production management
XYBEX system and a Yellow-Bellied
Sump Sucker, the first of which has
been in situ since the early 90s. In June
2005 the facility was duplicated in the
HPC hydraulic shop. Although HPC
has its own fluid management staff,
Master Chemical provides regular onsite
support. This includes a weekly site
visit to take samples, update records
and provide feedback on fluid
performance. Training is also an
important aspect of the service
provided. ‘Master Chemical has set up a
training programme to raise awareness
of the cost and quality benefits
associated with good coolant
management,’ explains HPC
maintenance manager and safety
officer, Ray Holt.
Another cutting fluid specialist,
Jemtech, has developed strong
relationships with suppliers such as
Blaser Swisslube metalcutting fluids,
Cleanmist oil/air mist filters and Fe-ol
oil skimmers. However, the company
has no intention of resting on its
laurels and has ambitious plans for the
future. Central to these will be its Total
Fluid Management system. ‘We take
the view that we have to manage the
site while at the same time ensuring
that the customer is fully trained in the
products being used,’ says managing
director Steve Coull. In doing this we
empower customer personnel to take
control and manage fluids effectively.
This has a dramatic impact on the costs
faced by the customer for this type of
service.’
Anyone who has worked in a
machine shop will know all about ‘the
Monday morning stink’. TG
Engineering, based in Ferndown, had a
HPC
Engineering in
West Sussex - all
of the TRIM fluids
supplied by MCE
are recycled.
Lucros evaporator
minimises the
amount of waste
water impacting
on the
environment by
evaporating the
water phase of
coolants and
leaving just the
remaining oil
content for
disposal.
problem with bacteria and fungi
developing in its metalworking fluids,
causing degradation and premature
failure of the sump, resulting in up to
30-45 clean-outs a year. In addition,
tramp oil contamination was being
caused by slideway lubrication, which
unfortunately is incorporated in the
majority of modern machine tools.
Other problems the company was
encountering were caused by hard
water in the area (250-270 ppm
CaCO2) resulting in soap deposits and
other associated issues such as
corrosion smells and splitting.
The company looked at various
options before choosing products from
the Rocol TRI-Logic system. In
addition, TG Engineering took
advantage of Rocol’s Ultracare
programme. Customers on the
Ultracare programme receive regular
visits from a Rocol service engineer
who monitors the condition of the
fluid. In addition, operator training in
best practice of metalworking
management is offered and a
metalworking fluid folder is provided
to record full details of fluid checks
and action taken. By offering
customers the Ultracare programme,
Rocol says it is possible for users to save
up to 40% in metalworking fluid spend
from a reduction in fluid usage, tool
wear, downtime, labour costs and
disposal.
The trend in coolant management
has been set largely by OEMs. Take
Honda at Swindon, for example, where
the automotive giant uses a special
purpose boring and reaming machine
for machining engine valve seats. This
operation was creating concerns about
the transmission of micro particles in
re-circulated coolants and how they
adversely affected machined surface
finish. A poor surface finish can
impair the efficiency of the engine.
Peter Jones, the Honda engineer
responsible for the process, found the
solution was to use Eclipse Magnetic's
Micromag filtration process.
‘Micromag’s filtration capability and
short investment payback period
exactly matched our needs,’ he says.
‘Since incorporating Micromag into
our process we have found that, in
addition to it removing potentially
harmful metal particles, the unit’s
maintenance-friendly characteristics
ensures that we now experience
minimum machine downtime
compared to our previous filtration
system.’
MacInnes Tooling, which represents
46 MWP march 2008
Danish oil separator manufacturer
Accustrip, says that the biggest single
cause of coolant failure is a lack of
maintenance, and in particular, failure
to remove tramp oil (used slideway
lubricant). The ‘simple but effective’
Accu Mini oil separator is a new device
that can help remove tramp oil at a
flow rate of 6 l/min.
Disposal costs being what they are,
means there is plenty of new
technology to help here, too. CNC
Fluids, for example, now promote the
Lucros evaporator to minimise the
amount of waste water impacting on
the environment by evaporating the
water phase of coolants and leaving just
the remaining oil content for disposal.
Environmental concerns are a
priority for CNC Fluids, which is also
launching TECHCUT 14001, a ‘green’,
high performance cutting and
grinding fluid. In the formulation of
this innovative fluid there are a
significant amount of raw materials
(70%+) that are best described as
renewable and undoubtedly lessen the
impact on the environment.
Whether filtration, recycling or
disposal is your priority, technology
and management systems are available
to help plug the leaks and ensure your
machine shop is a safe, cost-effective
and environmentally responsible place
of work.
www.acs-ltd.com
www.filtermist.com
www.houghton.co.uk
www.fuchslubricants.com
www.masterchemical.com
www.jemtech.co.uk
www.rocol.com
www.eclipse-magnetics.co.uk
www.macinnes.co.uk
www.cncfluids.co.uk
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.