Water Test Sieve

Wednesday July-02 2025  14:45:58

Water Test Sieve, also known as wet screening, is a special particle size analysis method that is mainly used to determine the fineness of materials that are difficult to handle in conventional dry screening. The core of this method is to use water flow as a medium to assist screening, especially for ultrafine powders and particles that are easy to agglomerate, highly static, sticky or have a high mud content.

This method is usually used to determine the content of components finer than a specific mesh in materials such as cement, slag, and soil, such as the 45 micron (325 mesh) sieve residue of cement or the mud content of sand and gravel.

Comparison between water test sieve and dry screening method

Dry screening method relies on mechanical vibration to make particles pass through the sieve, which is suitable for relatively dry and non-sticky samples; water test sieve relies on the scouring force, shear force and gravity of water flow to separate and disperse samples, which is more suitable for powders that are easy to agglomerate and have high viscosity (such as cement), and can avoid the difficulty of screening particles due to static electricity or adhesion.

Water test sieve is more suitable for samples that are moist, easy to absorb water or have high water content (such as wet sand, mud), as well as powders with high viscosity and easy to agglomerate (such as cement, clay, paint pigments). In addition, for fine particles (especially micro powders less than 0.1mm, such as cement 80μm screening) and samples that are prone to static electricity, water flow can eliminate the influence of static electricity and screen more thoroughly.

Dry screening method is more suitable for dry, non-sticky particles (such as quartz sand, dry ore crushing materials), and medium and coarse particles (aggregates larger than 0.1mm). However, it should be noted that samples that are sensitive to water or easily react to water (such as cement dry screening initial inspection) must be screened by dry screening, otherwise it will affect the accuracy of the test.

What is the working principle of the water test sieve?

During the wet screening process, the sample is placed on the test sieve and flushed with a water flow of a specified pressure. The water flow not only disperses the sample, but also helps fine particles pass through the sieve holes through mechanical flushing force. Particles smaller than the sieve holes enter the collection tray with the water flow, while particles larger than the sieve holes remain on the sieve (screen residue). By drying and weighing the screen residue, the percentage of particles of different particle sizes can be calculated, thereby obtaining the particle size distribution of the sample.

Technical recommendations for water test sieves

Model	sieve frame diameter (mm)	sieve mesh range (mesh)	sieve material	sieve frame material	screening method	application range
WS-200	200	10-200	304 stainless steel wire mesh	304 stainless steel frame	vibration	laboratory water sample particle screening
WS-300	300	10-150	304 stainless steel wire mesh	304 stainless steel frame	vibration	medium sample volume screening
WS-450V	450	10-100	316 stainless steel wire mesh	316 stainless steel frame Stainless steel frame	Mechanical vibrating screen	Large sample volume, on-site and laboratory screening
WS-300S	300	20-200	304 stainless steel wire mesh	304 stainless steel frame	Ultrasonic assisted vibrating screen	Fine particles and high-precision screening
WS-250	250	10-150	304 stainless steel wire mesh	304 stainless steel frame	Manual shaking screen	Small water sample screening

What are the disadvantages of water test sieves

Water test sieves are not suitable for samples that dissolve or react chemically in water because this will change the original particle size of the sample. Strong water flow may cause further crushing of fragile particles, resulting in a smaller measured particle size than the actual size, which is not suitable for the analysis of certain specific materials. During the washing, transfer and drying process, there may be a small amount of sample loss, especially for very fine particles, which will affect the accuracy of the final result. Insufficient flushing time will lead to incomplete screening, while too long flushing time may cause wear on the particles and change their particle size distribution

Application scenarios of water test sieves

Water test sieves, which are often called wet screening, have irreplaceable applications in many industrial and scientific research fields. It is particularly suitable for materials that are difficult to handle with traditional dry screening. Water is used as a medium to help disperse particles and clean the sieve holes, thereby obtaining more accurate particle size analysis results.

① Environmental water quality monitoring: suspended particle detection in natural water bodies such as rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, and particle monitoring before and after treatment of industrial wastewater and domestic sewage

② Sewage treatment process control: sludge particle size distribution analysis, solid particle removal efficiency detection during sewage treatment

③ Industrial circulating water detection: impurity particle screening in cooling water systems, suspended particle monitoring in industrial production water, to prevent equipment blockage and corrosion

④ Scientific research and laboratory analysis: particle morphology and particle size analysis in water quality research, particle screening experiments for water treatment technology research and development

Water test sieves are mainly used for screening and particle size analysis of solid particles in water samples. They have a wide range of applications. By quickly and intuitively separating particles of different particle sizes in water, they help various industries to conduct water quality analysis and process optimization. They are important tools for water quality testing and solid-liquid separation.