Locomotive
Lube Oil Filtration
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| Filtration
Systems, Inc. manufactures long-life depth-type oil filters for railroad
locomotive applications. Its filters are designed to fit most current
engines built by General Electric, Electro-Motive and Alco.
Locomotives are actually large rolling
generator sets with a diesel-powered engine driving a large generator,
which powers the traction motors that turn the wheels.
This design provides the high torque levels that are required to
start a long heavy freight train from a dead stop. |
Diesel-Powered Locomotive |
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Horizontal Lube Oil Vessel
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The diesel engines require good lubrication
for reliable operation, as they run for extended periods of time under
heavy load. A key component for the engine lubrication system
is the lube oil filter element.
Filtration Systems, Inc. has a proven, patented design
that was designed specifically for locomotive applications. |
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The Filtration
Systems Swirl Flow™ Patent |
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The two filters on the left of this picture
use the “Swirl Flow” patented design.
The filter on the right is a generic pleated paper element.
The Swirl Flow media has alternating layers of cotton and wood
fibers that allow for both tangential and radial flow, providing the high-flow
capabilities of a pleated paper filter element with the high dirt-holding
and excellent acid-reduction properties of a depth filter element. Railroads using Filtration Systems’ filters
routinely get 180-day service life between element change-out’s. |
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Microphotographs
of Cotton and Wood Fibers |
| Filtration performance is measured in many ways in controlled
laboratory conditions. One test procedure
that has been used throughout the years is the SAE (Society of Automotive
Engineers) HS-806 Standard. This
procedure allows for the use of either a hard or a soft contaminant – Fine
Test Dust (sand) or SOFTC-2 (sludge). In
real-world conditions, sand ingestion by an engine typically comes from
a leak in the air filter, whereas sludge-formation is a by-product of combustion
and oil degradation. |
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The following design criteria
were used for the Filtration Systems, Inc. Railroad Lube Oil Filter Products:
Dimensional Data:
- The filter shall be no more than 6.5” in diameter and 31.0”
long.
- The filter shall have a radial rubber seal with an inside diameter of
1.435” +.05”.
Performance Data:
- The filter shall withstand operating temperatures of 50oF to 220oF,
with intermittent temperature extremes of 0oF to 300oF.
- The filter shall not exhibit physical degradation in extended hot-oil
service.
- The filter shall not exhibit performance degradation when subject to
5% concentrations of water-in-oil (50,000 ppm).
- The filter shall have a nominal single pass efficiency of 90% @ 13-microns.
- The filter shall have a collapse rating of 50 psid.
Filter Change-Out Criteria:
- The filters shall be replaced when the differential pressure across
the filter housing exceeds 30 psid at maximum flow (Notch 8).
- The filters shall be replaced when the ISO 4406 Cleanliness Numbers
of the oil exceed 20/17 (5,000 to 10,000 5µ / 640 to 1,300 15µ
particles per milliliter).
- The filters shall be replaced if the oil analysis shows n-Pentane Insolubles
(PI) in excess of 2.5% by weight.
- The filters shall be replaced if the oil analysis shows Total Suspended
Solids (TSS) in excess of 5 mg/l.
- The filters shall be replaced if the oil’s TBN No. drops to 50%
of the new oil value (1.5 min.), or the TAN No. increases 2.0 above the
new oil value (3.0 max.).
- The filters shall be replaced if the oil analysis shows oxidation (Abs/Cm)
> 25.
- The filters shall be replaced if the oil analysis shows nitration (Abs/Cm)
> 25.
Depth filters typically hold much more contaminant than
surface-loading filters, because the entire media matrix is utilized,
not just the outer surface of the filter media. The following graph shows
this dramatic increase in performance.
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Filtration System’s depth filters also
remove a significant amount of water from oil.
Water is a by-product of combustion, and it acidifies the oil and
reduces its lubricity. Thus, not
only do our filters last longer than most competitors, but they extend
the drain intervals of the lube oil as well. |
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The following cross-sections of the Filtration
Systems depth filter and a competitor’s pleated paper filter show another
significant difference. The pleated
paper filter did not have a glued side-seam!
The pleats merely overlapped and stapled.
This could allow unfiltered contaminants to flow through to the
clean side of the filter, potentially causing a catastrophic failure. Filtration Systems’ design requires the oil
to flow through two inches of media before exiting the clean side of the
filter. |
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Swirl Flow™ Depth Filter, Pleated Paper
Filter & Stapled Side-Seam
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| Filter Disposal and Recycling
The disposal
of most pleated paper oil filters is an expensive, time-consuming process.
These types of filters have a high steel content, and can not be
incinerated. Instead, they are drained, collected in dumpsters
and landfilled. Filtration Systems
has devised a method of recycling their used oil filters by using them
as a fuel-source at a co-generation facility.
The cost of all transportation and manifests are bundled into the
piece-part price. |
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Dumpster
in Rail Yard
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Spin-On
Oil Filters are Difficult to Drain
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Used Oil
Filters
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Filter
Drain Rack
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Filtration
Systems’ Filters can be Recycled
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Filtration
Systems Boxes have Polybag Liners for Re-Use as Disposal Cartons
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Filters
are Stored in a Container Prior to Shipment to the Co-Generation Plant
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Used Filters
Ready to Ship to Co-Gen Plant as a Fuel Source
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