Other Uses for Filter Paper
Filter paper is most commonly known as the material that strains coffee from coffee grounds when you add hot water. But that's not the only function of the versatile pulp product. It's also a common filtering fabric in fuel, oil and air filters -- as well as various types of laboratory filtering needs.
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Oil
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Filter paper is made from various types of wood pulp and is manufactured to dozens of specifications, including wet strength, particle retention and flow rate. What type you need depends on how you will use it. Many oil filters contain pleated filter paper that is wrapped in a cylinder and housed in a replaceable cartridge. This allows you to switch out the filter paper when the impurities have built up to a level that precludes any filtering at all.
Air
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Pleated filter paper is laid within large frames to filter home HVAC systems or crafted in the shape of a vehicle's air intake manifold to filter air your engine takes in. These filters are porous and light, allowing air to pass through air intake systems. Like oil filters, air filters are manufactured with different weight, thickness and porousness, depending on the amount of air intake to be filtered.
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Fuel
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Refined oils, such as fuel, require a specifically porous filtering paper. A standard weight for this kind of filtering element is 100 to 145 grams per square meter, with an average thickness of between 0.35 and 0.60 mm, but manufacturers can alter weight, thickness and other variables like wet strength, corrugation depth and stiffness to accommodate different types of fuel sources and mechanical applications.
Lab
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Scientists and students use varying sizes and strengths of filter paper to perform experiments requiring the filtration of liquids. As with other filter papers, chemical additives are sometimes included with the hard or soft wood pulp during the production process to create paper geared toward specific filtration needs, for instance, to filter chemicals, gelatinous and coarse precipitates from base liquids. Whatman shows dozens of different grades for filter papers made from several types of cellulose and pulp blends to perform a range of lab tasks, from filtering press cloths to straining microscopic particles.
Home Uses
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Filter paper is used not just for coffeemakers but also for teabags. You can perform several other household tasks with filter paper, such as removing pieces of cork from a wine bottle. Simply use a rubber band to fasten a piece of filter paper over the bottle's spout, then pour the wine into another container, leaving the pieces of cork behind. This kind of paper also can be used to clean windows when you run out of paper towels or newspaper, or use it to apply shoe polish.
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