Ametek is touting its metal filter powders that have experienced increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The powders are essential for life-saving medical applications and are used in a variety of medical products, such as porous flow restrictors in ventilators to control oxygen flow and prevent clogs in the system, according to Ametek.
Metal filter powders are required to be extremely consistent and precise in size for a tailored and controlled range of end filtering properties. Coarse, gravel-line grains that are less than a tenth diameter of human hair are crucial for different applications. Ametek said it currently makes 25 different sizes of filter powders.
“We have a very comprehensive portfolio in terms of supplying any specialty or customized alloy powders that a medical or industrial producer might need for their filter grade powders,” product manager of powders at Ametek Brad Richards said in a news release. “The primary materials that we make or medical powders are alloys of 316L and 17-4PH stainless steel, as well as various nickel-based alloys.”
Ametek Specialty Metal Products develops filter powders that use a highly refined water atomization technology to ensure the powder meets the exact requirements of medical filter manufacturers and OEMs. The water atomization process provides the ability to produce bespoke powders in a wide variety of metals, ranging from stainless steels to nickel and cobalt alloys.
Filtration powders made by the company are pressed and carefully shaped by the filter producers for precision assistance with flow control in “mission-critical” medical applications like ventilators, according to Ametek.
“Customers in the medical sector, by their very nature, often need to access materials at short notice, and they know that they can rely on us to deliver high-quality filter powders very quickly,” Richards said. “When you’re talking about saving a life or working in the medical field, delivery times are critical, along with the quality and performance of the materials in question.”
