At the end of its screw production process, SPAX hardens the finished parts. Before hardening, the screws must be degreased in a dedicated washing system. If oil is not effectively removed from the wash water, residues can impair the hardening result and lead to product-quality problems.
The site was using an oil-water separator from another supplier, but its oil-removal performance was inadequate. Too much oil remained in the wash water, reducing cleaning efficiency and leaving residues on the screws before hardening. The resulting quality complaints from a major automotive manufacturer created significant costs and production pressure.
The washing system consists of a wash tank and a rinse tank. Inspection found a visible layer of floating oil on both tanks that had to be removed continuously.
The existing oil-water separator was undersized for the tank volume and oil load. In addition, the high particle load in the wash water meant that the unit required maintenance or cleaning almost every week. When maintenance demands became too high, it could not operate continuously, further reducing oil-removal performance.
FRIESS installed one 1U oil skimmer on the wash tank and one on the rinse tank. The length of each oil-collecting hose was tailored to the tank dimensions so that it could sweep the entire liquid surface and continuously capture and remove the floating oil layer.
The 1U oil skimmer provides high removal capacity and keeps the tank surfaces permanently free of oil. Even with a high particle load in the wash water, its durable materials and simple design ensure reliable operation with lower routine-maintenance requirements.
SPAX initially rented the 1U oil skimmers to test their effectiveness. Once the two units were in operation, the floating oil was continuously removed from the wash and rinse tanks. The screws entered the hardening process in the required condition, and the related customer complaints stopped.
After the successful trial, SPAX purchased both 1U oil skimmers and installed additional units on three more hardening lines. Reliable removal of floating oil from the wash water now protects screw-hardening quality and makes the production process more dependable.
