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Alternative automotive engine oil filtration devices are described herein, aiming at alleviating the environmental issues caused by conventional one-piece, spin-on, throwaway filters. The spin-on feature has been retained in these novel filters, to facilitate retrofitting, however provisions to dismantle the filter have been incorporated to allow for periodic replacement of the filter element (cartridge). The filter element is made of ceramic powder and, upon replacement, it may be treated and reused as such, or it may be crushed, treated and remanufactured from the recycled powder. In the process, the entirety of the used motor oil may be retrieved, treated and reused, thus conserving energy and resources, minimizing waste streams and, most importantly, preventing environmental ground-water contamination.

This paper describes the design, construction and operation of a novel environmentally-friendly automotive oil filter. Whereas conventional paper media spin-on oil filters are inexpensive and easy to use, they are hard to recycle because of their rugged construction and dissimilar material contents. Used oil filters are disposed off at an annual rate of half a billion in the US alone. They typically end up in municipal waste streams, thereby creating both a solid waste issue and a ground waste contamination issue, as discarded filters invariably contain residual amounts of waste oil. To address these issues, the objective of this work has been to design an environmentally-friendly oil filter. Such a filter is composed of a permanent, but dismantable, filter housing and a replaceable cartridge. The cartridge is made of ceramic honeycomb which can be produced to possess excellent filtration efficiency.

A new design of a self-cleaning diesel particulate trap is discussed herein. Past research at Northeastern University has demonstrated the feasibility of using compressed air, counterflow to the exhaust, for regeneration of ceramic wall-flow particulate traps, thus, eliminating the need for thermal regeneration. The performance of these systems, however satisfactory it might have been, was hindered by potential reliability problems of mechanical components such as rotating monoliths and collection of soot in bag houses. Thus, the present work concentrated in designing a reliable and inexpensive system incorporating passive regeneration devices and a soot incinerator. Upon satisfactory completion of laboratory bench-scale tests, the system was mounted on a 1.4 liter diesel-powered vehicle and was field-tested for 2000 km. The core of the system is a high soot collection efficiency ceramic monolith.

The development of new designs of a diesel particulate control system is discussed herein. The system employs a single high collection efficiency ceramic monolith to filter the particulate emissions of the engine. Regeneration is achieved by intermittent pulses of pressurized reverse-flow air. After every regeneration the soot is collected at the bottom of the device where it is burned in an incinerator chamber. Different configurations of the system were tested satisfactorily for performance and durability for 100 hrs, coupled to a small experimental engine which was sooting at high rates. Subsequently, a system incorporating a long ventless chamber fitted with an electric burner was mounted on a diesel passenger car and tested for on-road performance evaluation and further development.

A novel high-efficiency Pallflex filter has been developed for diesel exhaust after-treatment. The filter media is made of high-melting point boro-silicate glass fibers bonded together to form a paper-like pad that can withstand elevated thermal regeneration temperatures. Each filter element is placed between two fine stainless steel wire meshes, which impart structural rigidity to the fiber matrix and prevent its disintegration. An array of these filter pads, placed 1 cm, apart, is assembled together in an insulated housing. The filters are separated by spacers, which are perforated on one side and plugged on the other side to force the exhaust to flow through the filter elements. Such a trap of a total filter surface area of 1.2 m2 and a volume of 14 liters was tested in the laboratory and on the road to determine its filtration efficiency, back pressure characteristics and regenerability.