Task: Cleaning metal chips | Challenge: Complex geometries / different sizes | Implementation: 8-stage cleaning process from crushing to drying | Process: Immersion cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning
PURIMA develops cleaning and drying system for metal chips
The stuff that quality is made of: metal swarf is an important and expensive recyclable material that is reused in the manufacture of fittings in a wide range of industries. However, the swarf must be cleaned for this purpose as part of the manufacturing process. To solve this cleaning task, the specialist for industrial cleaning technology, PURIMA from Porta Westfalica, has developed a cleaning and drying system for chips of different types and sizes. The system, which was produced for a premium fittings manufacturer, impresses with its intelligent sequence of different cleaning processes. It is easy to operate, has an energy-efficient design, fits seamlessly into the production process and cleans to the customer’s complete satisfaction.
Many challenges
Whether shearing chips, shredding chips or flowing chips: the metal chips to be cleaned come in many shapes – so a particular challenge was to clean and dry them evenly and reproducibly. The customer also wanted the process to be as convenient as possible: Operators simply transport chip boxes to the system on the trolleys provided, initiate the cleaning process and collect the chips from an unloading station after the cleaning cycle. The contaminated chip surfaces contain oil, grease and cooling lubricants in particular, which need to be removed by the system. The customer’s specification here was that the chips should contain a maximum of 0.5% residual moisture and adhesions (residual carbon) should not exceed 0.2%. In addition, the pre-selection of the types of swarf to be cleaned was also part of the customer’s list of requirements – as was ensuring that the process medium could be used for a long time.
Two centrifuges additionally separate coolant or residual water from the chip.
Shredding, conveying, cleaning, drying
PURIMA has developed a customized cleaning system to solve this problem. A total of 8 process steps on three levels were developed for the system. At the very beginning, the differently shaped chips are processed in a shredder to ensure a uniform, defined feed. The material to be cleaned also passes through a single-stage centrifuge treatment: This separates adhering cooling lubricants, oils and greases from the chips before the cleaning process, so that a lot of contamination is prevented from entering the first cleaning tank, and later another centrifuge is connected upstream of the drying process. During the entire cleaning process, the chips are transported to the next process step by screw conveyors. A cleaning cycle that takes approx .1 hour.
Screw conveyors are used to transport the chips through the system.
High precision meets user and maintenance friendliness
The industrial cleaning system from PURIMA leaves nothing to be desired by the customer: it meets the customer’s specifications precisely and forms a logistically well thought-out and efficient cleaning cycle over three floors: For cleaning, the chips are first standardized to an ideal size and then pass through a precisely fitting and at the same time resource-saving process cycle in the proven PURIMA process, which fits perfectly into the customer’s infrastructure. The customer particularly appreciated the system’s ease of maintenance and its development agility in the event of further customer requirements.
