Whoever said strainers were predictable and boring has never spent any time in the Engineering Department at Sure Flow Equipment.
We’re not sure if anyone has ever said that, but this latest project reminds us “you never know what you’re going to see” at Sure Flow.
Our Design Team and Engineering Department are always happy to get involved with unique projects and this job was a first for us.
It is a standard straight through Tee strainer. Usually, our Tee strainers are pretty straightforward. They look like a “T”, often an upside-down T, with a strainer that gets inserted from the bottom of the “T”, into the unit, to strain the flow running through the unit.
This fabricated Tee strainer was a bit unusual because there is no flange on the inlet side. So, it looks more like a 90-degree elbow than a Tee strainer.
It is a has NPS 6’’ schedule 80 buttweld end on the inlet side, and 6’’ class 600 raised face flange on the outlet side.
The unit consists of carbon steel construction. It was destined for a power plant as are many of our custom fabricated products.
This design was a first for us, one we’ve never seen before. There are a number of reasons a customer might require a custom design like this, often related to space restrictions.
As we publish this profile we are in the midst of a polar vortex in the north and a series of ice storms in the south, knocking out electricity to many customers.
Electricity is one of those things it’s very easy to take for granted, until it’s not there, at which time we all realise just how critical it is to every element of modern life. Even if we cook and heat with natural gas, an electric fan has to blow that hot air throughout the building, so a lack of electricity renders our furnace dysfunctional.
We point this out because at Sure Flow Equipment we take our custom fabrication projects very seriously. Yes, we have a number of quality assurance programs in place to ensure the highest quality end result for our customers, but we never lose track of where our products are installed. A power plant is a super critical component of our modern life infrastructure. We do not carry this weight of responsibility lightly.
Just like everyone else, we like coming home to a warm house, where we can click a switch and have light. It can seem pretty basic, but producing that electricity and getting it to your home is a big deal, and we’re very proud when we get to play a part in that complex process.
