Fuel filters protect the injection system from particulate and water. On modern common-rail diesels this is critical work, because injectors and high-pressure pumps run at extreme pressures with clearances measured in microns, and they are lubricated by the fuel itself. Water is as damaging as dirt: it causes corrosion, disrupts that lubrication and can cause an injector to fail outright.
The range covers primary filters, which take out larger particles and bulk water, and secondary or final filters, which do the fine filtration immediately before the injection system. Many applications use both, and the two are not interchangeable. Search by Donaldson part number, or enter the number from the filter you are replacing and it will be matched against the cross-references recorded against each product.