The company has previously used a traditional magnetic roller separator to protect its electrolytic cleaning line (ECL) from ferrous contamination. However, with a magnetic performance of just 6000 gauss, the collection performance was inadequate and significant problems were occurring with the quality of its finished products.
An ECL is used within the steel industry to help clean and strip the surface of the steel sheet of rolling dust by using an alkaline solution. The material passes between electrodes, immersed in tanks containing the electrolyte. Whilst this technique is more effective in cleaning cold rolled steel than conventional cleaning processes, the instability of the chemicals can and do cause problems.
Effective filtration of the alkaline solution is paramount to ensure optimal efficiency of the ECL. Filtration efficiency depends on the magnetic material type, size of the magnet, magnetic strength and also the fluid flow dynamics. In this case, 400mg/m2 of contaminant was remaining in the fluid after passing through the magnetic roller.
Passing 500 l/min, with over 10,000 l of fluid used in a by-pass manner, the Eclipse Magnetics' Filtramag+, located on the return line, reduced contamination in this application within the alkaline solution from 400mg/m2 to just 30mg/m2 by removing the fine dust particles that were causing problems.
As a result of the installation, the company is no longer suffering from damaged finished components, has reduced its scrappage and waste, and has prolonged the life of the pump.
