Quaker Chemical formulates boron-free metalworking fluids
1 min read
Metalworking fluids company Quaker Chemical reports that it has developed a safer and better performing alternative to boric acid-based formulations. Quakercool 7200 HBFF addresses EC regulatory changes that have listed boric acid as a class 1B toxic substance.
Quakercool 7200 HBFF, a boron-free and formaldehyde-free micro-emulsion product, is suitable for operations where high surface finish quality and high lubrication are needed. It can replace boron-based formulations and provide enhanced machining performance, especially in the processing of aluminium, says the manufacturer.
Laurent Illievski, Quaker's European product manager, reports: "We have tested the Quakercool 7200 HBFF pH buffer against a series of measures to simulate field operations. We have measured lower forces and torques in our aluminium machining protocols: drilling with internal and external cooling; tapping and reaming with external cooling. But the biggest improvement is in the surface finish of the aluminium. In reaming we reached much lower Ra and Rz figures compared to those when using a reference product."
According to Quaker Chemical, it injected samples of both bacteria (gram negative and gram positive) and fungi (moulds and yeast) into the pH buffer system and over a 10-week period it remained biologically stable and outperformed boron-containing and other boron-free formulations.
