The lowdown covering Industrial Strainers

There can be some uncertainty at times as to the differences between a strainer and a filter as they are both designed and configured to remove particles from a gas or liquid phase to match a specified effluent quality and may also be applied to safeguard downstream equipment from contaminant damage.  A filter is usually a disposable medium that required a much stricter quality than a strainer and is available in micron ranges down to one micron or less.  When there is a need for a coarser level of separation in a reusable medium like a mesh screen or perforated pate, a strainer would normally be the choice.  In the instance a strainer is chosen the coarser levels would utilise a perforated plate material ie: 0.25 inch perforation and also have the adaptability to do down to a mesh screen lining as fine as 200 mesh (74 microns).  It should be noted that this process is normally fine for a strainer to be used but it might be better supported by the use of a filter dependent on the application in hand.

What needs to be considered in terms of strainer use?

As a strainer is usually coarser than a filter and there is a distinctly lower resistance to flow, the typical clean pressure drop is simply maintained in a smaller footprint area. Functionally, strainers are usually used to safeguard downstream equipment such as pumps, valves and instrumentation from any damage caused by pipeline debris that can be present in the process stream and ultimately need to be removed to adhere to specified effluent quality.
Therefore, choosing the correctly designed strainer will avoid a number of downstream maintenance issues. It is important to gather the all the information in making your choice to ensure it is operationally efficient for the chosen application.

What strainer options are available?

There are a number of types of strainers readily available, ranging from temporary styles that are more commonly used for start-up at new facilities to the more permanent strainers such as the Y and basket style strainers. The basket strainers are configured as a rule to have a much larger surface straining area than that of the Y strainer. They can be either a single or duplex design complete with valves or piping so one unit can be on standby and
switch over to the other so maintenance and cleaning can take place.
Y strainers normally have a much lower dirt holding capacity than the basket types and therefore need more cleaning. For this reason, they are predominantly used where the expected contaminant levels are minimal and can supply a definitive level of guard protection for equipment downstream in the process. Fabricated basket strainers range in size from 4” overall diameter up to 48+ overall diameter for high flow pipeline applications and can be commissioned to make sure they meet all process parameters and specifications. Filter strainers from can be manufactured in various materials of construction depending on the level of process conditions and are constructed to ASME code standards.

Access to one of the largest and broadest inventories of Strainers

Floquip has access to the largest and broadest inventory of strainers and filters in the industry, and can provide delivery of simplex, duplex and Y strainers in metals such as cast iron, carbon steel, bronze and stainless steel as well as a full range of bag and cartridge filter housings and media. Eaton strainers meet customers’ expectations and the highest standards including:


 ISO 9001- 2008 quality management
 Properly sized components to meet any specified retention requirement and flow rate
 NSF approved coatings
 Ultra-low discharge strainers technology that offers reduced purged volumes

Floquip product ranges have led the way with designs that meet the growing and vigorous demands of process and manufacturing industries, utilities and municipalities around the world. View Industrial Strainers here