Open Source Electrostatic Bypass Filter Project

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Would anyone be interested in developing an electrostatic bypass filter? The only electrostatic filters I've read about are all for industrial use and not intended for use on automobiles.
 
Was just looking at them last Thursday - for industrial application.

One of my first thoughts was adaptability to engines.
 
Thank you for your interest. Electrostatic fields work by either attracting or repelling particles based on positive or negative charges. Opposites attract while similar charges repel. In oil the rate of flow must be slow enough to allow the particles to migrate and attach themselves to a neutral dielectric media. If the rate of flow is too fast then the particles will simply pass through without having enough time to attach to the media. If the rate of flow is too slow then of course it simply isn't going to "clean" enough oil to do any good. One must also apply enough high voltage to the oil to cause particles to migrate without electrifying the oil. This particular problem is overcome by using layers of pleated paper as the neutral media. I would imagine that other problems will come up such as particles dislodging from the media due to vibrations. But, who knows, perhaps if we build one and mount it on a car we may find out that really isn't a problem at all.

What are your thoughts?
 
Late 90s, I was the engineer in charge of operating and maintaining some (big
grin2.gif
) Electrostatic precipitators.

Fun to play with and tune, but I'd be a bit loathe to have 15,000V devices manufactured in back yards waiting for rescue personnel to find the hot wire.
 
How is that different than the spark plug wires on a gas engine? I may be wrong, but I think that's around 20KV and relatively low amperage.
 
An automotive ignition coil would probably work nicely Mike. We certainly want to make sure there's no "spark" or arcing in inside the oil though.
 
I would think that the electrostatic precipitator would precipitate some important oil additives like zinc. It might be more useful as an air filter instead. Plus air is less conductive. I wonder if the debree would dislodge after turning off the car and what affect that would have.
 
Literature has it that it doesn't affect oil soluble additives.

Suspended solids would be removed quickly however.
 
From this literature: "The decrease in the AN of the new ashless hydraulic oil suggests a partial removal of additives, while the AN decrease of the used turbine oil could be due to a combination of a reduction in the level of oxidation by-products and partial reduction of rust inhibitor additive by the electrostatic oil cleaner"
 
Do you think the expense involved would make an automotive version a bit too expensive? These systems have to run at a flow rate that would have nothing to do with the oil flow and pressure rated required for a running engine. This might require a bypass system with some expensive plumbing. And how much would an alternator cost to supply the electrical energy required? None of this is any reason to give up too soon, is it?
 
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