The &#;How&#; and &#;Why&#; of the &#;Y Strainer&#;

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If you spend much time on our website you&#;ll notice it&#;s full of some pretty impressive products. Over the decades our product line has grown, and our manufacturing and fabrication services and capabilities have grown to meet our customers&#; growing demands. A brief look through our &#;Product Gallery&#; section shows we make some exceptional strainers and valves.

As the world gets more complex it&#;s easy to get distracted from some of the simple amazing things in our lives. Like turning on a tap and having clean water come out, opening a fridge and taking out a cold drink, or turning the ignition key in your car, and having this marvelous compilation of steel and copper and rubber and integrated circuits move you from Point A to Point B in comfort.

It&#;s important to remember some of the simpler things that make this all possible, and with that in mind we&#;ve decided to feature some of the products that may not seem ultra-sophisticated but which make the processes we require in modern life work better and more efficiently. One of those is a simple &#;Y Strainer&#;.

A &#;Y Strainer&#; takes its name from its configuration and is most commonly used in pressurized lines, gas or liquid. They can also be used in suction or vacuum conditions. Y Strainers are intended for applications where small amounts of solid particulate are expected and where clean-out will be infrequent. If solids will flush easily from the screen, and fluid can be exhausted to atmosphere, a blow-down valve on the drain port will allow clean-out without removal of the screen, and without interrupting the process flow.

By definition a strainer provides a means of mechanically removing solids from a flowing liquid. They do this by utilizing a perforated metal, mesh or wedge wire straining element.

We often forget that installation of a Y Strainer isn&#;t an expense, it&#;s an investment in the protection of the downstream mechanical equipment such as turbines, pumps, heat exchangers, spray nozzles, condensers, meters and steam traps. These are often one of the costliest components of the process and can be damaged by sediment, rust, pipe scale and other extraneous debris.

Y Strainers can be used in either a horizontal or vertical position while most basket strainers are designed for horizontal or slightly inclined piping applications. You must pay attention to the orientation of the chamber which collects debris and the drain (blow-down) connection of the Y Strainer. The strainer must be installed so that it is in the lowest possible position.

A Y Strainer installed in vertical piping must be installed so that its screen is in the downward position so that it can trap sediment in the debris collection chamber.

A simplex strainer (just a single strainer as opposed to a duplex strainer) is generally used where the process can be shut down for a period of time to replace, or to clean the strainer.

Y Strainers and many basket strainers can be self-cleaning. If you add a blow-down valve the strainer can be flushed without stopping the flow through or disassembling the piping.

Contractors and engineers often have a misconception that Y strainers and basket strainers cannot be used in steam service. In many instances both basket strainers and Y Strainers will perform comparably in steam service. When you order strainers for steam service it&#;s essential that you specify this so the manufacturer is aware of this. With steam the housing may be provided with a special bottom which allows the accumulated debris to be blown out of the blowdown valve opening.

When liquid flows through a strainer, the strainer screen will impede the flow and therefore the pressure of the liquid exiting the strainer will be lower than prior to entering the strainer. This is referred to as the &#;pressure drop&#; of the strainer.

In sizes about 4 inches, a basket strainer will generally create less pressure drop than a Y strainer. Due to the required thickness and therefore high cost to create high pressure strainers, basket strainers are normally not constructed for pressures above 1,500 psi. On the other hand, Y strainers are available for working pressures of 6,000 psi and higher.

Cast Y strainers can be installed into a pipeline or work flow application either by &#;threading&#; them on to a piece of pipe, or by being bolted to a &#;flange&#;.

Threaded cast Y strainers can come in a variety of materials including Cast Iron, Cast Bronze, Cast Steel, Cast Stainless Steel, Cast Alloy 20, Cast Chrome-Moly. Flanged Y Strainers can come in Cast Iron, Cast Ductile Iron, Cast Steel, Cast Stainless Steel, Cast LCC.

While Y strainers are not always the flashiest part of production process they are an essential component. In an era where we have the tools to analyze and record in minute detail variables including downtime, make sure you keep those expensive downstream components working to their potential by ensuring you are removing the debris and particulate that can reduce their efficiency or cause premature failure.

When to Use a Y-Strainer with a Blow Down Connection

If you want to learn more, please visit our website DIN Y Type Strainer.

Y-strainers can be installed horizontal or vertical depending on the application. They are often used in water filtration, chemical processing, and other applications where debris is removed at various stages along the pipeline to protect downstream components. A blow down connection allows for a y-strainer&#;s screen to be cleaned without removing it from the strainer's body. When should you use a blow down connection with a y-strainer? A blow down connection should be used when process equipment downstream needs to be protected from sand, gravel, and other debris.

What is a y-strainer?

A y-strainer (wye strainer) is a connection along a pipeline that creates a y-like shape where the liquid flow is sent through a screen to capture unwanted debris. A flow control pipeline may require multiple types of y-strainers with varying screen sizes. As the debris is collected, the y-strainer screen needs to be cleaned so that it does not impact the flow rate. If you clean a y-strainer without shutting off the flow, you could cause damage to other components of the pipeline. This may not be economically feasible with the time it takes to shut down and startup your systems. A solution to this issue is to install blow down connections on your y-strainers so that you &#;blow out&#; the debris collected in the strainer. By far the most common application of a liquid blow down connection is to a y-strainer. Liquid connections are typically used when there is no gas pressure to prevent the strainer from blowing over. This is usually done when you have a large amount of liquid (like water) and would like it to flow into a given area. The problem with using liquid connections is that they are slow and require careful attention because of their complexity.

Best time to use blow down connections and liquid y-strainers

Blow down connections can be used with a liquid y-strainer to control the rate of flow, and therefore the viscosity, or density, at different flow rates. It is commonly used when a more significant amount of debris is anticipated.

The recipe for this type of connection (liquid) is different than the types of connections you may have come across in the past, such as the &#;forced air&#; connections (which are often under pressure and are not suitable for use with liquid y-strainers).

There are two reasons why you might want to use this type of connection. The first reason is to reduce your chance of damage from dirt getting into the tubing. In general, when you are performing maintenance on equipment, you want to minimize its exposure to dirt. This can be achieved by using a blow down connection, which allows for minimal pressure drop in the tubing (when not under pressure). This reduces the chance that dirt can get into the tubing and damage it. The second reason is that you may want to reduce your latency from one location to another. If all equipment has access to these lines, then there&#;s no need for any travel time between them. If there are some locations where blowing down isn&#;t possible, then it might make sense to connect them over time instead of on one line at once. This way they can share resources and prevent bottlenecks while still remaining connected with each other.

Applications where blow down connections are usually necessary

The most common applications for a blow down connection are chemical processing, petroleum, oil, and water filtration.

1. Chemical Processing

A liquid blow down connection for chemical processing is efficient. It gives very precise control over the flow rate of the liquid. Keeping the chemicals you&#;re using as clean and pure as possible is vital for most chemical applications. A y-strainer with a blow down connection can help when used in the pipeline.

2. Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil filtration is important because, with the way that it&#;s extracted, there could be impurities that need to be removed before being processed. Removing them through y-strainers with blow down connections is common.

3. Oil

You can use a blow down connection on a liquid y-strainer to remove granular sediment from vegetable oil (that is, stuff like corn, soybeans, and so on).

4. Water Filtration

For most applications clean water is important. Using y-strainers is a great way to filter the water in the pipeline so that there is less strain on other parts of your filtration system.

The uses of a blow down connection with a liquid y-strainer

Some common applications for a liquid y-strainer are:

1) Cleaning or cleaning out pipes and other fittings.

2) Disinfecting buildings and other equipment.

3) Discharging waste into a sewer.

Blow down connections are a great way to increase your efficiency. Used in conjunction with a y-strainer, you&#;ll be able to control the sediments removed in the pipeline. This will help you protect the other components of your filtration process equipment. Browse our selection of y-strainers and let us know if you have any questions.

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