The Complete Guide to Choosing a Temporary Inline Stainless Steel Strainer

Most industrial piping operations deal with thousands of different liquids, gases and process streams every day. During startup, maintenance, commissioning and even during the testing of equipment dirt can enter the pipework and cause many problems with pumps, valves, meters, etc. This is when a temporary inline stainless steel strainer is the ideal solution. These strainers give a temporary filtering and protection until the pipeline is completely clean and operational.

Industrial systems relies on having a suitable temporary strainer in place to ensure system reliability, reduce downtime and avoid costly equipment failure. This guide is a comprehensive resource to help you choose the most suitable temporary inline stainless steel strainer for your application.

What Is a SemiInline Stainless Steel Strainer?

Another type of temporary inline strainer, which is removable, is installed between pipe flanges to collect dirt, welding slats, rust, scale, etc. during start-up or maintenance. This strainers are temporary and are then removed once the system has been cleansed and is functioning correctly.

Since corrosion resistant properties, durability, as well as ability to handle high temperature and pressure requirements, stainless steel material is most widely applied to the manufacture of these strainers. The oil and gas, chemical, power generation, food, pharmaceutical, and water industries are the typical users of these temporary strainers.

Why Temporary Strainers Are Important

Contaminants can be deposited inside the pipe in course of construction or during maintenance work. These contaminants will cause problems in operation if they reach the equipment.

A temporary inline stainless steel strainer helps by:

Standard pump protection against pump impingement damage

Blockage of the valves can be avoided:

Maintenance of flow meters

Reduce Maintenance Expenses:

System startup speed enhancement

Avoiding unplanned outages

Installing a temporary strainer provides an extremely simple, but very effective way to aid commissioning & startup.

Types of Temporary Strainers

Being aware of the different types of temporary strainers will help you to select the most suitable one for your circumstances.

Cone Strainers

Cone Strainers: they are conical shaped and fit between pipeline flanges. These strainers have a large filtration area and are suitable for dirty applications.

Advantages include:

High dirt-holding capacity

Low pressure drop

Easy to install and uninstall.

Good Flow properties

Basket Strainers

The basket-style temporary strainers have a cylindrical basket for removing the impurity. The design enables the flow of fluid.

Benefits include:

Larger area of debris collection

Appliable to Systems with high flow

Filtration performance (how well the filter performed, i.e., the filtration rates attained)

Plate Strainers

Plate strainers are flat, perforated or mesh plates fitted in-between flanges. They are small and inexpensive and are suitable for systems with negligible contamination problems.

Advantages include:

Simple design

Economical Alternative

Few care and/or easily maintained.

Key Factors to Consider When Choosing a Temporary Strainer

Choosing the correct temporary inline stainless steel strainer requires some consideration of a few key criteria.

Material Grade

Performance, wear and corrosion resistance depend of the stainless steel grade.

Common choices include:

Stainless Steel 304:for use in most industrial applications.

Stainless steel 316: Provides excellent corrosion resistance in difficult environments

Stainless Steel 316L: 

Suitable for pharmaceutical, food processing and chemical industries

Other stainless steel materials with higher grades need to be used for more aggressive chemicals or marine use.

Mesh Size and Filtration Requirements

The size of the particles that the strainer can trap is given by the mesh size.

Consider:

The contaminants that will be present

Downstream equipment sensitivity

Required level of filtration

Pressure drop that is acceptable

The flow through the finer mesh will encounter less flow resistance. Filtration performance and flow efficiency need to be balanced.

Flow Rate

Knowing the system flow rate is helpful when selecting a strainer.

An undersized strainer can:

Causes to lose pressure too much

 Limit circulatory flow

Increase maintenance frequency.

A correctly sized temporary inline stainless steel strainer will allow flow to be maintained, but also will catch debris.

Pressure and Temperature Conditions

Industrial systems often operate under demanding conditions. Ensure the strainer can handle:

Maximum operating pressure.

Flat headlines of temperature changes

Characteristics of process fluid

Resistant to high-pressure and high-temperature conditions is the construction, which is made of stainless steel.

Open Area Ratio

Open area ratio percentage of the filtration surface available for fluid flow.

A higher open area ratio offers:

Lower pressure drop

Better flow behavior

Future possible advantages, User removable operation: Longer operating life before cleaning

Most engineers advise selecting a strainer with at least five times the open area than the pipeline cross section.

Temporary Strainers vs Other Filtration Solutions

Temporary strainers serve a role in commissioning and maintenance, but this may be part of a larger filtration scheme.

Like felt bags filters, permanent filtration generally uses a cartridge, screen, or felt bags filter to allow for continuous contaminant removal during normal operation. Felt bags filters are often easy and economically use in continuous filtration, though the focus on temporary strainers like cartridge and screen is to protect the equipment at start-up and cleans time.

Numerous systems utilize these technologies jointly to form an overall filtration system that manages the various short-and long-term issues of contamination.

Installation Best Practices

Correct placement is key to making the most of a strainer;

Consider these guidelines:

Verify Flow Direction

Most secondary strainers have only certain flow direction. If they are installed contrary to the flow direction, the filtration efficiencies will be decreased, and at the same time, press loss will become higher.

Inspect Before Installation

Check the strainer for:

Physical damage.

Manufacturing defects

Good mesh integrity

A broken strainer may permit contaminants to bypass the filtering process.

Monitor Pressure Drop

Monitor differential pressure on strainer while in service. Loss of pressure is a common sign of debris buildup and means the strainer needs to be cleaned or replaced.

Follow Removal Procedures

When the cleaning is concluded and the commissioning has been carried out, eliminate the temporary strainer following the instructions in the operation manual in order to make the plant operate at the maximum potential.

Common Industries That Use Temporary Stainless Steel Strainers

There are many applications for temporary strainers in the various industries.

Oil and Gas

Protects pumps, compressors, and process equipment during construction.

Chemical Processing

Hardware protection against contamination of sensitive processing equipment and instrumentation.

Power Generation

Supports safe startups of boilers, turbines, cooling systems.

Water Treatment

Removes rust, scale and particulates during commissioning.

Food and Beverage Manufacturing

Keeps sanitary processing systems sterile during startup.

Conclusion

The decision to use a temporary inline stainless steel strainer is extremely important to protect equipment and start-up production. According to the material grade, mesh size, flow rate, pressure requirements and open area ratio, this selection can greatly minimize the possibility of damage to equipment and disrupt the operation.

Although the industrial permanent filtration like felt bags filters last longer and give continuous contamination controls, a temporary inline stainless steel strainer that has an appropriate selection can offer the required protection during commissioning and maintenance practices. Time spent on the selection of the appropriate strainer in order to enhance the reliability of the systems is actually beneficial to prolong the equipment life and effective industrial operations.