Aquarium skimmer for coolant?

Has anyone tried an aquarium skimmer for skimming oils off smaller coolant tanks? (less than 50 gallons)

They are cheap and seem to do the same thing.

Got the idea from my tooling rep.

I myself have attempted that little trick but had no success..it kept sucking the guppies out of the coolant tank and plugging the skimmer. I guess it depends on what kind of fish you have in the tank..saltwater or fresh!

Stuart

Not a skimmer, but I use an aquarium air pump to keep the coolant from growing bugs- still gotta skim the top though.

Assuming that Stuart is joking about actually trying a protein skimmer in his coolant tank, but not positive, lol. I know the fish bit is in jest but Stuart, did you actually try a protein skimmer in a coolant tank?

I'm not sure if this would work the same as a regular surface skimmer that is designed for a coolant tank, but you'd have to try one out to know for sure. I have a skimmer laying around from an old saltwater fish tank but don't really want to try it in a coolant sump as I may try to set up another saltwater tank one day.

I thought you meant pool skimmer, never heard of a protein skimmer, I had to gOOgle it..

Protein skimmer - Wikipedia


I think you may be on to something here.

I'll pick one up and share my results.

eKretz said:

Assuming that Stuart is joking about actually trying a protein skimmer in his coolant tank, but not positive, lol. I know the fish bit is in jest but Stuart, did you actually try a protein skimmer in a coolant tank?

I'm not sure if this would work the same as a regular surface skimmer that is designed for a coolant tank, but you'd have to try one out to know for sure. I have a skimmer laying around from an old saltwater fish tank but don't really want to try it in a coolant sump as I may try to set up another saltwater tank one day.

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I Probably should not have polluted this thread with my stupid humor..sorry. I haven't used a skimmer of any sort, ever.

Stuart

Check this out.

Build a Powerful Tramp Oil Skimmer for Your Coolant - CNCCookbook: Be A Better CNC'er

BGL said:

I thought you meant pool skimmer, never heard of a protein skimmer, I had to gOOgle it..

Protein skimmer - Wikipedia


I think you may be on to something here.

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Quite an article. Didn't know bubbles and foam had such fancy names and clever skillsets.

Guess at least a few Collitch grads found sumthin' better to do than flip burgers?

atomarc said:

I Probably should not have polluted this thread with my stupid humor..sorry. I haven't used a skimmer of any sort, ever.

Stuart

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No foul atall, Stuart!

Accident or plan, it got us onto a look at some new material we might otherwise have missed the nuances of entirely.

"PM at work, doing what it does best"

I don't imagine a protein skimmer would work very well, The basic principal is that because the proteins have a high affinity for air/water boundary layers, sending a stream of fine bubbles will give the proteins a surface to precipitate out of the water on to. The bubbles then naturally rise to the top and collect as foam, that can be "skimmed" off', also explained in the name "foam fictionalization". I have not seen this affinity for air in tramp oil, more a natural buoyancy in water and it's own insolubility causing it to diffuse out and collect. But then again, I haven't tried it, so maybe it does work. I don't really see oils having the foaming tendency necessary for the fictionalization process to work though (except in our Tsugami, that thing foams like crazy).

Winterfalke said:

I don't imagine a protein skimmer would work very well, The basic principal is that because the proteins have a high affinity for air/water boundary layers, sending a stream of fine bubbles will give the proteins a surface to precipitate out of the water on to. The bubbles then naturally rise to the top and collect as foam, that can be "skimmed" off', also explained in the name "foam fictionalization". I have not seen this affinity for air in tramp oil, more a natural buoyancy in water and it's own insolubility causing it to diffuse out and collect. But then again, I haven't tried it, so maybe it does work. I don't really see oils having the foaming tendency necessary for the fictionalization process to work though (except in our Tsugami, that thing foams like crazy).

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"Fractionation" not fictionalization. Though I like your version better :-)

lwalker said:

"Fractionation" not fictionalization. Though I like your version better :-)

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Stupid autocarrot got me again.

Deadlining said:

I have never used skimmer for an aquarium , I sounds like crazy thing. I doesn't look as a good idea .For saltwater is better to use Coralline Algae which has a purpose to improve the ecosystem and the quality of the water .Also it looks attractive and gives colouring to your aquarium. There are different type of algae that you can find here arcreef.com which have different effects and make the life of your fishes more durable

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Odd command of the English language you have there spammer....

Yeah and if you don't use a skimmer on a saltwater aquarium I hope you do a lot of water changing. Wait, why am I replying to this spam clown?!

BGL said:

I thought you meant pool skimmer, never heard of a protein skimmer, I had to gOOgle it..

Protein skimmer - Wikipedia


I think you may be on to something here.

Click to expand...

I don't think it will work. To get the oil out you need to use some sort of specific gravity separation system.

The protein skimmer is using the creation of foam to do the separation. Generating foam in a coolant tank is usually what we don't want to happen.

The really good commercial oil separators use two to three baffled tanks and sometimes some timed coolant jets to move surface scum into the desired chamber.

Machinist_max said:

Has anyone tried an aquarium skimmer for skimming oils off smaller coolant tanks? (less than 50 gallons)

They are cheap and seem to do the same thing.

Got the idea from my tooling rep.

Click to expand...

Ever figure it out? I was thinking the same thing and found this thread.
Looking at this right now.


I currently have a belt skimmer but the separate chambers in the coolant sump makes it not effective overall.

I've never tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. And the creation of the "foam" or bubbling is only in the skimmer tank, not in the main coolant tank.

Proteins skimmers can filter out oil, thats why they're called "skimmers", it skims away waste from water.
Just because it's marketed for "saltwater" or "fishes", does not mean it only applies to that.

You'll need a really big one with good oxygenation system that uses expensive "needle wheel" pumps that produces insane amount of micro bubbles. You can't use the cheap skimmers effectively, need to buy like the expensive ones such as "Reef Octopus Skimmer" (Commercial protein skimmers such as "Bubble Magus SK-2" costs $4K+) or simply build your own but definitely need to buy or make a good "needle wheel" pump.

The insane amount of oxygen created by the "needle wheel" pump also reduces bacterial growth which boosts oxygenation and this kills bacteria by increase of "oxidation redox" in the coolant. Basically oxidizes (destroys) any living organisms.
Same goes for saltwater, thats why you also have reefers auto-dosing hydrogen proxied in the reef tanks to increase oxidation.

I have lab grade redox sensors (they're expensive) to monitor oxygen level in water, never got to use em...

Protein Skimmer main purpose is to remove or skim away protein and wastes in the water such as fats and debris.
It's concept is also used in large wastewater sanitation treatment facilities where oil are also extracted from the waste water.

Heres more valid info about it:

"In addition to the proteins removed by skimming, there are a number of other organic and inorganic molecules that are typically removed. These include a variety of fats, fatty acids, carbohydrates, metals such as copper, and trace elements such as iodine. Particulates, phytoplankton, bacteria, and detritus are also removed"

Protein skimmer - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

An advanced all-in-one protein skimmer solution designed specifically for machining industry's coolant system could be made and I'm sure professionals will buy into it for it's automated and controlled features. I'm surprised no one has built such commercial system for this CNC/machining industry. I smell out from the coolant tank of a great successful business plan...

eKretz said:

I've never tried it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. And the creation of the "foam" or bubbling is only in the skimmer tank, not in the main coolant tank.

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It should be both.

Professional reefers puts many aeration into all tanks of their expensive reef systems (Usually good average reef systems starts to costs no less than $4,000+). The more oxygenation the better. However too much (in very rare cases) will start killing good organisms (makes no difference for precision machinists ). Thats why die hard reefers use expensive oxygen sensor to monitor and control how much oxygenation should take place by controlling the threshold of digital brushless DC needle-wheel pumps of aeration and auto-dosing of hydrogen peroxide.

But usually pros put at least 2 to 4 aeration pumps in the sump tank and other holding tanks connected to the main display tank for max oxygenation.

Here is nice and proper low cost way to make needle-wheel pump for max aeration action (also be used in DIY skimmer builds too), could be easily machined for the neddle-wheel:

Example of the performance of insane aeration of DIY neddle-wheel pumps:

More info how to make em:

How to make a professional large skimmer: