After having carried out an analysis of dust samples* from the Black Rock desert, Pall Aerospace technicians recommended two special filters for use on ThrustSSC's engine fuel system and the super-sensitive hydraulic active suspension system.
The filter supplied to protect the Rolls Royce Spey engine fuel system is rated at 30 microns absolute which means that all particles in the fuel larger than this size are stopped by the filter - as well as a lesser number of smaller particles.
Necessary to maintain the car's correct front-to-rear attitude - must work with total reliability at all times and contains a number of high-performance servo valves which are able to respond in milliseconds to any signals that compensation for an incorrect attitude must take place. To ensure that any contaminant generated during assembly is cleaned from the system, flushing is carried out using Pall filters rated at 1 micron and having a filtration ratio (Beta) of 200. Fitted to the vehicle are four Pall 3 micron filter assemblies.
The analysis examined and counted all particles larger than 2 microns in size (1 micron is 0.00004 inches) and established that approximately 85% of the sample tested was smaller than 5 microns. This analysis is fairly typical of a desert dust, which invariably comprises of particles of rock eroded through time and made up of hard, irregular shaped particles which vary in size from less than 1 micron. Smaller sized particles would be particularly damaging to the components within the fluid systems of ThrustSSC as they are ingressed during normal operation. Very fine dust can work its way into almost any system and is then extremely difficult to prevent from getting in between the surfaces of adjacent moving components, as the oil film thickness is actually larger in most cases than these small particles. The result of system contamination with desert dust leads to excessive and rapid component wear, inefficient running, overheating and, possibly, premature total failure.
 |
 |
 |
||
| Sponsored by | This site best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3 | |||
 |
 |
 |
||