Breath of fresh air

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END USER: Cameron International Malaysia, 65-6865-2977, www.c-a-m.com. CHALLENGE: Reduce coolant usage and rancidity. SOLUTION: A coolant recycling system that uses a continuous overflow process and ozone injection to prevent bacteria growth. SOLUTION PROVIDER: PRAB, (800) 968-7722, www.prab.com

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Coolant isn’t cheap, so any machine shop that must use it continually seeks ways to reduce consumption while improving coolant quality to ensure longer tool life and achieve part specifications. Cameron International Malaysia’s subsea facility in Mukim Tanjung Kupang uses coolant to manufacture valves for wells a few hundred to thousands of feet under water. The valves can range in size from as small as a file cabinet drawer to as big as a vehicle. The facility’s 32 machining centers run continuously to satisfy demand.

Courtesy of PRAB/Monlan

The Guardian coolant recycling system from PRAB/Monlan uses a continuous overflow process to prevent rancidity. Bottom: On the left, a bacteria test strip dipped into coolant immediately before starting the Guardian’s coolant manager indicates bacteria growth. On the right, a bacteria test strip dipped into the coolant 6 hours after the coolant manager has been injecting ozone into the coolant shows an absence of bacteria.

The company’s coolant usage was excessive because of heavy tramp oils at the machining centers, according to Chew Siew-Ling, the plant’s project operations manager. In addition, the average temperature in Malaysia is 80° F with 80 percent humidity—a perfect environment for breeding coolant-spoiling bacteria. “Bacteria in the coolant was causing it to become rancid in a short span of time,” Siew-Ling said.

The facility employed several types of coolant filtration, but none effectively controlled tramp oil and bacteria. Siew-Ling searched online and found that the Guardian HG-1600 recycling system from PRAB/Monlan appeared to be what Cameron needed because the unit coalesces small droplets of tramp oil together and inhibits bacteria growth. According to Mark Graf, sales manager for PRAB/Monlan, there are three stages to oil: free floating, mechanically dispersed and emulsified. Belt and wheel skimmers are effective for removing free-floating oil because the droplets are large enough that the oil stays on the surface of the coolant tank. But, as a coolant system’s pumping and jetting action shears oil particles, the mechanically dispersed oil doesn’t rise to the surface where skimming occurs.