I think of all the industrial processes out there, the idea of a ‘chocolate factory’ is one that appeals to many of us. The idea of any factory that makes sweet things sounds great, so needless to say we were very excited when one of our recent fabricated units was destined for a sugar factory!
This fabricated strainer is stainless steel so it will not be painted. Some customers require stainless steel products to be painted but this is usually for identification purposes, where the colour of the paint will make it easy to determine what part of a production process you’re looking at. Stainless steel contains chromium which provides the resistance to corrosion. Chromium actually creates a passive film which will heal itself when there is oxygen present, so its best left exposed or unpainted.
Stainless steel’s resistance to corrosion makes it popular in industries like food processing where this unit will end up. The stainless steel in this unit provides a secondary benefit because it will be used in a saltwater heat recovery project and saltwater increases the rusting process.
It is a BWH150SS which is an 8-inch class 150 with raised face flanged inlet and outlet.
The fabricated strainer includes a quick open cover with includes swing bolts and hinge for ease of removal of basket cleaning.
It uses 316 stainless steel construction.
In the additional uncropped photos that follow you can see the unit includes feet on the bottom to bolt in place once it is installed in line. The three feet extend out from the base and are flush with the bottom of the strainer.
You can also see the 2-inch NPT drain. The positioning of this drain allows the strainer to sit flat on the ground.
There is a basket already installed in the strainer so the basket you see on the shipping pallet is a spare. It may seem like a bit of optical illusion, but the spare will fit in the strainer.
The spare basket is common with many of our custom orders and aids in the turnaround time when cleaning the basket. This way the customer can simply swap the spare for the one in need of cleaning, which reduces downtime and ensures there is ample time for the removed basket to be well cleaned.
The consensus at Sure Flow was that if we ever toured a sugar factory, we’d probably want to spend most of the time where the finished product came off the line. Even though this fabricated unit is actually going to saltwater heat recovery, which might not seem like coolest part of the tour, it’s still a pretty critical component in the complete process. So we take great solace in the knowledge that our products are still working away even without all the glory.
