeth. A better type of filtration solution is needed to prevent abrasive wear in these super-critical areas. You need a filtration solution that can remove these ultrafine soot particles.

Bypass Filters Remove Smaller Particles

bypass-filterThere are two (2) significant differences between full-flow and bypass filters. First, full-flow filters route all the lube oil through the filter, while bypass filters send only a small fraction of the lube oil picked up by the lube oil pump (or auxiliary pump) to the bypass filter. The clean lube oil goes back into the crankcase, effectively bypassing the engine. That is why the filters are called “Bypass.” Although just a small portion is filtered on each pass, all the lube oil in a crankcase will eventually be filtered. After a lube oil change, clean lube oil does not have a chance to get saturated with dirt and soot.

Centrifugal bypass filtration systems process 10% of the lube oil pump’s capacity (maximum). The centrifugal bypass filtration system circulates four (4) times per hour all the oil in the engine sump. The outlet side of the centrifugal bypass filtration system is designed to gravity drain back into the crankcase. Unlike a barrier media bypass filter which only removes particles of contaminants larger than the pore size of the media mesh, a centrifugal bypass filtration systems remove particles based on their relative density.

Second, bypass filters don’t restrict lube oil flow in the engine. Bypass filters provide better filtration efficiencies. Engine makers recognize the benefits of bypass filtration. Bypass filters are used in addition to, and not instead of, full-flow filters. Bypass filters will not alter or void any engine warranty. Every engine would benefit from a bypass filter. Because of the soot and contamination’s impact on equipment reliability, ISO particle counting should be a routine part of every reliability-focused oil analysis program. The ISO particle count is a great trending tool that allows us to recognize when an engine is in danger of particle-induced problems. This enables us to make critical decisions around filter and filtration selection.

 

Bypass Filters Are Needed To Remove Engine Damaging Soot That Full Flow Filters Cannot Trap

centrifugal-bypass-filter-traps-sootThe oil filter medium will make a vast difference in bypass filter performance. Almost any form of cellulose fiber will filter engine oil, but efficiency and life are affected by the medium used and how it is made. Early bypass oil filters used sawdust, felt, cotton waste, and even tightly packed wood chips. Surprisingly, most performed better than full-flow filters, but they still do not remove particles in the critical zero to the five-micron (5 µm) range. 

The SAE technical paper, Review of Lubricant Contamination and Diesel Engine Wear (SAE 881827) concluded that operating with clean lube oil, maintained by 10 microns (10 µm) filtration, results in a diesel engine having better fuel economy, extending oil drain intervals, superior performance, and greater durability. Using an ultrahigh efficiency bypass filter will remove the vast majority of the soot captured in the lube oil as a result of the engine maker’s efforts to clean up exhaust gases. Centrifugal bypass filters provide the best way to prolong engine life and maintain operating efficiency longer. The best engine oil centrifuge on the market is the IOW Group pressure driven centrifuge.

The IOW Group oil filtration system provides highly efficient separation of particles from the oil circuit. Reduce engine wear by means of cleaner engine oil. This provides lower running costs through the longer service life of the main filters and provides avoidance of bore polishing. The centrifugal force provides a dynamic means of capturing smaller-sized one to ten microns (1-10 μm) contaminants that cause wear, providing longer life to overhauls. A bypass system provides great benefits. Upgrade your oil filtration system today!

 

IOW-MP600-bypass-filter-vs-SpinnerII-3600-bypass filters

IOW Group MP600 Bypass Filter vs. Spinner II 3600 Bypass Filters

 

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