A number of AEC Systems clients have needed parts washers designed to clean recently turned or machined parts, and with these types of products swarf typically is an issue. Swarf, for the unfamiliar, is “material (as metallic particles and abrasive fragments) removed by a cutting or grinding tool.”
It is not always easy to remove swarf, particularly when the parts involved have complex geometries. Another consideration is waste. Because of increasing EPA regulation of waste generation in industrial parts washing, it is critical to design systems that come as close as possible to being zero waste producers. For this reason, it is encouraging to see processes, such as the one recently demonstrated in Fagersta, Sweden, that are designed to recycle swarf and oil.
Mireco AB in Sweden built a plant that would allow for the briquetting of oil-drenched swarf captured from a steel polishing process. Previously, this swarf would have gone to a landfill, but the reclaiming of the swarf through briquetting allows for the steel waste products to be reused, accomplishing two complementary goals: waste reduction and resource recycling.
While the initial waste recovery was less than hoped for, Mireco’s own customers have implemented this technology on site in their own plants, and Mireco’s original briquette press is now being used for other metals, such as aluminum foil produce as a byproduct from battery manufacturing.
Other technologies for cleaning and removing swarf are also emerging, including one that utilizes an aqueous surfactant washing technique and another that uses supercritical carbon dioxide extraction. Complicating the evaluating process, cost-benefit analyses of these competing technologies must factor in the regulatory environments in which they would be used. In places that regulate swarf as hazardous waste, there is additional incentive to find further ways to reduce landfilling and produce usable metal material for industrial reuse.
Since one important goal of AEC Systems is to continuously update our knowledge base to help our clients balance profitability and regulatory considerations, it is encouraging to see new technologies emerge, particularly those with industrial parts washers applications. If your company needs assistance in creating a cleaning process to remove swarf and oil from machined parts, please contact us today, so we begin developing a solution together.
By: Ryan Westphal