Project Overview
A chemical processer required several Cone Strainers (also known as Witch Hats or Temporary Strainers) manufactured from Zirconium 702 (Zr702) for their new facility expansion. The project presented immediate supply chain and manufacturing challenges: Zirconium 702 is not available in the required perforated form, and traditional fabrication methods posed significant safety risks due to the material's properties.
Zirconium 702 is an exotic alloy prized for its corrosion resistance. While it is stable in solid form, fine particles are pyrophoric, meaning they can ignite spontaneously. Once ignited, Zirconium burns at extreme temperatures and cannot be extinguished with water.
Zirconium 702 is unforgiving to fabricate. Thermal cutting and abrasive methods create pyrophoric dust, while machining produces chips that must be managed with extreme care, water miscable coolant helps the process but cannot prevent a Zirconium fire.
With these constraints in mind, Fil-Trek engineered a safe, controlled in-house process to perforate and form custom Zirconium Cone Strainers.
To make this happen we went back to the basics. Any seasoned machinist will know the trick to drilling sheet metal, you must sandwhich it between two other pieces.
Zr702 however is very soft, and our perforation pattern was dense. There was still too much risk of the drill snagging and tearing the material.
Our solution, is best described as "use 50 taper VMC as a single point punch press". You read that right!
We designed our own punch geometry, ran test pieces, and dialed in the parameters until the sheared edges were consistent and the sheet stayed flat. Once the process was stable, we ran production. Some parts required more than 4,000 individual holes with less than 3/32" of material hole-to-hole!. The results were clean perforations, no tearing, no distortion, and zero scrap.
From there, fabrication took over. The perforated blanks were rolled into cones, TIG welded, and finished into their final form as Zirconium 702 Cone Strainers.
Bring us the hard stuff (or soft). We’ll handle it.
Related Products
Technical Specifications
- material
- Zirconium 702 (UNS R60702)
- strainer sizes
- NPS12, NPS06, NPS02