×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

RO plugging - Can I use a strainer?

RO plugging - Can I use a strainer?

RO plugging - Can I use a strainer?

(OP)
I am in a situtuation where I need to install an RO into my pipeline to protect the downstream piping. The problem is that RO size needs to be 2 mm and therefore it might get plugged at some point. Does anyone have any experience of using a strainer upstream an RO to prevent the plugging? How should I size the strainer?

Thanks for your help!

RE: RO plugging - Can I use a strainer?

OGEngin

Installing an upstream strainer is common. If you haven't seen it before for an installed RO as per your application, then you have surely seen it for other equipment that uses small orifi (steam and freeze traps, pump seal flushes, small bore rotometers etc). Typically a Y-strainer is used for a small line as it apears you may have.

The orifice bore can be used as your basis for sizing the mesh. As example, a mesh opening of 0.14mm should remove anything smaller than 0.2mm via formula: (partical size retained)^2 = 2*(mesh opening)^2, this assumes the minimum size partical passing equals the hypotenuse of a square with side equal to the mesh opening.

best wishes,
sshep

RE: RO plugging - Can I use a strainer?

sshep,
Do you have a ref. for your formula?
I usually use this formula:
(partical size retained) = (mesh opening)*3/2 (with ref.)
Just I am curious.
Thanks

RE: RO plugging - Can I use a strainer?

Hello shahyar,

I think the spirax sarco website has this strainer sizing formula, but it is basically the opposite corner distance for a square of with side equal to the mesh opening. The ultimate reference would be Pythagoras: a^2+b^2=c^2. At least it is easy to understand the reasoning. Of course we always filter to smaller than actually needed because of odd shaped particals (needles shaped) oriented such that some make it through the mesh but then hang up elsewhere.

best wishes always,
Sean

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources