STRAINERS . . .

They’re Not Just Small Dollar $ $ $$ $

Congratulations to Bob Emerling of Seeley & Jones, our Nicholson Steam Trap Representative in
Milford, CT, who sold two 24" ANSI 150#, RF duplex strainers. The cost of each strainer was
$31,000 for a total sale of $62,000 (KA-CHING). To get the order, Bob successfully outbid the
manufacturer of a competing line of strainers.

Series 150B Flanged

Series 150DB - Style 1 Duplex Strainer
Basket Strainer

Our Series 150DB – Style 1 duplex strainer consists of two manifolds, four individually operated
butterfly valves and two carbon steel angular flanged basket strainers. Each strainer weighs
approximately 9000 lbs. Outside dimensions of these strainers are 128" x 74" x 70". The isolation
valves have cast iron bodies, stainless steel discs and shafts and EPDM seats. Our Series 150B
duplex strainers meet ASME B31.1 and B31.3 and ASME Section VIII, Div.1 and are available in
three configurations to accommodate special piping or application needs.

In this application, the duplex strainers are being used to filter out harmful particles, larger then
0.008" in diameter, from the process fluids. The strainer is designed so that it never has to be shut
down for cleaning. This means that the process can run continuously – a tremendous cost
savings! The diverting and cleaning procedure is quick and easy. During normal operation, fluid
flows through one of the two strainer chambers. When the basket of the chamber in use becomes
clogged or full, its butterfly valves are closed. The butterfly valves of the parallel chamber are
opened and the flow diverted to a clean strainer basket, allowing the operator to remove and clean
the dirty strainer basket without shutting the pipeline flow.

Applications That Use Basket Strainers

The two primary types of pipeline strainers are basket and Y type. Y strainers are used with
gases, where the necessity for cleaning is infrequent. Basket strainers are used with liquids, in
applications where frequent cleaning is required. Basket strainers hold considerably more material
than Y-strainers and offer less pressure drop, factors that are more important in liquid versus
gaseous applications. Y-strainers must be installed with the basket down in an “upside down”
position. The strainer screen has to be removed for cleaning from the bottom. Basket strainer are
installed in an upright position and the basket is lifted out from the top. A filled basket can be very
heavy, which means that a basket strainer has to be installed in a horizontal line and cannot be
used with vertical piping.

Typical application for basket strainers include: chemical processing, water handling, food industry,
marine industry, process equipment, paint, ink and latex, electric utilities, pharmaceutical,
cosmetics, refrigeration, petroleum, pulp and paper, ceramics and transportation.

Chemical Processing
The chemical processing industry is the largest user of basket strainers which are installed to
insure that cleaner products are made and the process equipment used to make these products
last longer.

Water Handling
Basket strainers are used in water handling to remove sand, gravel, etc., pumped into a facility
from lakes and streams, so that these materials do not damage or clog equipment. They can be
used to strain out materials from large swimming pools before the water passes to a filter. Basket
strainers are also an important part of desalinization equipment to filter out dirt, or other unwanted
materials from the water before it is treated for salt removal. Spent wastewater from industrial use
is frequently passed through a basket strainer to take out material which should not go into a
sewer or waterway.

Food Industry
Basket strainers are used to remove seeds, pulp, skins, bones and other unwanted matter from a
final food product. They are used to take out lumps from chocolate syrup and wax from honey.
Some businesses in the food industry are required use basket strainers to remove food particles
from water before it is discharged into sewer systems, in conformance to environmental
regulations.

Marine Industry
Basket strainers are used in the marine industry for many purposes including: sea water used in
cooling lines, fire control lines, sanitary lines, and general cleaning lines, to filter the undesirable
matter in the water that is pumped into a ship. Strainers are also used on-board ships to clean
fuel, hydraulic and lubricating systems.

Process Equipment
Expensive equipment, such as heat exchangers, condensers and pumps, must be protected from
harmful materials contained in a process fluid otherwise equipment will be damaged and costly
shutdown will occur. These problems will be eliminated by using a basket strainer on the upstream
side of the flow.

Paint, Ink & Latex

Basket strainers are used to remove hard to detect residues that can ruin a large batches of paints
and inks.

Electric Utilities
Electric utilities deal with large volume fluids, many of the strainers used can have 24” inlet/outlet
nozzle sizes or greater. In fact, flow rates that exceed 10,000 USGPM are not uncommon in this
industry. Basket strainers are used in the power industry to clean water and to protect equipment.
They also screen transformer oil which prevents circulating lines from becoming clogged.
Mills and Foundries
Steel mills and metal foundries use thousands of gallons of water each day to cool down liquid
metals as they are poured and molded into metal slabs. This water is pumped in from nearby
rivers and lakes. Basket strainers are employed in two stages of these operations. First, to
remove unwanted materials from the water going into the plant. Second, to remove unwanted
particles in the water as it is returned to its original source, in conformance with environmental
regulations.

Petroleum
Unwanted material such as gums, tars and dirt can plug the nozzles of an oil burner, pump, meter
and other equipment. Basket strainers are used to keep these unwanted particles out of petroleum
products. In fact, every industrial oil burner is equipped with a basket strainer to screen out
harmful materials.

Pulp & Paper

A smooth paper finish means that a process is free of undispersed clumps of pigment. The
problem of unseen lumps in coatings in the paper industry is always present so basket strainers
are installed in the coating lines to catch and hold the lumps. They are also used to clean pulp or
paper from white water effluent before it is discharged into the environment.

Transportation
Basket strainers are installed on all tank truck and rail car which dispense liquids. The strainers
are used to catch unwanted materials so that equipment doesn’t become clogged.

High Profits From Strainer Sales

Estimated annual sales of strainers, in the United States, is close to $90 million. Strainers are a
low maintenance, value added product that does not fail. This means that ninety-five percent of
strainer business comes from customers looking to purchase “new” strainers. You should be
selling a strainer each time you sell your customer a steam trap, pressure regulator, control valve
or condensate pump. Question: What is the warranty of an E-Valve without a strainer directly
before the valve on the upstream side of the flow? Answer: The warranty becomes null and void.

We offer one of the industry’s most comprehensive line of Y, basket, duplex, temporary and
fabricated strainers, butterfly valves, check valves, foot valves and connectors, in iron, steel,
stainless steel and bronze, for pipe connection sizes from ½” to 24”. The availability of these
products gives you a tremendous selling advantage over the competition and will open doors to
markets previously unavailable. And, as it was for Bob Emerling, selling strainers can be very
profitable.

Congratulations Bob!