Water-Soluble Metalworking Fluids - General Information Booklet
Water-Soluble Metalworking Fluids - General Information Booklet
WATER-SOLUBLE
METALWORKING FLUIDS
general information booklet
Preface
Unfortunately, it is a fact of life that metal working fluids are accorded a position of
minor importance.
The importance of these fluids only occurs when there are problems: the production
process is suffering !
Though, problems can be easily prevented if you know what you are doing.
With this booklet we want to give you a little information about what a soluble metal
working fluid actually is and how to realise a healthy, clean and trouble free production
minimum of waste.
A very important factor for trouble-free working is the correct choice of the fluid.
Important parameters for a correct choice concerning fluids are material, product,
machine and the nature of the industry.
The wide range of chlorine-free THE WORKS products can help you to make the right
choice.
Our sales team are ready to give you any assistance you require.
We hope that this booklet will help contribute to the optimisation of cutting fluid usage
in your company.
Contents
1. General
page 1
page 2
page 3
page 5
1. General
Cutting fluids are preparations/mixtures used in the cutting and forming metal
working industry for cooling, lubrication and swarf transport.
CUTTING FLUIDS
1.
NEAT FLUIDS
2.
WATER-SOLUBLE
FLUIDS
1. Products, mostly based on vegetable or mineral oil, non-water soluble such as:
- Tapping fluids;
- Stamping and deep drawing fluids.
Synthetic emulsion
: contains 0% min. oil;
Semi synthetic emulsion : contains up to 40% min. oil;
Mineral oil based emulsion : more than 40% min. oil.
Production speed and price (/m) mostly dictates the choice of the cutting fluid and
given a choice of neat or water-soluble the choice will often be water-soluble coolants.
The economics involve not only the purchase of coolant but also the costs of waste
fluids and by machine stoppage because of fluid change. Since the costs for waste disposal
and machine stoppage become more important every year it is essential to keep these
costs as low as possible.
Crucial factors to maintain the costs as low as possible are:
Cooling:
Lubrication:
A cutting fluid is necessarily very complex to be able to fulfill the many demands, such as:
-Cooling;
-Lubrication;
-Universal application;
-Long life;
-Noise reduction;
-Prevention of metal welding and swarf built up;
-Reduction of dimensional instability;
-No foaming;
-No sticking;
-No dangerous vapours;
-Skin friendly;
-Friendly for machine paint;
-Rust protection;
-Surface optimisation
-etc
-Nowadays, increasingly, a cutting fluid must also be
health and environment friendly.
2.
3.
So, a coolant must not only be free of nitrite, but it also must be free of diethanolamine to prevent the forming of nitrosamine, which can cause cancer.
One should try to keep the nitrite content in the coolant below 50 ppm
( determined by analytical test strips), because amine-containing substances
can always enter the fluid and nitrosamine can still be formed.
4.
The use of basic oils with a high percentage of aromatic hydrocarbons (often
cheap) can form, if heated below 1000 C, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs). These polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can cause cancer.
So it is important to use oils with an extreme low percentage of aromatic
hydrocarbons. This is possible by using modern, more expensive refinery
techniques.
A. CLEANING
Start with a clean machine.
If there is any doubt, clean and disinfect thoroughly with a fluid advised by
the supplier of the coolant. Also, use a cleaning- and disinfectant fluid if you
change the coolant for any reason. The function of the cleaning is to soften
dirt and to kill bacteria in the machine, especially on difficult places such as
pipes and pumps.
Also it is advised, 8 to 12 hours before cleaning out the machine, to add
disinfectant cleaning fluid to the dirty coolant according the directions for use.
There are two types of water-soluble system cleaners in The WORKS
program which provide this disinfectant and cleaning process.
C. SLIDEWAY OIL
Use a slideway oil which can be combined with the coolant and which has
de-mulsifying properties so that the oil can be skimmed off.
The Works has first class slideway oils in its program that have excellent
tolerance to The Works coolants.
D. REFRACTOMETER
Measure, with a regular frequency, the dilution of the water-soluble cutting fluid with
a refractometer. This is because water evaporates and the coolant concentrate stays
in the machine, resulting in increasing dilution.
Reading scale
NOTE:
Use the right refractometer factor and dilution chart of the coolant.
Ask for the correct dilution chart for each of The Work water-soluble coolants.
Refractometer reading x factor = % mixing ratio.
pH value
Skin damage
10
Steel
9
Aluminium
Alkaline
7, neutral
6
5,6 skin
Corrosion
5
4
Acid
Frequently measure the nitrite value in the coolant with nitrite indicating test strips.
When the nitrite value is more than 50 ppm, you should consider changing the fluid
for health reasons (clean out the machine thoroughly).
Other measurements like testing the oil- and dirt-content of the fluid can be done by
the supplier of the coolant.
E. WATER HARDNESS
The hardness of the water depends on its content of water-soluble calcium and
magnesium compounds. In very hard water the calcium and magnesium ions react
with components of the emulsifying oil. This reaction forms compounds which are not
soluble in water and may be precipitated in the circulation system.
Since these reactions use up part of the emulsifier, it reduces the stability of the
emulsion. This may lead to de-mulsification and oil separation.
Soft water will increase the risk of foam.
The ideal water hardness is 8 and 15 DH
F. MAINTANANCE
Frequently remove tramp oils from the coolant such as: slideway oils
hydraulic oils and cutting oils.
This can easily be done by:
- Vacuum;
- Absorption;
- Skimmer (Jokisch chain-skimmer).
Filter the coolant frequently. An important accessory is a coolant and swarf
vacuum cleaner with oil-water separation abilities (see photo below) or a
professional emulsion cleaning system.
Coolant and swarf vacuum cleaner, with filter and separation abilities
Emulsion cleaning system for tramp oil removal (ca. 98,5%) and
filtering of particles, capacity 480 ltr./ h (possible also for hire)
More expensive methods, like separating the tramp oils and particles by centrifuge
(see photo above), give an even better coolant cleaning and therefore a longer life
stability.
A regular costs calculation is therefore important
It is clear that the long life stability also depends on the product material.
E.g. cast iron and cast aluminium cause additional pollution and the coolant
therefore needs extra attention.
To record the measurements taken, it is advised to list in writing, the results in a
weekly machine report. The advantage is that the machine operator can take
remedial action in time if something is not ok.
Further:
Ask the supplier for the safety data sheet(s) according the directive 91/155/EEC.
This safety data sheet mentions all the relevant information about the product, such
as: storage, transport, health and safety regulations, etc..
All metal working fluids are subject to the European chemical waste law. This
includes the waste from the so-called biodegradable coolants.
10