Industrial wire mesh is a frequently used material in a variety of industries. Wire mesh discs, commonly referred to as pack screens or filter discs, are fabricated using woven or sintered metal wire. Wire mesh discs come in a variety of specs in different alloys and a wide range of diameters, making them extremely versatile in many mesh industries. Alloys used for wire mesh discs include stainless steel, aluminum, brass, bronze, copper, galvanized steel mesh, and more.
Wire Mesh discs can be used as inline filters, inside pipes, tubes, ducts, and a wide range of other filtration applications. Lawrence Sintered Metals can supply wire mesh discs in a wide range of diameters, and utilizing other cutting methods they can be cut to fairly large sizes.
Five industries that commonly use wire mesh discs are the pharmaceutical industry, the mining industry, water treatment industry, food and beverage industry and the gas and oil industry. Let’s dive into how each of these industries utilizes industrial steel mesh.
The Pharmaceutical Industry
A large part of the production process of pharmaceuticals includes separating wanted elements from unwanted materials on a very small scale. The use of a sieve, created using wire mesh discs, eliminates oversized contamination and ensures quality assurance of ingredients and the finished product. Pharmaceutical wire mesh discs are oftentimes made using stainless steel 316L woven wire mesh. 316L stainless steel is a low-carbon variation of 316 stainless steel, known for ensuring maximum corrosion resistance. Wire mesh discs can also be used to protect the sanitary condition of the end product.
The more layers used can create more precise filters. For example, standard 5-layer or 7-layer configurations can be commonly used for Nutsche filters, fluidized beds, centrifuges, and polymer filtration. The Nutsche’s ability to wash, slurry and dry the filter cake and operate at high pressure or vacuum, provides a versatile service for the pharmaceutical industry.
The Mining Industry
The mining industry is an industry that many others are reliant on. From aerospace to jewelry making, at some point the mining industry is needed to complete processes in each. Wire mesh filter discs, which are primarily used for filtration purposes, play a critical role in mining. They’re used for both extracting elements from the earth and processing those elements.
Industrial wire mesh discs work to ensure that a mineral contains as few foreign substances as possible during the manufacturing process. This filtration minimizes the loss of valuable resources, which extends the mineral’s overall lifespan. Wire mesh screen discs are often used to prevent contamination, and are designed to filter out twigs, grass, rocks, metal slag, debris, and unneeded minerals.
Even during the Gold Rush, metal mesh discs were used in the mining industry! If you think of the sifters used to wash off the gold in water, this could be considered a mesh disc. Screening media is a material that separates substances into grades. Stainless steel wire mesh discs are used in mines as screening media for sizing extracted ores, separating, shaking, washing, and cleaning.
The Water Treatment Industry
The clean water that runs through your home’s faucets could be the work of wire mesh discs. Metal mesh wire disc filters are a sustainable, useful way to achieve clean water by filtering out contaminants and unwanted materials. Sintered wire mesh is known as a highly reliable filtering cloth and uses multiple layers of woven wire cloth to filter out contaminants as small as one micron. Sintered wire cloth is ideal for water filtration due to its strength, its resistance to corrosion, ease of cleaning, and its long lifespan.
Wire mesh discs can be manufactured to specific opening sizes. Some openings are so small, they have the ability to separate liquids and gasses. 316L stainless steel wire mesh screen is an optimal choice for many of these applications because it is resistant to pitting by solutions containing chloride ions, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, and brine solutions. This option is useful for many businesses that need to filter gasses, liquids, and solids.
The Food and Beverage Industry
From splatter screens to beverage filtration, wire mesh discs are a common solution for many issues in the food and beverage industry. Wire mesh discs in these uses are oftentimes made out of food grade stainless steel, due to its corrosion resistance and cleanability.
Wire mesh discs are a useful material for extraction and separation in food processing. For example, cocoa butter is separated from the cocoa mass using woven mesh discs in a filter press. Food dehydration can be achieved using wire mesh discs.
The Gas and Oil Industry
Oil and gas refineries also utilize wire mesh discs to achieve filtration processes. For instance, controlled monolithic woven wire mesh discs are designed for optimum filtration with precise particle control, with quality mechanical properties. 316L grade stainless steel is a preferred metal for metal mesh discs in this industry due to its excellent anti-acid and anti-corrosion property.
On the other end of the oil industry, wire mesh discs can be used in the automotive industry as an oil pick up and strainer. The oil pickup is a tube extending from the oil pump to the bottom of the oil pan. At one end of the pickup tube is a strainer which has a wire mesh screen for straining large particles from the oil and is positioned so all oil entering the pump from the oil pan must flow through it.
Lawrence Sintered Metals, Professionals in Sintered Metals
Lawrence Sintered Metals is able to supply a variety of wire mesh discs to clients of all industries. Our wire mesh disc professionals can produce inexpensive “short-run” tooling for small quantity items or for large quantity parts we can furnish high production solid tooling. In addition to supplying industrial steel mesh discs, Lawrence Sintered Metals offers discs with full traceability, accurate disc dimensions, and uses high-speed stamping machines.
Contact us today to find the right industrial wire mesh for your needs.
