The two centrifuges provided by Rösler allowed the powder coater Ulamo to reduce the consumption of water by up to 90%.
The Germany company Rösler has recently announced that it has provided two centrifuges for cleaning the industrial pre-treatment liquids of a powder coating line to Ulamo, an international powder coater of radiators and other components made of aluminium and steel. Along with significant savings in the use of chemicals, the solutions reduced the consumption of water by up to 90%.
Ulamo is a Dutch manufacturer of powder coated radiators and related components located in Ulft which has been providing customers with high-quality aluminium and different steel grades products for over sixty years. Recently, it has decided to update its powder coating line in order to improve its environmental protection as well as to reduce the annual costs associated with the the pre-treatment of the parts.
As a matter of fact, the workpieces of the company are degreased through a chemical cleaning process in the form of a spraying operation, and the cleaning liquid contaminated with dust and grease is collected in a special tank. In order to maintain the cleaning characteristics of the liquid and re-use it, Ulamo decided to rely on the cleaning centrifuges of Rösler.
The semi-automatic centrifuge for aluminium components
The semi-automatic centrifuge of Rösler consists of a charging pump that transfers the liquid from the tank into the rotary basket of the centrifuge, where the high centrifugal force causes the tiny dirt fines to be deposited on the basket wall in the form of sludge. In this way the liquid, now free of the contaminants, can be transferred back into the cleaning process.
“The contamination of the cleaning liquids was costing us thousands of Euros for personnel, lost sales and scrap parts. Any investment in new equipment should amortise itself relatively quickly. Therefore, it is always good to learn that an investment really pays for itself,” has stated Simon Wagenaar, the manager of the technical services department for coating at Ulamo Coating BV. “Rösler allowed us to test the centrifuge free of charge for a month. So, we only had to commit to a purchase after we had learned that our requirements can be met. For my department, where we are coating aluminium components, we installed a semi-automatic centrifuge.”
The fully automatic centrifuge for steel components
In addition, the company also invested a in fully automatic centrifuge for the components made of steel that is connected to two tanks containing the pre-treatment liquid, which is cleaned from one tank at a time. The fully automatic system removes the sludge from the drum wall and dumps it into a large and mobile container that must only be emptied once a month.
“Once we saw how well the centrifuge technology works, we purchased a fully automatic centrifuge for my department. We had previously tested a unit from another supplier. But this was too big and complex. Rösler helped us in organizing the switch from one tank to the other. The compact machine is easy to operate. Twice a year it is thoroughly checked by Rösler and, therefore, demands very little attention by our technical department,” has added Norbert Becking, the production manager for coating at Ulamo.