Reducing Those Troublesome Coolant Costs
Hahn Manufacturing chooses Abanaki’s compact, highly efficient coolant skimmer to remove tramp oils and saved themselves money in the process.
The Problem
Hahn Manufacturing, a family-owned business in Cleveland, Ohio, supplies precision prototype and production machined parts for OEMs across the country. Coolant tanks in Hahn’s five machining centers suffered from steady tramp oil contamination, and plant manager Gary Ott was concerned with escalating disposal and replacement costs. Coolant had to be replaced in the tanks every three months. Because of its ease of operation and compact, portable size, the Abanaki Mighty Mini® coolant skimmer looked as if it might benefit the operation.
A coolant skimmer helps remove floating tramp oil from machining coolant, helping extend fluid life and reduce replacement costs.
The Solution: A Coolant Skimmer That Cuts Costs
The Mighty Mini is designed to skim floating tramp oil from the surface of coolant, removing oil at 1 gph via a rotating stainless-steel belt. This belt attracts and collects tramp oil in coolant sumps thanks to the differences in specific gravity between oil and water. Once oil adheres to the belt, it travels up the tandem wiper blades, which scrape it off to be discharged through a 3′ discharge hose and then disposed of.
Access to the coolant sump is gained via the opening used for filling the machine sump. The built-in 24-hour timer permits the unit to skim oil when the machining center is not in operation, allowing tramp oils to surface and be removed.
Hahn Manufacturing now runs the Mighty Mini® on its Okuma, Haas and Toyoda machining centers. Post installation, the oil skimmers paid for themselves in a few short months. Coolant costs have been reduced by 75 percent; the coolant stays clean and needs replaced only once a year, saving the company time, budget, and resources.
