Mobilised
Freudenberg Filtration Technologies India has introduced advanced in-cabin air filtration solutions and services.
Freudenberg Filtration Technologies Portable Calibration Tools
We’ve all learnt the importance of breathing in clean air by now. It can’t be stressed enough! With Covid-19 persistent, Original Equipment Manufacturers are laying greater emphasis on in-cabin filtration. Freudenberg Filtration Technologies (FFT) India has tapped this opportunity by introducing advanced in-cabin air filtration solutions and services targeted at offering surface protection in vehicles. The new range is backed by ISO18184 tests conducted by Guangzhou Institute of Microbiology, in China. The tests have concluded that FFT’s micronAir® proTect line filters offer a unique anti-viral filter layer capable of deactivating 99.9 per cent of viruses as per Ashok Pandey, Head, Automotive Filters at Freudenberg Filtration Technologies, India. “We at FFT believed that the first step to preventing viral airborne aerosols from causing harm was to produce a highly efficient cabin filter that directly filters them from the ambient air,” he averred. “Secondly, to inactivate the critical virus load by an antiviral filter media layer to keep the passengers safe,” he stated. The company, according to Pandey, is pursuing the penetration of the new range, on priority, having reached pre-Covid levels of production for most segments.
With an experience of more than three decades to leverage for the in-cabin’ air-filtration range, Freudenberg is seen shifting the focus from the drive train to vehicle occupants. “With the invention of the first cabin air filter in 1989, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies has invested huge resources in terms of research and product development. “We are catering to the ever-evolving needs and situations thus setting new standards in health protection and safety within vehicles,” asserted Pandey. Comparing High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters with cabin air filters, he opined that the former (HEPA) are rarely used. “They form just one element of the holistic hygiene concept. Their filter properties alone do not automatically translate into effective anti-virus protection for passengers since vehicle cabins completely differ from medical cleanrooms,” he opined.
micronAir® cabin air filters
Despite emissions getting cleaner with the rollout of EuroVI/BSVI emission norms in India, Pandey explained that a major chunk of particulate emissions would continue to be a threat. He blamed factors like environmental change, industrial pollution and agricultural residue for the menace. “In closed environments like vehicle interiors, there is a higher risk of infection through inhalation. Therefore, filtering airborne aerosols is key for safety,” he cautioned. “The filtration acts as an effective shield against airborne aerosols transmitting pathogens such as H1N1 and HCoV229E,” he claimed.
The filtration process works such that the virus is rendered inactive by the antiviral filter media layer where the viruses are made to
interact with a fruit extract acidic environment. “Once captured on the filter, the viruses are inactivated through a two-pronged approach based on natural fruit extracts to prevent secondary contamination. The reaction causes the rendering or denaturation of the virus’ protein structure, in turn, restricting the pathogen from infecting human cells,” he explained. It is the filtration system and the air exchange rate that decide the efficiency of the filter in ‘recirculation’ mode, where it is said to eliminate the viruses. This needs to be backed by a frequent replacement cycle for optimum protection. “Before the launch, these filters have been extensively tested in labs and also in the field by almost every car manufacturer,” Pandey assured.
Four-layer filtration
The new range is made up of a unique multi-layer design that effectively filters, captures and suppresses noxious environmental gases as well as inorganic and biological particles and aerosols. The first two layers (particle filters) capture most of the ultrafine aerosols, fine dust and microorganisms like fungal spores. The optional third layer (a combi filter) made of activated carbon protects against harmful gases and reduces unpleasant odour coming in from interior emissions. An innovative, fourth functional layer coated with a unique fruit extract basis deactivates nearly 100 per cent of the detected viral load thus preventing the release of active viruses back into the cabin air.
This layer is claimed to be free of nano-silver ions and offer high long-term stability. These cabin air filters come with a micronAir Gas Shield developed with three distinct formulations to tackle var ying types of pollution. The micronAir® proTect line filter captures aerosol droplets and droplet nuclei within 0.05-16 μm range. As per the recent studies by the World Health Organization (WHO), these aerosols contain the critical virus load, causing harm during breathing, talking, coughing or sneezing.
Engine intake filter
Combustion engines need clean air to maintain high performance but the ambient air in traffic situations is known to impair the combustion process with the sensors damaging the engine. As a resolution, FFT offers micronAir engine intake air filters claimed to offer outstanding filtration properties and energy efficiency values. With up to 150 per cent longer service life and improved initial arrestance, a measure of the ability of an air filtration device to remove synthetic dust from the air performance, these filters come with a large dust holding capacity. It offers favourable pressure loss properties over their entire service life causing the pressure difference to increase only slowly. It is also claimed to reduce the pressure losses, lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Developed with fully synthetic materials, it also offers ageing and water shock resistance properties. The use of non-flammable materials is for improving fire-resistance.
Fuel-cell solutions
FFT has also developed small fuel cellspecific filters and humidifiers. Known to react sensitively to salts, nitrous oxides or compounds with sulphur or ammonia, which can enter the process via the intake air, the new range protects sensitive components. The micronAir filters protect the catalyst material and the membranes used in the stack and system components from contaminant gases and particles. A high arrestance performance ensures lower pressure losses, reliable processes and maximum service life for the fuel cell components. Reliable membrane humidification or a high-quality humidifier is crucial to maintaining fuel cell drive efficiency. It ensures a flawless reaction and is claimed to prevent early degradation as an outcome of the electrolyte drying out.
FFT offers long-lasting humidifiers with exceptional water transfer rate at a low-pressure drop and guarantees stable humidification. The hollow fibre technology enables various housing geometries claimed to be tested in real-world scenarios. It is optimised and adapted as per the system requirement without any major investments. On the filters eliminating the need to wear a mask while commuting in a vehicle powered by the FFT filter, concluded Pandey, “for safety purposes, passengers will still need to wear a mask as it is a wellknown fact that the infection can transmit through greater than a single probable cause.”
Calibration aids better productivity be it helping in reduce the downtime or ensuring quality adherence and people and process safety. This formed the ethos of the Confederation of India Industr y (CII) and Fluke Corporation’s jointly held live workshop, on process optimisation with portable calibration tools. Part of a six-series initiative, the live workshop offered testing, validation and calibration, test accuracy ratio required for a field asset, the decision on the final calibration or lab and workshop calibration, area and zone classification for intrinsically safe instruments, and tips for handling pressure calibration instruments as its key takeaways. It proved to be a runaway success with close to 200 delegates including instrumentation engineers having attended from across 21 states, spanning varied industries like manufacturing, heavy industries and automotive.
Process instruments
Drawing attention to process instruments for their productivity enhancement capabilities, K Joseph Selvakumar, Product Marketing Manager – Process Tools at Fluke Technologies ran the attendees through an array of process and test instruments. Making clear, the critical role of portable calibration tools in process optimisation, he drew attention to the capabilities of instruments in process plants like the models - Differential 750POO and Differential 750PO1. Taking the attendees through the fluke instrument’s specifications, he touched upon metrics spanning parameter range, burst rating,
Hi and Lo side media, reference uncertainty and total uncertainty over a six month to one year period and metrics like subjected exposure to a 15-35 degree operating range. Spending time on the test uncertainty ratio, explained Selvakumar, it is the ratio of the tolerance or specification of the test measurement
in relation to the uncertainty in measurements. Scenarios of the ratio pertaining to different in-tolerance probability, from 1:1, 2:1 to 4:1, correlating to the per cent of Unit Under TEST (UUT) tolerance band were touched upon in the session.
In the case of 4-20 mA loops, a known standard for signal transmission and electronic control in control systems since the 1950s, these are especially suited for automating a factor y floor or taking field measurements. Popular for the fault detection in systems, explained Selvakumar, it enables process measurement of process variables like temperature, pressure, flow and others. It also helps to communicate 4 to 20 mA signal to the control system or control output and is digital. Fluke, he stated, offers reliable, rugged and accurate loop tools required for basic maintenance of analog process loops. The Fluke range of tools range from the lowest cost best-in-class performance tool - 705, highest precision portable mA/V - 715 to 787 and 789, claimed to be the world’s only 1000 volt IEC1010 Cat III DMMs with a 20 mA current source. The range also consists of 707 and 707Ex models for highperformance, one-handed operation. The Fluke 773 milliamp process clamp meter can measure mA signals without breaking the loop. Zero and span check, step function and ramp function are some of the other USPs.
Temperature instruments troubleshooting tools range includes the Fluke 714B Thermocouple Calibrator, Fluke 712B RTD Calibrators and the Fluke 724 Temperature Calibrator. The tools are known to simulate process sensors for testing temperature instrumentation. In the pressure instruments troubleshooting tools range known to help instrumentation technicians calibrate and maintain pressure devices in process plants, Selvakumar familiarised the attendees with the range including model range without pump, built-in handpump, in-built motorised pump, dual pressure input, with the motorised pump, digital pressure gauge, automatic pressure generation and adjustment, pneumatic and hydraulic variants with the likes of Fluke 718 Pressure Calibrator, newly launched Fluke 730G Digital Pressure Calibrator, Fluke 730 RG Digital Pressure Calibrator and Fluke 719 Pressure Calibrator, Fluke 721 Pressure Calibrator, Fluke 729 Automatic Pressure Calibrator and Fluke 750P Series Pressure Modules. Add to it, Fluke also offers the Multivariable Transmitter and Pressure Transmitter troubleshooting tools in testimony to Fluke offering its customers the best of comfort, convenience and confidence while on the job. Multifunction calibrators enable operators to the source, measure and simulate varied process parameters and with the documenting versions additionally document the results.
HART transmitters popular in the automotive industry are offered with basic/universal commands compatibility. In the workshop, it was emphasised, that the test tools be certified to new Atmospheric Exolsibles (ATEX) regulations in view of making them intrinsically safe. Effective July
01, 2021, industries will be required to assess and categorise explosion risks at their plants and sites. Here categories 1G, 2G and 3G as per Selvakumar are the classification for gas explosion protection with 1G suitable for use in zones 0,1 and 2. 2G equipment for use in zone 1 and 2 and 3G equipment suitable for zone 2. Fluke, for instance, has the intrinsically safe true RMS digital multimeter that boasts of the ATEX, NEC-500, IEXEx safety certifications. Fluke ii900 Sonic Industrial manager offers acoustic imaging blended live sound map with a visual image. Using a seven inch 1280x800 LCD with capacitive touch screen, sensitivity detects 0.005 CFM leak at 100 PSI from up to 32.8 feet. With an operating frequency of 2kHz to 52kHz, it has a maximum operating distance of up to 164 feet (50 meters).
Speaking on the evolution of instrumentation in the auto components industry, expressed Selvakumar, that the industry was an early adopter of instrumentation, case-in-point, Madras Institute of Technology, in Chennai. He drew attention to the turbocharger where based on the input pressure, the output boosts power and fuel supply. Instrumentation additionally also plays a critical role in automotive comfort, air-conditioning, lighting and power drives besides in power windows and in power steering. On the tipping point, he opined that there was a major change in the offing with EVs coming on to the mobility scene. Prabhakaran PV, Head - ICS Business & Business Development (SAARC Countries), Fluke India in his closing remarks thanked the delegates for wholeheartedly participating and making the live workshop success.