Successful application of Fluid Solutions' Sedimentor

Citation

(1999), "Successful application of Fluid Solutions' Sedimentor", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 51 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilt.1999.01851dad.007

Successful application of Fluid Solutions' Sedimentor

New products and materials

Successful application of Fluid Solutions' Sedimentor

Keywords Grinding, Grinding oils

Problems associated with the manufacture of carbide drills and cutters, and the hard metal residue from the grinding operations, have been successfully solved by Seco Tools of Sweden. This well established company had a turnover of approximately £250M during 1997, and employs nearly 3,000 people worldwide.

Most of the grinding machines at their plant in Norrkoping all use neat oil in the tool production process. Each machine was originally equipped with its own sump and clarification system, with several different manufactured processes incorporated including paperband filtration centrifuges, hydrocyclones and even basic settling tanks. This installation of mixed systems had serious drawbacks, however, in that the contamination with hard metal fines required a high level of maintenance, necessitating frequent sump changes and resulting in considerable loss of production due to machine downtimes. The costs for disposal of waste oil were exacerbated by those for the replacement with new grinding fluids. Additional waste materials were also generated by the paperbond filters, from which it was not even possible to recover the carbide residue. All of these problems were successfully resolved when Seco replaced the individual machine sumps with a single high capacity microparticle separation unit or Sedimentor which is available in the UK from Fluid Solutions of Manchester (see Plate 2). All existing sumps and clarification equipment were replaced with a model VXTS-A Sedimentor incorporating a single return tank and pump with feed and return lines to each machine. This equipment was rated for automatic 24-hour operation, with a neat oil throughput of 750 litres/mm and a separation level of down to 3 microns. The installation has been working successfully for three years, with the purity of the fluid being maintained to such a high standard that there has been no need for neat oil replacement since installation. Carbide waste is now automatically separated and collected in 200 litre barrels. This is recycled to increase the plant efficiency, which has been even further enhanced by the fact that machines remain clean due to the purity of the grinding fluid, leading to minimal maintenance costs. Waste disposal costs and machine down-time losses have been eliminated. There are no neat oil losses, so renewal costs no longer occur. The 4,000-litre capacity of the Sedimentor also guarantees a stable fluid temperature reducing energy consumption, leading to a very lean and efficient plant operation.

Plate 2 A Sedimentor installation.

For further information contact Fluid Solutions, Birch House, 6 Acresfield Avenue, Audenshaw, Manchester M34 5SY. Tel/Fax: +44 (0) 161 370 6293.