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Everyone knows that the purpose of an engine's oil filter is to remove particles that can cause internal engine damage. Critical clearances within today's engines are typically measured in thousandths of an inch and, in some cases, ten-thousandths of an inch.
So what size particles should our oil filters actually remove? And how much material should an oil filter capture and hold?
Ramon Nuñez, spokesman for Purolator Filters NA LLC says Purolator Filters invented the very first automotive engine oil filter called a Purolator (which stood for "Pure Oil Later") in 1923 and subsequently the first full-flow oil filter which was designed to filter 100 percent of the oil during every pass through the engine.
He adds: "A micron is a millionth of an inch. Our research shows that, in general, particles larger than 20 microns have the potential to cause internal engine damage. So we designed our top-of-the-line PureONE oil filter to remove 99.9 percent of particles 20 microns or larger in size. In addition, Purolator uses a Multiple Pass Efficiency test rather than the single pass test used by many companies. The multiple pass test usually spans 14 hours with more than 2,500 gallons of oil passing through the filter, and is much more representative of real-world conditions than a single pass test. After all, oil passes through a vehicle's filter an average of more than 15,000 times between oil and filter changes.”
So, when it comes to particles, how small is small? Nuñez provides some comparisons to explain just how efficient the company's oil filters really are.
Remembering that PureONE oil filters remove 99.9 percent of particles 20 microns in diameter or larger, consider this: a strand of human hair is anywhere from 30 to 200 microns. A typical grain of beach sand is larger than 100 microns in diameter. And some bacteria can measure 20 microns or even larger, while a virus can measure a miniscule 0.005 to 0.1 microns. So the ability to remove 20-micron size particulates is quite extraordinary.
And what about capacity? How much debris should an oil filter be able to hold? Purolator's Nuñez explains that capacity is critical.
Quality oil filters normally incorporate a bypass valve to allow unfiltered oil to reach the engine in case the filter becomes completely clogged. While unfiltered oil is better than no oil at all, it is still potentially damaging to the engine. And because there's no way for the driver to know if his or her filter is clogged, it's vital that the oil filter has a large enough capacity to supply properly filtered oil to the engine for as long as possible.
Purolator's Nuñez says, "Our premium PureONE oil filters can hold as much as 13 grams of contaminants before becoming blocked. This is the equivalent of 31 standard size paper clips! That's the amount of debris that can be accumulated in real-world driving, especially if your oil and filter are not changed as often as they should be."
To learn more about Purolator filters and the filtration category, please visit www.purolatorautofilters.net.
