Sandvik, a high level engineering and manufacturing firm represented in over a hundred different countries and employ nearly 50,000 individuals making them a leader in their field. One of their lines of products is the production of fine wire, done by utilizing rolling mills and the capacity of the machine was, overall, in the range of 1000 tons.
This requires a huge amount of oil which needs to be constantly replaced in order to avoid problems which were occurring. This including coating of the wire, bending, and other malformations which were becoming problematic without the continuous addition of more oil.
The Micron Problem
These contaminants are mostly present at levels of 1µ or smaller. This micron problem was definitely going to be a serious issue. Standard oil filtration in this arena was completely insufficient. No conventional cleaning methods could be used in order to remove these problematic particles and instead an influx of new oil was required on a nearly constant basis.
Even high-speed centrifuges failed in this regard, which are one of the most commonly used methods within the industry.
The clean oil was required to be replaced every twelve weeks, raising costs for Sandvik as well as lowering the production capacity.
This very, very tiny problem was causing one big headache for the company.
Recondoil Steps In
It was pretty clear that an integrated solution was the only way to really move forward. It had to be capable of removing particles at even a micron level in order to be truly effective.
By incorporating one of Recondoil’s modules, utilizing double separation technology(DST) into the system the roller oil could be continuously cleaned by removing a small portion from the normal continuous oil pulled through the machine.
The total volume of the oil in the system was actually around 18000L/hour. The system installed by Recondoil removed roughly 4-5% of this impressive flow and passed it through a secondary filtration system using DST.
The addition of this seemingly small setup had astounding results… for everyone involved. It had created a continuous chain of clean rolling oil.
A Win for Sandvik… and the Environment
The installation worked exactly as intended, if not better. As the results stand now, the following are all true:
- The oil being used in this machine by Sandvik has been running, without replacement, for five years.
- The expenditures required for 65m³ have been saved by the company, as well as the production loss of 22 separate oil changes in this time.
- The environment has been saved by a total carbon dioxide benefit of reduction of 65 tons.
- Productivity of the rolling machines has been increased by an astounding 25% by weight.
- Scrapping of improperly formed material has been dropped by 80%
- The lifetime of the dies used to form the wire has been doubled.
Perhaps most importantly, in addition to Sandvik’s increase in productivity is an almost entirely new concept. A circular economy of oil.
The Continuous and Constant Reality of Clean Oil Can Exist
The idea that there was a way to continuously clean such an environmentally damaging and costly material seems to have been something of a pipe dream.
Recondoil seems to be rapidly making this into a reality. The idea of a continuous and circular flow of oil economy. A flow, in which, there can be a
The idea that we can reduce CO2 emissions while maintaining the high standards of oil required by industry.
Continuously clean roller oil is just the beginning of a brand new horizon. A bright new future, where not only are things made more efficient, but the environment is also left in better shape than ever before.
That’s a win for everyone involved, and maybe the planet itself.