With the potential also to be retrofitted, it removes iron particles and issuitable for all machining processes involving magnetic materials, such as steel, cast iron or nodular cast iron. It can also be used in washing systems for parts cleaning.
The Sludge Barrier is available in different sizes and designs. The Manual Sludge Barrier (SB) catches swarf chips and small iron particles with a built-in magnet. The stainless steel construction is compact and easy to carry. It works in water and oil-water emulsions at temperatures up to 60 °C. Sludge is emptied manually at certain intervals by means of a demagnetising lever, meaning the unit does not need its own power supply. Retrofitting to practically any existing coolant tank is possible without any problems.
The Manual Sludge Barrier currently comes in two sizes, which differ in terms of magnetic flux density and their maximum absorption capacity. The SB4012 offers a maximum holding capacity of 1.6 kg of cast iron chips or approximately 1 kg of short steel chips at a flux density of 970 Gauss (0.097 Tesla). The SB4024 reaches 1200 Gauss (0.12 Tesla) flux density and can hold up to 3.6 kg of cast iron or 2.7 kg of steel chips.
The Auto Sludge Barrier (ASB), also made of stainless steel, catches particles on a circulating magnetic strip. A long drying zone ensures that the sludge is as dry as possible before it is automatically discharged into a collection container. Its compact design combines high performance with a small footprint. An easily adjustable timer function minimises coolant carry-over.
In addition, the ASB also removes tramp oil and floating sludge from liquids in a machine tool. The automatic version can also be retrofitted to practically all existing coolant tanks. In the 50 Hz version for Europe, it generates a magnetic force of 900 Gauss (0.09 Tesla). This enables the ASB to extract up to 40 kg of cast chips per hour (approx. 60 litres chip volume) or 30 kg of short steel chips (approx. 50 litres chip volume) per hour from the cooling lubricant. In addition, the ASB can remove up to a third of a litre of tramp oil per hour.
The sludge barrier combines economy and ecology, as a typical example shows. In a metalworking company, the lubricant tanks of the machine tools had to be cleaned every two months on average. This took two days, during which machines and workers were not productive. The Auto Sludge Barrier was installed almost without interrupting production and immediately removed kilograms of sludge from the tanks.
The tank cleaning intervals could then be extended from two to almost six months. The coolant cost was reduced by up to 30%, while the cleaner coolant also increased the service life of the tools. In less than six months, the ASB had recouped its costs and significantly reduced the burden on the environment, thanks to the lower consumption of coolant and tools.
