Strainers are made using woven wire mesh or cloth into products for clog prevention, filtering, draining, straining and sifting of liquid and powdered materials. They are used to separate unwanted elements from a material by feeding it through a mesh or netting with a specific opening size designed to hold the unwanted elements, or let them pass through.
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Depending on the types of particles to be separated and the desired outcome of the operation, sieves or strainers with different types and sizes of holes are used. The chemical, coolant, food processing, beverage, laboratory, medical, pharmaceutical and refrigerant industries all use strainers as part of their processes. Used for the purposes of quality control - removing foreign particles from substance, grading certain materials according to particle size and the recovery of potentially valuable particles of materials from a waste stream. Depending on the application, strainers can be used in conjunction with mechanical vibratory machinery or with pneumatic appliances to aid in the movement of material across the sieve. Dry bulk powder processing often requires the assistance of vibrating filter screens or strainers to help move the powder over the mesh in a controlled manner. Strainers are also commonly used in pipelines, as components of operating and sorting systems, food processing and filtering.
There are many different shapes, sizes, weave patterns and strainer types to choose based on the intended application of a strainer. While they are typically designed to catch solids, strainers can also be used to remove liquids, gases and media from streams. Materials used in the fabrication of wire cloth for strainers include bronze, iron, nickel alloy, steel and stainless steel and titanium. Strainers can be either permanent or temporary, the temporary strainers need to be replaced regularly while permanent strainers typically need cleaning occasionally. Basket strainers and duplex basket strainers are considered permanent and while single basket operations will need to stop for cleaning, duplex basket operations don't need to be shut down as flow can be directed through one basket while the other is being cleaned. Temporary strainers are those such as in-line, tee type and Y-strainers which are used mainly as protective devices in pipeline assemblies. Apart from industrial uses, strainers are also common general purpose items used in most residential kitchens, especially in baking to aerate powdered substances and in cooking to drain or strain foods. These types are usually made from fine wire screen as the particles to be strained are typically smaller. Strainer can be supplied as a single element or as an assembly to be integrated into a operating line.
