FPCP Media
To understand the benefits of FPCP consider the following: An engine operating at the optimum air-fuel ratio of 15/16:1 implies that the engine would normally require around 38,000 to 57,000 liters of air to be inducted into the engine for every 4 liters of fuel consumed. The exact volume of air will, of course, depend on various factors including engine displacement, RPM, kilometers/liter etc. One can only imagine the amount of dust that will be sucked into the engine every time the engine runs and the need for a vastly superior alternative filter to the standard paper filter that was prevalent at that time.

An automobile engine inducts something like 1500 cubic feet of air for every gallon of petrol burnt inside the cylinders. So, the average motor car may breathe between 1 and 2 million cft of air per year. Without air filtration a pound or more of dust can be sucked into the engine. Larger the machine, worse is the situation. Thus, a large air compressor may induct 10lbs or more of solid particles per week unless protected by a filter on the intake side.

Paper filters are a stacked matting of fibers creating a weave approximately 0.3mm thick. Airflow per square millimeter is so poor that the paper must be pleated using many feet of material to accommodate the required airflow. Paper filters work on a "surface loading" principle where all dust particles must be caught on the surface or not at all. Dust that gets caught on the surface forms a "cake" on the surface of the filter. The "cake" while improving the efficiency of the filter contributes to a rapidly rising pressure drop across the filter. A rapidly increasing pressure drop means that the engine has to consume more fuel to maintain the air flow to the engine, thus, reducing fuel efficiency. Paper has other drawbacks as well; during humid conditions any moisture ingested into the air filter causes the fibers to swell, and so, reduces airflow even more. Paper is inherently not a very strong material, with the weakest link being at the crease of every pleat. It can be easily ruptured by any attempts at cleaning by blowing compressed air or by pressure differences that can be caused by the backfiring of the intake manifold. Any rupture of the paper will obviously leave the paper filter useless. Since paper filters are surface loaded, they have poor dust holding capacity. This necessitates frequent cleaning and replacement. The dust holding capacity of the paper filter is augmented by modifications to the housing and by pre-cleaning arrangements. All these lead to increased costs. Additionally, all paper filters are throw-away types and cannot be re-used. This means that they are not environment friendly, hence the frequently discarded paper filters are dumped into a landfill somewhere.

FPCP vs. Pleated Gauze or Fabric Filtration
Pleated gauze or pleated fabric filters are an improvement over paper filters as they increase the airflow through the filter to an extent, but still need to be pleated to provide for adequate surface area. However, these filters, like paper filters, are "surface loaded" and are subject to the same issues as paper filters. Once dust gets trapped on the surface of the filter the pressure drop across the filter rises rapidly. It is for this reason that a gauze or fabric filter needs to be cleaned at regular intervals to provide the same level of performance as an FPCP filter. Additionally, an oil coating on this type of filter does not spread over the openings but gets soaked by the fibers of the fabric causing an additional restriction to the flow of air. When pleated gauze or fabric filters are first installed the air flow through such filters and engine power experienced are often very similar to that of an FPCP filter, but the restriction to airflow starts when the filter starts getting dirty and is not regularly cleaned.