Turbomeca’s subsidiary CGTM, known primarily as the engine manufacturer’s flight-test center, plans to offer a new air filter for the Eurocopter AS 350 Ecureuil. Developed jointly with filtration specialist Pall Aerospace, the air filter should be certified by early next year. Pau, southwest-France-based CGTM plans to certify the new air filter even for inadvertent flight into icing conditions.
Its designers call the filter a “dynamic engine air particle separator.” Indeed, the separation process begins with a swirl motion applied to the contaminated air entering each tube. The filter is made of dozens of small tubes, each fitted with a vortex generator. The swirl motion causes the heavier dirt particles (or water droplets) to be thrown outward radially. A small portion of the inlet air then scavenges the dirt overboard. The pressure drop is small and constant, the company claimed in its product brochure.
More In Maintenance and Modifications
