Aerospace Filtration Systems (AFS) and Donaldson Co. (DCI) are at Booth No. 1289 to display solutions they have jointly developed for new and retrofit inlet barrier filtration (IBF) systems for helicopters. The AFS/DCI team is pursuing development of commercially certified and military qualified filter assemblies that use a new Donaldson proprietary dry filter media and a durable new oiled media.

New-development filters for the Bell 407X, AS 350, Agusta A119 and several military helicopters are being evaluated to incorporate the dry media. Use of a new dry filter, available only from Donaldson, will provide operators a simplified and more environmentally friendly servicing option, said Michael Scimone, AFS president. The filter simplifies service with the use of compressed air or an environmentally friendly cleaning solution and water, eliminating the time and attention required to dry and re-oil conventional filters.

The team will evaluate applications to make retrofit of the dry media available to customers in the future. The majority of AFS systems will be offered with oiled media as a baseline and an option for the dry media, depending on customer preference and design requirements.

AFS and Donaldson barrier filtration systems have been proven to filter out more than 99 percent of dirt and sand. Barrier filter systems enhance engine performance by delivering more engine temperature margin, thus more load-carrying capacity and greater safety margin.

AFS has delivered more than 1,300 systems and 12,000 filters worldwide for main engine and auxiliary power unit (APU) inlets. In addition to the Bell 407X system, the company also produces certified commercial filtration systems for the Bell 206B, 407, 206L-3/4, 206L-1/C30, the MD 369 and MD 500H/D/E/F series.    –H.W.