Federal Screen is not only pushing the limits of wire filtration systems with its wedge wire screen solution but is also ensuring an industry standard of delivery and installation.
Federal screen was started in 1998, born out of the desire to offer the best-in-class wedge wire screen solutions combined with an exceptional customer experience. We thrive on our company motto of ‘When Delivery Counts’, offering an impressive 97% on-time delivery regardless of the scope of the project.
This customer centric philosophy has resulted in consistent growth to where Federal Screen is one of the largest producers of wedge wire screens in the world. We’ve enjoyed consistent growth from our inception, catering to a diverse number of industries.
Centrally Located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Federal Screen has few geographic limitations, serving a global market. For the last 25 years, Federal Screen has delivered wedge wire screen solutions to every corner of the earth.
Federal Screen’s desire to control every aspect of the manufacturing process has led us to be early adopters of technology, including 3D printing, CNC machining, large format waterjet cutting, robotic work cells, semi-automated post-welding centres and onsite passivation. This passion to deliver world class screen products is permeated to every aspect of our production.
This passion includes adapting the Kaisen manufacturing philosophy of continuous improvement, allowing every member of our production team to be their own quality control department with the power to shut down our production line and ensure 100% compliance with the Federal Screen quality mantra.
Our professional sales team has over 100 years of combined experience within the wedge wire screen industry. This experience benefits every one of our customers, helping to co-develop screen solutions tailored for every possible application. Regardless of whether you are retrofitting an existing application or designing a brand-new process, our experienced team will provide you with the necessary insight to achieve a successful project.
As a result, Federal Screen has developed many screening solutions that are considered an industry standard in their respective industries.
This same level of experience is extended to our production team with over 150 years of production experience, ensuring that a quality screen solution will be delivered to your production floor, ready to be installed and making sure your production is never compromised.
Federal Screen can and will work with you to not only develop a screening solution but also deliver it as promised and on time. Our goal is always to earn your second order after a fantastic first order is delivered.
What is wedge wire?
Wedge wire screens are manufactured by resistance welding V-shaped wire onto shaped support rods, the result being, with its thousands of fused points, a honeycomb-like structure for a strong, accurate continuous slot. Thus, creating a product that provides accurate flow, distribution, and effective media, debris and sediment filtration and retention.
The V-shaped wire is critical in the function of the wedge wire filter as the ‘slot area’ between the two points is very small, thus limiting the surface area for resistance and significantly reducing pressure loss.
Additionally, the V-shape of the wire has the added benefit of creating a venturi effect when the flow is reversed, pressurising back-wash fluids, and ensuring efficient cleaning cycles effectively pressure wash the surface of the screen via the slot opening.
There are numerous benefits of wedge wire. Some of those include a capability to withstand heavy loads, a high open area that results in higher flow rates and low-pressure loss, and a design that is easy to maintain and operate, as the V-shaped surface wire allows for easy cleaning by mechanical means or backflushing. The high durability of wedge wire leads to low lifetime costs compared to alternate filter methods, saving additional time and money on maintenance.
Common wedge wire screen applications are filtration, metering, grading/sizing, media retention, and de-watering. Industries use wedge wire in water treatment, wastewater treatment, raw-water intakes, self-cleaning filtration, food and beverages, and mining, including gold, lithium and frothing/flotation applications.
Benefits of wedge wire:
- Extended product life and increased efficiency;
- Consistent slot size;
- Perfectly smooth and flat surface for clog-free operation;
- Capable of withstanding higher pressures than mesh or perforated plate;
- High percentage of open area for low-pressure loss;
- Ideal for self-cleaning applications in filters and strainers;
- Durable in extreme conditions;
- Low maintenance cost due to long lifespan;
- The most common material of construction is 300 series stainless steel, however, many exotic alloys are available upon request, such as 321SS, Duplex & Super Duplex SS, Alloy 20, Copper-Nickel, Hastelloy C-276, Alloy B-3, and Monel 400;
- Screens are available in slot sizes ranging from 0.001” (25μm) up to (1/2”); and
- Screen diameters range from 0.750” to 38” in size straight from our machines. Screens can be fabricated in upwards to 72” O.D in two or more sections depending on the requirements.
Each Federal Screen wedge wire product is custom fabricated to order and can be delivered as raw screen material or fabricated to a finished product to suit your application requirements. Screens can be fabricated in various configurations, including cylindrical, flat, cones, speciality shapes, or curved. Many different variations of wire and rod sizes/profiles can be configured to exceed the demands of any application.
Success story #1
Federal Screen was contacted by a community in Northern Alaska that had a requirement for a water treatment system for residents. There were multiple challenges in the project, but the primary challenge was the remote nature of the community, as access to the community was limited to a weekly barge service that could deliver large items to the community during a short window due to the extreme weather and tidal forces.
Federal Screen, working in conjunction with water treatment technology providers and multiple other vendors, was able to aid in the design of the tank internals, fabricate, and deliver a successful screening system.
But, more importantly, do so in a time frame that made sure that all systems and materials were delivered to the West Coast shipping port for the long journey to a seaport in Alaska and then onto the local barge service that delivered the water treatment system to the remote community. This was a case of Federal Screen being able to deliver not only on time but effectively working with multiple stake holders to ensure a community was taken care of with safe drinking water.
Success story #2
A large North American gold mine was having a challenge with its CIP/CIL process for gold refining. The challenge was three-fold:
The first challenge was that their current supplier was uneven in the supply of screens to the site, which created headaches for the production team in that they were losing efficiency in their process due to screen wear, which further affected the subsequent processes. They overcame this challenge by carrying an excessive inventory of these screens to ensure that their production would not be compromised.
The second challenge was uneven wear on the screens due to the nature of the process. As a result, several alternatives were tried, including the use of resin-based tiles that could be exchanged at various wear points. Although this concept appeared to address the problem on the surface, a secondary challenge of the time required to replace the worn tiles, and the wear rate of the tiles increased the service downtime to an unacceptable level.
The third and final challenge was the installation of the screen system, in that only a single crane had access to this location. As this crane was required for other ongoing operations in the facility, this was a time-limited resource that had to be scheduled. Unpredictable wear and excessive downtime compromised other operations in the facility and were a considerable friction point for the production team.
Federal Screen was able to work with the production team as well as a local vendor on creating a screen system that would be more durable as well as more serviceable. The Federal Screen 97%+ on-time delivery schedule was put to the test in terms of not only production but delivery to this remote site.
The net result of this co-operative effort was the customer documented a 23% greater wear life with Federal Screen and further inventory savings as a result of reduced inventories due to on-time deliveries and longer product life. One more happy Federal Screen customer.
Success story #3
Federal Screen was contacted by a technology company that was developing a new ion exchange process, which we came to learn was in the lithium mining space. Direct Lithium Extraction was, at the time, a burgeoning new market that Federal Screen had the opportunity to be one of the first screen companies to be associated with. The deep knowledge base of ion exchange (IE) processes, due to our extensive work in the water treatment business, gave the customer access to an incredibly experienced team that was able to aid in the development of this new technology.
There were two challenges with these projects. The first was the material required would be Hastaloy (C276). Federal Screen’s extensive experience in other industries meant we were already familiar with the challenges of working with this alloy.
However, at the time, it was a significant challenge to source as the global inventory of the material was low and hard to come by.
The second challenge was working with the new resins, as the nature and low production volumes meant that the IE resins were very expensive.
Federal Screen addressed both of these challenges by first using our extensive supply network and tapping into both local and distant inventories from our partners that few have access to. Secondly, we co-developed a resin trap system that would act as a second level of insurance to this system, ensuring that no resin would escape the IE system, further complicating subsequent processes, and potentially cause a small compromise in the system with resin loss.
The technology partner was able to deliver their project on time and on budget with a level of security that will allow all associated with the project to rest easy at night.
Please note, this article will also appear in the seventeenth edition of our quarterly publication.
