Choosing the right filter material is critical for stable operation in tough conditions. Sintered stainless steel filter plates are becoming a preferred solution in industries facing high pressure, high temperature, and corrosive environments. They offer a strong structure, precise filtration, and excellent backwash ability, outperforming traditional filters like mesh or filter cloth.
This article explains what sintered stainless steel filter plates are and how they differ from other filters. You’ll learn why they handle pressure, heat, and corrosion so well. We also cover how to choose the right type, pore size, and number of layers based on your needs. You’ll find details on common materials like 304 and 316L stainless steel, including their strengths and limits. The article also discusses cleaning and maintenance advantages, especially in backwash systems. Finally, we provide practical buying tips to help you pick quality products and avoid mistakes.
If you want to improve filtration efficiency, reduce downtime, and extend filter life, this guide will help you decide if sintered stainless steel plates are right for your application.
What Are Sintered Stainless Steel Filter Plates?
Sintered Stainless Steel Plates are custom-designed filter plates. The main purpose is to provide users with extreme levels of filtration while being able to stand up to high pressure without being blown off like normal paper filter media.
Stainless Steel Filter Plates are sintered together to form a rigid metal sheet of 2-10 Layers of wire mesh.
The filter plate arranges the multi-layer wire mesh on the surface of the base material as required，applying a certain external load, and all its contact points are welded together after high-temperature sintering.
The porous surface of composite wire mesh has formed excellent mechanical strength and physicochemical properties
What are the Features of Sintered Stainless Steel Plates?
Sintered stainless steel filter plates are strong, corrosion-resistant, and offer precise filtration. Made through high-temperature sintering, they have a durable, porous structure with controlled pore sizes.
They can handle high temperatures and pressures, making them ideal for tough environments. Reusable and customizable, these plates ensure long-lasting, efficient filtration.
- Corrosion Resistance: Sintered stainless steel plates are highly resistant to corrosion, even in harsh chemical and acidic environments. Their anti-oxidation properties make them particularly effective in high-temperature filtration processes, where other materials might degrade. This makes them ideal for industries like chemical processing, pharmaceuticals, and oil & gas.
- Good Dirt Holding Capacity: With a filtration rating ranging from 3µm to 300µm, sintered stainless steel plates effectively filter out particulate matter from solid-liquid and liquid-gas mixtures. Their unique layering method provides excellent dirt holding capacity, ensuring that they maintain consistent performance even after extended use. The porous mesh ensures that residue or contaminants don’t re-enter the system, maintaining optimal filtration efficiency.
- High-Temperature Resistance: During the high-temperature sintering process, the steel plates are heated to temperatures just below their melting point, making them resistant to temperatures ranging from 200°C to 600°C. This property ensures the plates can withstand extreme conditions in applications like oil filtration, water treatment, and air filtration without compromising their structural integrity.
- High-Pressure Resistance: Designed to handle high-pressure environments, sintered stainless steel filter plates are equipped to withstand the forces that would typically damage paper or plastic filters. In addition, special filter accessories like gaskets and compression rings can further protect the plates, ensuring reliable performance even in high-pressure filtration systems.
- Durability and Longevity: Stainless steel is known for its durability, and sintered plates are no exception. Their robust structure ensures they have a long service life, resisting both wear and environmental damage. Additionally, they can be cleaned and reused multiple times, making them a cost-effective option for industries with high filtration demands.
- Precise Dimensions: These plates can be customized to fit specific needs, with strict control over dimensions during manufacturing. Whether you need a specific size, thickness, or shape, sintered stainless steel plates are engineered to meet tight tolerances, ensuring that they fit seamlessly into your filtration system.
- Deep Filtration: Thanks to their controlled pore structure, sintered stainless steel plates can effectively filter particles ranging from 0.2 microns to 100 microns. This makes them suitable for both fine filtration of small particles and the removal of larger debris from gases or liquids. The high filtration efficiency ensures that particles are effectively removed while maintaining smooth fluid flow.
- Customizable and Easy to fabricate: Sintered stainless steel plates are highly versatile. They can be easily cut, bent, welded, and assembled into custom shapes or sizes to fit unique filtration requirements. This flexibility, combined with their durability, makes them a popular choice across various industries.
What are the Benefits of Sintered Stainless Steel Plates?
- High-Temperature Resistance: These plates can withstand temperatures up to 480°C, making them perfect for high-heat filtration applications.
- Corrosion Resistance: Made from premium stainless steel, they are resistant to rust, oxidation, and chemical corrosion, ensuring long-lasting performance in harsh environments.
- Easy Maintenance & Backwash Support: The single-layer design supports backwashing and easy cleaning, making maintenance efficient and reducing downtime and costs. The plates can be quickly restored to full filtration capacity after cleaning.
- High Strength: The sintering process provides mechanical integrity under high pressure, allowing these plates to perform well in demanding applications.
- Customizable Design: Easily fabricated through cutting, bending, and welding, these plates can be tailored to meet specific filtration needs.
Stable Filtration Process: The carefully controlled manufacturing process ensures consistent performance with minimal deformation or clogging, providing reliable filtration efficiency.
How is Sintered Stainless Steel Plate More Efficient?
Structural efficiency
Sintering, through high-temperature heating, can form a large number of uniform solder joints in the wire mesh, and the ability to form solid geometry and combination between layers provides conditions for stable gasification core.
Adaptivity Efficiency
Stainless Steel, hard to corrode/stain the plate in depth-filtration and High-temperature atmosphere.
Size & Shape Efficiency
Customizable size, structure, and shape have made it so simple in terms of compatibility for many applications.
Filtration Efficiency
The Filter Rating Range of 3-300µm has enabled it to be diverse and effective for various filtration processes.
What are the commonly used types of porous sintered stainless steel plates?
Type 1: Perforated Wire Mesh Plate
Porous sintered wire mesh consists of several layers of stainless steel woven wire mesh sintered together.
Usually, there are only five layers:
- Perforated Layer
- Buffer Layer
- Fine Mesh Layer
- Protective Layer
- Filer Layer
What are the Benefits of Porous Sintering Wire Mesh filter Plate ?
Fine Filtration
Perforated wire mesh plate can provide very refined and intense filtering.
High Mechanical Strength
As compared to other types of wire meshes it is thereby the most protective & preserved wire mesh.
High-Pressure Resistance
It can work in extremely high-pressure environmental conditions where fine particles need to be filtered.
Diverse Filter Rating
Considering the refined level of this type of wire mesh, it does filter out in a range between 3 μm- 300 μm which is diverse to apply for various applications using Filter.
Variety & Variability (Customised)
The wire mesh comes in various shapes and sizes. Depending upon what the user is looking out for compatibility according to its application, it can be designed accordingly.
Applications of Perforated Wire Mesh Plate:
- Food Processing Industry
- Beverage Industry
- Water Treatment Units
- Dust Removing Industries
- Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Units
- Polymer Processing Industry
Type 2：Porous Sintered Square Wire Mesh
Plain Weave Wire Mesh is made up of by sintering multiple layers of plain weave wire mesh along with its cross-section all together.
It consists of a large open area percentage which lets this type of wire mesh with special characteristics like good permeability and low resistance to flow. Â
Now, this type can be designed with any number of combinations of plain weave wire mesh layers to accomplish particle flow and characteristics.
What are the Benefits of using Plain Weave Wire Mesh?
High Flow Permeability
Sintered Stainless Steel Filter Plate can be designed in a large number of plain weave wire mesh combinations that enable the laminates to be inches thick.
Easily Cleaned & Reused
This property of wire mesh enables various applications and users a time-efficient in the filtration while maintaining the continuity of the process.
High Stability
The structure and the design made it more stable during intense filtration because of its good permeability and low flow resistance capabilities.
Applications of Plain Weave Wire Mesh
- Food Processing Unit
- Chemical Industry
- Mining Industry
- Pharmaceuticals Industry
What are the Design Considerations of Sintered Stainless Steel Plates?
When designing sintered stainless steel plates, it is crucial to balance performance, durability, and efficiency. Factors like filtration efficiency, pressure tolerance, material selection, and backwashing capability should be carefully considered to meet the requirements of specific applications. Below are the key considerations that impact both the performance and the overall effectiveness of the filter plates.
Allowable Differential Pressure
The maximum differential pressure that can be applied across the filter plate is a critical design factor. If the pressure exceeds the plate’s tolerance, it could lead to failure or reduced filtration efficiency. The plate should be designed to handle pressure variations without deforming, ensuring reliable performance in demanding environments.
Desired Filtration Rating
The filtration rating must meet the outlet requirements of the specific application. A nominal or absolute filtration rating is chosen depending on whether fine or coarse particles need to be captured. A proper evaluation of the desired particle retention is essential for optimal filtration performance.
Custom Accessories Design
When designing the sintered stainless steel filter plate, custom accessories such as gaskets and seals are critical. The gasket ensures a tight seal, preventing bypass flow and ensuring that all particles are filtered through the plate. Proper gasket design is necessary to avoid contamination and maintain the filter’s efficiency over time.
Working Pressure
The plate must be able to withstand the working pressure of the system without deformation or failure. The thickness and structural integrity of the sintered plate should be designed based on the specific pressure requirements of the filtration application. This ensures that the plate maintains mechanical effectiveness under stress.
Working Temperature
The working temperature is another vital consideration. Sintered stainless steel plates are designed to withstand high temperatures—up to 480°C in some cases. The material should have a high melting point, and its temperature resistance should match the operating conditions to prevent degradation or failure.
Material Selection
Choosing the right material is fundamental in designing sintered stainless steel plates. Common materials like 304L and 316L stainless steel are known for their corrosion resistance and are ideal for most industrial filtration applications. For highly aggressive environments, selecting materials like 400-series stainless steel or superalloys might be necessary to maintain durability and resistance to harsh chemicals.
Manufacturing Method
The manufacturing method used in sintering, such as gravity sintering, pressure sintering, or even 3D printing, will significantly influence the plate’s porosity and structural consistency. These methods impact both the design tolerances and the filtering capabilities. Depending on the method, you may need to adjust the material composition or sintering process to achieve the desired characteristics.
Backwashing Capability
If the sintered stainless steel filter is intended for backwashing, the design must allow for easy flow reversal without damaging the plate’s structure. Backwashing helps remove accumulated particles, extending the service life of the filter and maintaining filtration efficiency in high-load applications. The design should facilitate easy cleaning and filter regeneration.
Flow Distribution
Proper flow distribution ensures that the fluid or gas is evenly distributed across the filter surface. A well-designed plate ensures that the filtration process is uniform, reducing the risk of clogging or inefficient filtration. The design of the plate should optimize flow rate and pressure drop to meet the operational requirements.
Compression Resistance
For filters exposed to high pressure, compression resistance is crucial. The sintered stainless steel plate must maintain its structural integrity under high mechanical stress. The uniformity of the material and the design of the plate’s structure should prevent any deformation, ensuring long-term filtration stability and reliability.
What is the Material Used in Sintered Stainless Steel Plates?
The Standard Materials used to form Sintered Stainless Steel Filter Plate are SS304, SS316L. And special Alloy Steel Hastelloy, Monel, Inconel are also on the acceptable bases depending upon application requirement.
How is the Pressure Drop across Sintered Stainless Steel Plate Maintained?
There are various measures to control the differential pressure around the Sintered Stainless Steel Filter Plate.
1) Through Safety Accessories
Rubber Tri-Clamp Gasket (Fluoroelastomer)
To minimize the risk of solution spreading around the gasket and filter plate, rubber tri-clamp is used to create tight fixation.
Compression Ring
These compression rings are designed to fit in the Tri-Clamp that are used in combination with filter plates.
Filter Plate Ring
It acts as a support system, especially for 3-10µm size heavy-duty filtration.
High-Pressure Clamp
To create a high-pressure compression during differential pressure around the Sintered Stainless Steel Filter Plate, a high-pressure clamp is clipped around it.
2) Proper Fit Size Filter Plate (Customized)
The availability of customized fit sintered stainless steel filter plates is really necessary for your filtration application. You can order according to your specifications and needs provided online.
3) Choosing the Compatible Material (Filter Element) for Filtration
In various high-pressure filtration applications, it has been encountered that due to blow-back, the filter plate corrodes and deteriorates the continuity of the filtration.
Also flow permeability is a factor for in-compatible material used.
What are the Technical Specifications of Sintered Stainless Steel Plate?
Know the proper compatible and Technical Specifications of Sintered Stainless Steel Plate here.
In Which Applications, Sintered Stainless Steel Plate is used?Â
Industrial Applications using Sintered Stainless Steel Filter Plates:
- Chemical and Petro-Chemical Plants
- Food Processing and Pharmaceuticals Industries
- Constructions Units
- Modern Architecture
- Chemical and Fuel Tanker Manufacturing Unit
Purchase Options for Sintered Stainless Steel Filter Plates
When looking to purchase sintered stainless steel filter plates, it’s crucial to consider factors like material quality, customization options, and reliability. Depending on your filtration needs, here are some options to help you make the best choice:
- Customizable Sizes and Designs: Many suppliers offer customized sintered stainless steel plates tailored to your application. You can specify factors like pore size, plate dimensions, and material grade to meet your unique filtration requirements.
- Material Selection: Look for plates made from 304L or 316L stainless steel for enhanced corrosion resistance and high-temperature performance. The material quality plays a key role in the longevity and effectiveness of your filtration system.
- Saifilter – Trusted Supplier for High-Quality Plates: If you’re looking for premium sintered stainless steel filter plates, Saifilter is an excellent choice. They specialize in customizable filtration solutions with superior material quality and technical support. Their plates are engineered for precision, offering optimal filtration efficiency in a range of industries.
- Competitive Pricing and Bulk Discounts: Many suppliers, including Saifilter, offer competitive prices, with volume discounts available for larger orders. This can help reduce costs while still maintaining high performance in industrial filtration applications.
- Reliable Support and Warranty: Choose suppliers like Saifilter that offer comprehensive customer support and warranty services. Their team can assist you with technical specifications and custom designs, ensuring your filter plates meet all your requirements.
- Lead Time & Delivery: Be sure to verify the lead times for delivery, especially if you’re ordering customized plates. Saifilter offers efficient production times and reliable shipping, ensuring your order arrives on schedule.
- Price Comparison: Don’t forget to compare prices from different suppliers to ensure you’re getting the best value. With Saifilter, you’ll find a balance between cost-effectiveness and long-term filtration performance, making them a trusted option for industrial filtration needs.
By evaluating these options, you’ll be able to select the best sintered stainless steel filter plates for your application, with Saifilter standing out as a reliable and quality-focused supplier.
Conclusion:
If you have reached till here while really going through the article then you have significantly learned 80-90% about Sintered Stainless Steel Filter Plate.
Hopefully, for newcomers in the Filtration Industry, you might have got that confidence to choose for your compatible base.
And for oldies in the Industry, you surely have let yourself aware of the minute difference you can make in your application.
Rest, we feel obliged and very happy to help with anything related to the Filtration Industry.
So contact us anytime.