Sintering technology is also ideal for the development and manufacture of filters. The process is the same as with traditionally sintered components, but the variation of pore size and carefully controlled pore distribution are utilised to produce components with a filtering function.
Sintered components’ special property in terms of porosity is utilised to produce filters that do not suffer from the same shortcomings as conventionalGRAPHITE ELECTRODES
Graphite electrodes are an essential component of Electric Arc Furnaces (EAFs), powerful melting pots that turn scrap steel into molten metal. Graphite electrodes also are used to refine steel in ladle furnaces.
In EAF applications, the furnace, or "pot" is filled (or "charged") with selected scrap metals and then sealed with a top, or lid. Graphite electrodes — three are deployed in most EAFs — are inserted into the pot through the lid. The electrodes can be as small as three inches in diameter or as large as 30 inches in diameter and weigh more than two tons. They’re designed to conduct electricity (at 80,000 amps or more) and to withstand incredibly high temperatures.
The electricity flows through water-cooled cables into the electrodes to the tip of the electrode, where it jumps, or arcs, to the nearest piece of scrap metal in the pot. The intense heat at the tip of the electrode — 3,000 degrees Celsius (about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit) — melts the metal.
Graphite is used because it’s the only material that can withstand such temperatures. solutions. The sintering process holds the material together so that stainless steel sintered filters are both stronger and better than conventional filters.
Sintered filters have fine tolerances and considerable geometrical possibilities. For instance, it is often possible to reduce the number of subcomponents and processes in the final filter solution, since a number of the subcomponents can be replaced by a single filter that is compressed in a single process. This avoids further time-consuming machining. The method chosen depends on the proposed application of the filter.
The exploitation of the porosity enables the filters to be used for applications such as gas and liquid filtration, flow control of gases and liquids, as well as ventilationl:
Gas filtration
Liquid filtration
Flow control of gases and liquids
Ventilation / Pressure equalization
Protection (e.g. flame traps or explosion protection)