Pick and mix

Accurate coolant mixing is essential for the performance and lifespan of water-miscible metalworking fluids. Run too weak and you risk corrosion of parts and machine tools, bacterial growth, and reduced tool life. Too strong and you could fall foul of foaming, reduced rinsing, and of course you will consume too much product. Despite common opinion, running too strong can also be detrimental to tool life in some cases.

The SmartMix delivers a stable, consistent emulsion at up to 90 litres per minute. The latest generation adds touchscreen control of concentration, a visual indicator of barrel/IBC level, an 800 litre water tank (allowing large volumes of coolant to be mixed quickly, even if you have a slow water supply), low level alarms for both concentrate and water, and XIoT connectivity.

Accurate mixing is critical, but for many workshops the harder battle is getting operators to add coolant on a regular basis. If machines are topped up at different frequencies, using the same top-up concentration, it is common to see wildly varying concentrations in machine tools across the same workshop.

Machines that are topped-up little and often, actually need relatively weak concentrations adding – regular top-up minimises coolant consumption and maximises coolant performance. Machines that only get topped-up when they ‘alarm out’ on low level need a much stronger mix adding.

The solution is to make top-up easy or, better still, automatic. SmartMix can be used with a distribution pipework system to deliver coolant right to the machine, meaning top-ups require just the opening of a valve.

For lights-out/automated running, or to remove the operator entirely from the process, SmartMix can be used together with Cardev auto top-up units; fully automating all coolant mixing and top-up operations.

According to ETL, SmartMix users have reported a reduction in coolant consumption of up to 25% after moving from other popular dosing systems. Couple that with time savings for what has historically been a cumbersome, inefficient process, and the return on investment is simple to calculate.

SmartMix is part of the wider Cardev coolant handling range, which covers coolant mixing, transfer, cleaning, recycling, and disposal equipment.

ETL Fluid Experts www.etlfe.com