Components:
- Oil Inlet: Port where the dirty lubricating oil enters the filter.
- Rotor: Rotating element within the filter housing.
- Vanes: Blades on the rotor that help impart centrifugal force to the oil.
- Filter Housing: Enclosed chamber containing the rotor and other components.
- Clean Oil Outlet: Port where the filtered lubricating oil exits the filter.
- Contaminant Collection Chamber: Area where separated contaminants accumulate.
- Drain Plug: Allows for removal of collected contaminants during maintenance.
Operation:
- Dirty lubricating oil enters the filter through the oil inlet (1).
- The oil flows into the rotor (2) chamber.
- The rotor spins at high speed due to an external power source (not shown).
- As the rotor spins, the oil is subjected to centrifugal force. This force pushes denser particles like wear debris and dirt outwards, away from the oil.
- The vanes (3) on the rotor help to further distribute the oil and increase the effect of centrifugal force.
- The cleaner oil, less dense than the contaminants, remains near the center of the rotor.
- Clean oil exits the filter through the clean oil outlet (5).
- Denser contaminants like wear debris and dirt are forced outwards and accumulate in the contaminant collection chamber (6).
- The drain plug (7) allows for periodic removal of collected contaminants for maintenance purposes.