MACHINE PARTS MANUFACTURER CASE STUDY

THE PROBLEM:

A small machine parts manufacturer was having problems passing the city’s environmental test. Before shipping parts to their customers, the parts went through a spray washer for a final wash. The washer had automatic fill with continuous water overflow to maintain fluid cleanliness. Overflow was sent to a coalescing tank and then to the city drain.

The amount of overflow to sewer exceeded the city’s environmental standards.

THE HARRIGAN SOLUTION:

Harrigan Solutions mapped out the entire process, up to and including the parts washer. Our first goal was to see if we could keep oil from getting into the washer in the first place. After an evaluation of options with the customer — including changing from machining with oil to machining with coolant; skimmers; improvement to coalescing; and eliminating the overflow — we settled on a centrifuge to remove oil from the drain water before discharge to city sewer.

RESULTS:

Centrifuging eliminated the discharge test failures and removed the small machine parts
manufacturer from the environmental inspection failure roster. Also, plant personnel no longer had to spend time dealing with the issue and operating the washer.