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The new coolant technologies for metalworking (Cool Tech)
Start date: Jan 1, 2001, End date: Dec 31, 2003 PROJECT  FINISHED 

Background ¿ BACKGROUND Metalworking at an industrial scale often requires the use of different sorts of lubricants in order to lubricate and cool the metal and tools. These lubricants are usually an environmental problem and also difficult to recycle. The environmental problem comes partly from hazardous lubricants and partly from strong preservatives in the liquids. The preservatives are used in order to reduce growth of micro-organisms. Objectives The project aims at solving the environmental problem related to the industrial lubricants by developing two applications. The beneficiary has developed a dry method in which the pieces to be worked are cooled and lubricated with a mist of carbon dioxide and vegetable oil. This application should result in that the waste will be easier to treat and dispose compared to the existing c ooling methods. In the other application an environmentally friendly and recyclable oil is used. In order to reduce the use of preservatives the lubricants are micro filtrated. The lubricant could be recycled at almost 100%. Pilot plants will be set up at larger metalworking industries owned by the partners in this project. Results The project was organized around 6 technical Work Packages (WP’s). WP wise, results may be summarized as: WP 1: develop necessary hardware components for a successful deployment of the cold mist lubrication technology. WP 3: - Aluminum ingot milling at Sapa. Milling tools with a diameter of about 150 cm are used to shave foundry oxides from the horizontal surfaces of aluminum slabs prior to lamination with aluminum plates of a different quality. - Robotic deburring of holes in metal object used for the mounting of electric and electronic equipment at Electrolinden in Helsingborg WP 4: -Installation of Ambi® Lube chemicals in single machines at Sandvik Coromant in Gimo, adaptation of tool change equipment lubrication properties and demonstration of excellent work place environment, lifetime and metalworking performance properties in three single machines with individual coolant tanks. Installation of Ambi® Lube coolant system for the demonstration in the CNC machining of difficult to machine aluminium qualities at Spekeröds Mekaniska in Stora Höga. Installation of Ambi® Lube coolant system for the demonstration in the CNC machining of tool steels at Sandvik-Smith in Köping. A decision was taken to install Ambi® Lube coolant system in a central supply system for 20 CNC machines at Sandvik-Smith in Köping in February 2004. A decision to test the Ambi® Lube coolant system in the engine factory at Skövde was taken in May 2004. WP 5: Installation of full scale fully automated Ambi® Lube demonstration central fluid supply system in the hard metal grinding plant of Sandvik Coromant at Gimo in July 2002 Parallel installation of demonstration system was done in existing coolant circulation system at Gimo. Installation of Ambi® Lube coolant system for the demonstration in the CNC machining of tool steels at Sandvik-Smith in Köping. Initiation of demonstration grinding production of hardened steel tool components in central fluid supply at Seco Tools in Norrköping in August 2002 WP 6: - Cold rolling of aluminium and copper at Outokumpu Västerås in November 2001. - Repeated pilot scale hot and cold rolling of aluminium demonstrations was performed at Sapa in Finspång during April – July 2003. - Full scale hot rolling demonstration of aluminium was performed at Sapa in Finspång during week 29, 2003 - Full scale cold rolling demonstration of aluminium was performed at Sapa in Finspång during week 30, 2003 The volume of chemicals, which have to be sent to destruction, can be substantially reduced by introduction of the present technologies. It is judged that disposal costs can thus be reduced by more than 75 percent in applications where the aqueous Ambi® Lube technology is implemented and disposal is completely eliminated when the cold minimal coolant technology (Ambi® Frost) is used. The costs for installation of the Ambi® Lube technology are comparable to conventional cutting fluid installations. These costs are, however, readily regained by lower long-term maintenance and disposal costs. With the Ambi® Frost technology, both installation and maintenance costs are expected to be significantly lower. The implementation of the Ambi® Frost technology allows an elimination of costs for all liquid handling labour and equipment such as tanks, liquid ducts and maintenance equipment like filters, skimmers or centrifuges.
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