Machine Shop for Oil and Gas Services Provider Wins When the Chips Are Down
Chip Filtering Keeps Machine Shop Coolant Clean
Since 1976, Facility Engineer Jay Wilson has handled the HVAC, electrical, and other operational facility needs for a key Texas-based plant within the FMC Technologies, Inc. (FMCTI) family. A leading global provider of solutions for the energy industry and other industrial markets, they’ve been twice named the Most Admired Oil and Gas Equipment Service Company by FORTUNE magazine. FMCTI employs approximately 11,000 people across 33 manufacturing facilities in 19 countries.
The company designs, manufactures and services many technologically sophisticated systems and products like subsea production and processing systems, surface wellhead systems, high pressure fluid control equipment, measurement solutions, and marine loading systems for the oil and gas industry.
In the Stephenville, Texas facility, Jay says one of his key responsibilities is “to ensure that the machine shop has the needed services to sustain our business.” One best practice involves maintaining a regular, systematic method of cleaning the shop’s sumps and coolant so that manufacturing operations can run at maximum efficiency.
Keeping It Clean, A Core Value
The machining process inside the Stephenville-Texas shop dirties coolant over time, contaminating fluids with tramp oil, chips and swarf. If left unattended, problems arise, including increased downtime of entire systems, slower cycle times for certain parts, and more frequent tool and equipment replacements. Contaminated coolant also contributes to an unsafe work environment, creating smoky conditions, an unpleasant “rotten egg” odor, and an increased chance of contact dermatitis among susceptible workers. Obviously, keeping their coolant clean is a priority for a company like FMCTI, given that they hold outstanding Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) performance as a core value.
Coolant lines run along designated columns throughout the plant, delivering coolant to each machine from a central tank. The Stephenville facility employs a system that regularly cleans the machine shop coolant by pumping it from the sumps, removing contaminants, rinsing off the systems with water, and then recharging them with reclaimed or new coolant. Jay’s team had been using coolant carts with diaphragm pumps to return the coolant after it was cleaned, but he was on the lookout for a more efficient method.
Portable Cleaning For Centralized System
Jay came to the conclusion that adding a sump-cleaning vacuum would make the entire process run more efficiently. After doing some research on the Internet, he selected the Abanaki Chiperator, which provides the dual action of a vacuum and a pump. He felt the device, developed from a world leader in oil skimming and cleaning products, was a “solid piece of equipment that would benefit our centralized coolant distribution system.”
The air-driven Chiperator was designed to vacuum and filter old cutting fluids loaded with chips from machine sumps inexpensively and efficiently. Coolant carts at the FMCTI facility now rely on the Chiperator and an external return diaphragm pump, which provides additional pumping support. This machine vacuums out the coolant, chips, and swarf, which is then separated out through an 8-gallon filter bag inside the drum. Finally, clean coolant is returned to the coolant tank by reversing the airflow on the unit.
As Jay points out, the entire Chiperator cleaning system is on rollers for easy access – an important benefit. He decided to utilize a portable solution rather than have several coolant cleaning devices stationed permanently at each machine sump.
Easy, Economical Maintenance
For this system to work efficiently, it was essential that the equipment required minimal operator attention. Here, too, Abanaki offered an attractive design in that the Chiperator’s disposable filter bags are designed for easy cleanup. With no moving parts to malfunction, the unit is easy to maintain. Other components include a float valve that automatically shuts the unit off when the drum is full, an automatic pressure relief valve for safety, and an additional on/off valve for easy shutoff.
Jay confirms that the Chiperator is definitely “more efficient, more user friendly, and very portable.”
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“The guys that work with it like it,” he concludes.
