QUOTE(kwales @ Aug 3 2008, 03:36 PM)
It seems like a good idea, but from a heat transfer standpoint, it probably won't do much, and may increase the heat of the filter.
There are 3 ways to transfer heat- the first is conduction. Heat from the oil is "conducted" out of the filter by contact of the hot oil with the "can" of the filter. The "can" hangs in air and can transfer heat directly to the air by convection (air moving across the can) or by radiation (-place hand near hot engine and it "feels hot"- it's not very effective compared to the other two). The crux is the contact of the inner surface of the alluminum cooling device with the outside of the can.
If they press against one another, heat transfer is by conduction and probably quite good. But, if there is an air gap between the two surfaces, you are down to radiation as a means of transferring heat. The air gap doesn't have to be much- a thousandth of an inch and all conduction heat transfer goes down the crapper. This is why power transistors and the heat sink on your microprocessor in your computer use "conductive grease" between the heat sink and the object to be cooled. Leave the grease out and you fry your microprocessor and transisitors.
That means if the "can" has a taper and the inner surface of the cool collar doesn't, you have an airgap over most of the can and it acts like a thermos jug. Likewise, if either the cool collar or the can isn't exactly round, you get an airgap and the unwanted thermos jug effect......
Adding a deformable conductive material to bridge the gap between the oil filter "can "and the cool collar is the only way to make it work as advertised. Conductive epoxy works too but it makes the cool collar a one time use device.
Ken
ah good points! so lets make finned filter cans with replaceable elements that well sell and get richer than hell... oh shit maybe i should have kept this to myself