Comparison of Numerical and Experimental Methods for Predicting the Efficiency of an Automotive Oil Strainer

The design and set-up of an oil strainer consist in calculating the pressure drop between the outlet and the inlet of the separator and predicting its efficiency (which is defined for each droplet diameter, as the ratio of oil droplets trapped in the strainer above oil droplets entering the strainer). The efficiency spectra of two separators are evaluated with a measurement bench and a comparison is made with numerical simulation. Efficiency is low –down to an average 3% in some cases. Therefore, it is hard to quantify the accuracy of the methods. Additional tests must be performed with a higher volume flow to increase average efficiency. Nevertheless, the accuracy and the relevance of the numerical method employed are far from prior expectation.Copyright © 2004 by ASME