How can I make my Tramp Oil Remover better?

Guys, I have built a simple Coalescing type system for removing Tramp Oil from CNC machines. The system consists of a floating suction device that is dropped into the machine tank, a centrifugal pump and a Coalescing Plate-Pack type oil water separator that does a good job of removing most tramp oil from the machine coolant tank in less than an hour.

Now, I was wondering what other improvements I can make to this system. How about something to remove odor? An inline filter for metal chips perhaps?

Any other issues you guys face with your machines that you would like to have addressed by such a system?

Any help/leads would be appreciated.
Thanks.
KV

I cannot see how a filter would be a bad thing to have, unless it were to cause even more problems if it failed.

Would aeration, like a fish tank bubbler, help at all? A UV Light system? A Bactericide in the mix? Dunno, just chucking those out there.

I used a 20 liter bucket with a bolt threaded into a hole for my machine at work. Would circulate the coolant for a while to get the oil into circulation, then pump as much as would, into the bucket and go home for the weekend.
Oil floated to the top, and I would drain the coolant out from under via the bolt in the hole. Very low tech...

Aerator (air bubbler) In the tank makes a world of difference in the life of the coolant. If you are interested, I will post details.
JH

I’ve got one of the ultra-mini skimmers by abanaki. I can take it from one machine to the next and it will skim the oil off the top of a 50 gallon sump in a matter of a couple hours without pulling a bunch of coolant with it.

Coolant Skimmers & Tramp Oil Skimmers | Abanaki Corporation

No plumbing required. Just hang it in the side of the coolant tank and put a 5 gallon bucket under it

James H Clark said:

Aerator (air bubbler) In the tank makes a world of difference in the life of the coolant. If you are interested, I will post details.
JH

Click to expand...

Yes please!

trevj said:

I cannot see how a filter would be a bad thing to have, unless it were to cause even more problems if it failed.

Would aeration, like a fish tank bubbler, help at all? A UV Light system? A Bactericide in the mix? Dunno, just chucking those out there.

I used a 20 liter bucket with a bolt threaded into a hole for my machine at work. Would circulate the coolant for a while to get the oil into circulation, then pump as much as would, into the bucket and go home for the weekend.
Oil floated to the top, and I would drain the coolant out from under via the bolt in the hole. Very low tech...

Click to expand...

So the aeration needs to be introduced into the main machine coolant tank right? What is the contact time that is required to introduce adequate oxygen into the liquid? I have a small 'Oxygenator' which is basically an aquarium pump with an aeration stone which I had actually bought for my homebrewing purpose. Will this same equipment help with my coolant?

I had thought about UV Lights, but with the influx of a lot of chinese products, I am not sure about their life.

Spruewell said:

I’ve got one of the ultra-mini skimmers by abanaki. I can take it from one machine to the next and it will skim the oil off the top of a 50 gallon sump in a matter of a couple hours without pulling a bunch of coolant with it.

Coolant Skimmers & Tramp Oil Skimmers | Abanaki Corporation

No plumbing required. Just hang it in the side of the coolant tank and put a 5 gallon bucket under it

Click to expand...

We have an Oil Skimmer. But it doesn't work as well as we would want it to. It skims off oil near the belt leaving behind most oil that is displaced due to agitation.

kunalv said:

So the aeration needs to be introduced into the main machine coolant tank right? What is the contact time that is required to introduce adequate oxygen into the liquid? I have a small 'Oxygenator' which is basically an aquarium pump with an aeration stone which I had actually bought for my homebrewing purpose. Will this same equipment help with my coolant?

I had thought about UV Lights, but with the influx of a lot of chinese products, I am not sure about their life.

Click to expand...

A lot of the 'very bad things' that can grow in your coolant, are anaerobic, and thrive once there is a limited supply of oxygen in the coolant.

My (admittedly limited) experiences was that the machines that sat unused, had the most mung growing in their coolant tanks.

A friend of mine kept an aquarium bubbler on a timer so it cycled every ten or fifteen minutes for a short time, on his coolant tank, and said that it vastly reduced his coolant deteriorating. Another minor benefit, is that the air bubbles will keep the surface of the tank moving, at least a little bit, so that the problem stated above, where the skimmer was not able to draw the oil layer to where it was able to be picked out of the tank, is reduced too.

I'd like to know what you made the coalescing plates from, I just ran PVC parts on an old lathe that has a total loss lube system and all the waylube goes into the coolant, a lot of the oil, too much, ended up on the parts. I've heard somewhere that polypropylene works but anyone know what works best?