DEVELOPMENT OF AN EFFICIENT T-TYPE STRAINER WITH ITS PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

Strainers are devices used in process industry to protect mechanical equipment from getting damaged due the impurities in process fluid. Hence, performance of a strainer has a direct impact on the performance of the process plant. Present work deals with a methodology to model a T-type strainer using CFD tools, investigating its performance, proposing more efficient model and investigating their performance. Numerical model compares well with the experimental data. Five modifications in the existing strainer are proposed by introducing additional punch plate ahead of meshing element. Another significant modification proposed is creating offset across strainer for inlet and outlet of flow. These arrangement increases the net pressure drop across strainer but significantly improves the flow distribution for longer life of the strainer. Increasing body size of strainer and hole of the punch plate is found to reduce the impact of increased pressure drop. These conclusions are important for improving and redesigning an efficient T-strainer.