Sieve

This article is about the tool. For other uses, seeSieve (disambiguation).

"Sift" redirects here. For other uses, seeSift (disambiguation).

"Drainer" redirects here. For the music culture, seeDrain Gang.

Metal laboratory sieves

Anami shakushi,a Japanese ladle or scoop that may be used to remove small drops of batter during the frying oftempura

ancient sieve

Asieve,fine mesh strainer,orsift,is a tool used forseparatingwanted elements from unwanted material or for controlling theparticle sizedistribution of a sample, using a screen such as awovenmeshornetorperforatedsheet material.The wordsiftderives fromsieve.

In cooking, asifteris used to separate and break up clumps in dry ingredients such asflour,as well as to aerate and combine them. Astrainer(seeColander), meanwhile, is a form of sieve used to separatesuspendedsolidsfrom a liquid byfiltration.

Industrial strainer

Some industrial strainers available aresimplex basket strainers,duplex basket strainers,T-strainersandY-strainers.Simple basket strainers are used to protect valuable or sensitive equipment in systems that are meant to be shut down temporarily. Some commonly used strainers arebell mouth strainers,foot valve strainers,basket strainers. Most processing industries (mainly pharmaceutical, coatings and liquid food industries) will opt for a self-cleaning strainer instead of a basket strainer or a simplex strainer due to limitations of simple filtration systems. The self-cleaning strainers or filters are more efficient and provide an automatic filtration solution.

Sieving

Sieving is a simple technique for separating particles of different sizes. A sieve such as used for sifting flour has very small holes. Coarse particles are separated or broken up by grinding against one another and the screen openings. Depending upon the types of particles to be separated, sieves with different types of holes are used. Sieves are also used to separate stones from sand. Sieving plays an important role in food industries where sieves (often vibrating) are used to prevent the contamination of the product by foreign bodies. The design of the industrial sieve is of primary importance here.

Triagesieving refers to grouping people according to their severity of injury.

Wooden sieves

A wooden mesh in which the withes were one eighth of an inch wide and set the same distance apart. This would be used on an English farm of the Victorian era to sift grain, removing dust and soil.

The mesh in a wooden sieve might be made from wood orwicker.Use of wood to avoid contamination is important when the sieve is used for sampling.Henry Stephens, in hisBook of the Farm,advised that thewithesof a woodenriddleor sieve be made fromfirorwillowwithAmerican elmbeing best. The rims would be made of fir,oakor, especially,beech.

US standard test sieve series

Asieve analysis(or gradation test) is a practice or procedure used (commonly used incivil engineeringorsedimentology) to assess the particle size distribution (also called gradation) of a granular material. Sieve sizes used in combinations of four to eight sieves.

Designations and Nominal Sieve Openings

Tyler	Sieve	Sieve opening
		(in)	(mm)
—	5 inch	5.0	125
—	4.24 inch	4.24	106
—	4 inch	4.0	100
—	3+1⁄2inch	3.5	90
2.97 inch	3.0 inch	3.0	75
—	2+1⁄2inch	2.5	63
—	2.12 inch	2.12	53
2.10 inch	2 inch	2.00	50
—	1+3⁄4inch	1.75	45
1.48 inch	1+1⁄2inch	1.50	37.5
—	1+1⁄4inch	1.25	31.5
1.05 inch	1.06 inch	1.06	26.5
—	1 inch	1.00	25.0
0.883 inch	7⁄8inch	0.875	22.4
0.742 inch	3⁄4inch	0.750	19.0
0.624 inch	5⁄8inch	0.625	16.0
0.525 inch	0.530 inch	0.530	13.2
—	1/2 inch	0.500	12.5
0.441 inch	7⁄16inch	0.438	11.2
0.371 inch	3⁄8inch	0.375	9.5

Other types

• Chinois,or conical sieve used as a strainer, also sometimes used like afood mill
• Cocktail strainer,a bar accessory
• Colander,a (typically) bowl-shaped sieve used as a strainer in cooking
• Flour sifter or bolter, used in flour production and baking
• Graduated sieves, used to separate varying small sizes of material, often soil, rock or minerals
• Meshstrainer, or just "strainer", usually consisting of a fine metal mesh screen on a metal frame
  • Laundry strainer, to drain boiling water from laundry removed from aWash copper,usually with a wooden frame to facilitate manual handling with hot contents
• Pickle lifter– Device for lifting pickled goods from a container
• Riddle,used for soil
• Spider,used in Chinese cooking
• Tamis,also known as a drum sieve
• Tea strainer,specifically intended for use when making tea
• Zaru,or bamboo sieve, used in Japanese cooking

Other uses

• "Sieve" is a common term used intrash-talkreferring to agoaltenderinice hockeywho lets in too many goals
• "Leaks like a sieve" is an English language idiom to describe a container that has multiple leaks, or, by allegory, an organization whose confidential information is routinely disclosed to the public.

See also

• Cheesecloth
• Cloth filter
• Filtration
• Gold panning
• Gyratory equipment
• Mechanical screening
• Mesh (scale)
• Molecular sieve
• Separation process
• Soil gradation
• Water filter

External links

• Media related toSievesat Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition ofsieveat Wiktionary
• Quotations related toSieveat Wikiquote