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VMAT application : Waste Emulsified Cutting Fluid Disposal

Oil-water emulsified fluid is mainly used as coolant and lubricant in metal cutting and steel mill cold roll processes. But the disposal treatment cost is very high and creates serious pollution issue. Recently, Dunwell solved this issue for the largest multi-national listed semi-conductor machinery manufacturer at low cost and environmental friendly way.

Oil-water emulsified fluid contains plenty of water. Not only have no recycle value but also need to pay for disposal. In-house treatment is expensive and takes lots of space. For metal cutting fluid, the chemical bondage between oil and water is much stronger than that in cold roll industry. Therefore, large amount of strong chemicals are required to break the bonds. Cost is high and the result is still not satisfactory. Large amount of sludge is produced which causes secondary pollution. If by incineration, energy cost is high because of high water content. Membrane technology was tried before but the fouling is the major issue.

Dunwell apply vibratory membrane technology, VMAT, to solve membrane-fouling issue and achieve high concentration ratio. No chemicals are used. The concentrate is incinerated. Permeate is recycled for preparing new coolant. No sewage is discharged. One unit takes up space less than 2 square meters, can handle up to 3,000 litres per day. From financial and environmental considerations, VMAT is a very attractive solution.