5 Things You Didn’t Know Need to be Strained

For most people, it’s not much of stretch to imagine how wire mesh strainers, such as commercial basket strainers, might be important in food and beverage manufacturing. After all, the pulp has to be removed somehow if the customer wants pure apple orange juice.

But what about other industries? Many people might be surprised to know that strainers are critical to, among others:

• Petrochemical production
• Automotive manufacturing
• Military readiness
• Chemical production
• Pharmaceutical production

The sheer variety of strainers offers a clue to the large role they play in industry. From conical line and flat plate strainers to tee, basket and duplex strainers, these components of manufacturing systems are designed to separate out unwanted materials down to microscopic contaminants.

Here are five ways strainers are used outside food processing.

Petrochemical production

A critical step in refining petroleum is removing impurities. Crude oil contains everything from leaves and sand to tiny animals and unwanted liquid, such as water.

Before refining can take place, these contaminants must be removed—and that’s where strainers come in. They are used along the course of the process to get rid of anything that threatens the purity of the final product.

Automotive manufacturing

Just as wire mesh strainers are vital to producing gasoline and motor oil, they also help keep the engines that use these products running smoothly.

It’s fairly easy to imagine what would happen if motor oil and transmission fluid were allowed to circulate unfiltered, picking up dirt and other particulates. Keeping these fluids clean adds significantly to an automobile’s lifespan. Wire mesh strainers do the job.

Military readiness

U.S. Navy ships are among the most advanced in the world, so it might seem counterintuitive to say that their ability to continue functioning depends on wire mesh strainers. But so it does.

Warships can’t deploy their weapons systems without lots of water to keep those systems cool. Seawater makes a good coolant but comes with some problems.

There is no such thing as pure seawater. It’s full of debris, both organic and inorganic that would clog up any system in short order. Wire mesh strainers ensure that the water cooling the weapons system is clean and remains free flowing.

Chemical production

Harsh chemicals are hard on the pipes and equipment they pass through during the production process. This corrosive power is an inevitable byproduct of manufacturing. It can be made worse by the presence of solid debris that can cause chemical reactions that should not be part of the process.

Wire mesh strainers can filter out debris, thereby preventing reactions that will create more damage. Stopping the reactions means longer life for pipes and equipment, and that means significant savings in money and downtime.

Pharmaceutical production

Pharmaceutical manufacturing is among the most regulated industries in existence, and with good reason. Human health and lives depend on the quality of drugs available to patients.

Wire mesh strainers ensure the highest levels of sanitation, which is as important as the quality of the chemicals used to make the final products.

Industrial strainers: The unsung heroes

Wire mesh strainers play a surprisingly large role in industry, finding a place in:

• Producing clean gasoline and motor oil and other petrochemical products on which the world depends for transportation and other activities
• Keeping circulating oil and transmission fluid free of contaminants so automobiles function better and last longer
• Preventing problems with naval weapons systems and other critical operations
• Protecting chemical production from harmful chemical reactions caused by debris
• Ensuring the necessary sanitation for production of the highest-quality pharmaceuticals

For more than 107 years, Newark Wire Cloth has specialized in fabricating standard and custom wire mesh products, including stainless steel SaniClean strainers. Contact the company for more information about wire mesh and its industrial processing applications.