SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/572278
CLEARING THE AIR O ne of the biggest problems facing desert racing vehicles is driving through excessive dust and debris that can clog the engine's air filter and reduce power. Until now, the most popular solutions have been to actually replace air filters during a race, or use a much larger filter and position it somewhere in the vehicle to reduce the amount of dirt and dust that can collect on it. But Southern California filter manufacturer S&B, took a different approach. The company looked at how U.S. Military helicopters survived in desert operations utilizing particle separators that eliminate dust from the air before it reaches the engine's air filter. The idea was quickly transferred into a concept, then a working prototype that has undergone extensive testing, and is now available to UTV owners and race teams. "We started by investigating how military helicopters were landing in the desert and not clogging their filters," said S&B President and CEO Berry Carter. "We were able to find that they use a particle separator. So we said it would be amazing to apply that particle separator technology to the UTV Powersports industry." According to Pilun Chen, mechanical design engineering manager at S&B, cyclonic separation technology is what the particle separator uses to clean the air so efficiently. The process involves spinning air as it enters the unit and routed into several rows of separator tubes. The design of the tubes causes the air to spin so that heavier particles get pulled to the outside walls of the tube S&B'S PARTICLE SEPARATOR REMOVES DUST AND DEBRIS AND ALLOWS CLEAN AIR TO ENTER INTO THE ENGINE OF UTV'S TO HELP THEM SUSTAIN PERFORMANCE LEVELS IN DUSTY CONDITIONS. BY DAN SANCHEZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN SANCHEZ S&B FILTER'S PARTICLE SEPARATOR IS A GAME-CHANGER FOR UTV RACERS AND ENTHUSIASTS 050 SCORE JOURNAL