Parker Hannifin Corporation inaugurated its first greenfield manufacturing facility in Chennai to manufacture a wide range of filters and related products

Achieving proper cleanliness in air and fuel systems requires the successful capture and removal of contaminants. Filtration must be done in a way that doesn't disrupt the flow of air/oil, or unduly increase the pressure drop within the system. It's a delicate balance between system design and efficiency.

Air, oil and fuel filters are fundamental to the performance of an engine. For an engine to meet fuel efficiency and emission targets, these three filters must remove all contaminants and provide peak performance through the vehicle manufacturer's recommended service period.

Air filters are designed to operate in hostile environments in extreme temperature conditions and to prevent contaminants from entering the engine management system. Oil filters are designed to handle large volumes of oil, removing particles of metal, carbon and other debris resulting from the combustion process.

Filters from Parker Hannifin

Considering these aspects and to manufacture high quality filters and other industrial products like seals, motion and control technologies, Ohio-based Parker Hannifin recently inaugurated its first green field manufacturing facility in Mahindra World City near Chennai. The new plant will manufacture and supply air and fuel filters to Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) for use in both the Light Duty (LD) and Heavy Duty (HD) trucks of the BharatBenz range. The company it will also supply fuel filters that meet Euro 6 emission norms to Volvo in Bangalore.

Parker Hannifin Corporation's Executive Vice President and Operating Officer Tom Williams said, "Our new facility will enhance our ability to support our customers locally here as we build our presence in new markets in India. For us, India is an important market in Asia-Pacific, which currently contributes 14 per cent of its sales and we target to grow by 20 per cent in the region in the next five years."

Finer Fibre Technology

To improve element life and reduce pressure drop across the filter element, filter manufacturers are continuously looking for material with finer fibres to provide more pore spaces to remove maximum dirt. Parker Hannifin India's, Business Unit Manager - Parker Filtration Group, Seshadri Ramachandran, said, "We use fine fibre technology in our filtration products. Our products weigh less, take up less space and therefore mean the vehicles in which they are used can go further. It's the most compact fuel filter because it is based on technology which has been improved to achieve better fibre distribution and homogeneity."

He further said two types of media are available in today's high efficiency air filtration market - coarse (synthetic) and fine (micro fibre glass). Coarse fibre media, larger in fibre size, incorporate electrostatic attraction, which is introduced as part of the manufacturing process. Fine fibre media include fibres that are extruded to a smaller fibre diameter to incorporate the filtration principle of diffusion.

Both media will also strain particles from the air stream, although this principle only has a value when the offending particles are above 2-micron in size. Coarse fibre media will drop in overall efficiency as the filter loads with contaminate and dissipates the charge or insulates the fibre from the air stream. Fine fibre media will increase in efficiency over the life of the filter.

Talking about filter efficiency, Mr Ramachandran said, "Multi pass test are used to evaluate and compare the efficiency of contaminant tests and to establish the quantity of contaminant required to block a test filter to a pre-determined differential pressure using ISO4020, ISO19438, ISO16889, ISO13353, ISO4548 global standards."

Growth Strategy

Parker Hannifin is committed to investments and long term growth in India. As part of the growth strategy, Parker has made five strategic acquisitions in India in the past two years and nine since 2005. In order to enhance its filtration business in India, Parker Hannifin acquired the filtration business of John Fowler (India) based in Bangalore and the Indian filtration division of the UK-based Dominick Hunter Group. Apart from these, Parker Hannifin also acquired hydraulics manufacturer Olaer Group, which included Olaer's facility in India.

The Rs 71,500 crore company is also in talks with domestic engine manufacturers to supply components and currently supplies to Simpson, Caterpillar and Cummins. Apart from this it will also manufacture fuel lines, fuel conveyance products, and pneumatic door closers for bus and metro trains from its Chennai facility.

Parker India currently has seven manufacturing facilities across India and employs over 1,500 people and will recruit an additional 300. Besides the established markets in off highway mobile, oil and gas/CNG, mining, primary metals and automotive, the company would also focus on fast growing markets in power generation, renewable energy, railways, defence, and life sciences, which represent strong growth opportunities as India continues to build its infrastructure.