Case Study: Tube Forming Plant
Summary: Cleaning cooling emulsion to extend fluid life and improve product quality.
Tube Forming Plant
Application(s): Lubrication Oils Coolants
Industry(s): Steel & Heavy Metalwork Industrial Hydraulics
Notes
An international tube forming company, were seeking process and cleanliness improvements of the tube forming section within their plant.
The largest area of concern for the quality control team was the condition of the tube mill cooling emulsion- (a semi-synthetic soluble oil). As a result of the forming process, ferrous contamination builds up in the fluid and on the mill beds. This contamination then reduces the life of the fluid and can become embedded into the steel itself, resulting in quality control issues.
The staff at Magnom™ approached the quality control team with a solution. As an initial trial, 2 Magnom™ units were fitted in addition to the existing filtration to test the capability of the Magnom™ technology.
A Magnom™ Clear 5 Unit was fitted upstream of the existing filter system, between the reservoir and the filters, to not only remove the harmful ferrous contamination but to augment the current filtration system. A second Magnom™, the 2” BSP Process Unit was fitted into the return line.
Due to the inherent nature of the process, large levels of contamination were forecast. Consequently the cores on both Magnom™ units were inspected after only 1 week.
Upon inspection both cores were found to be heavily laden with ferrous contamination proving the effectiveness of the Magnom™ technology.
The quality control team are continuing to evaluate the long term impact on finished product quality levels as a result of the introduction of Magnom™, but their initial reports on the technology are extremely positive, so much so that the introduction of further units is planned.