Company: Ionbond UK Ltd

Location: Mansfield, UK

Eclipse Product Installed: Filtramag+

Industry: Precision Tool Coating

Process Type: Pre-Coating Tool Wash System

Application Background:

Operating in 15 countries, the Ionbond IHI Group is one of the world's largest specialists in thin film coating services. Subsidiary Ionbond UK Ltd, a tool coating centre based in Mansfield, is the UK’s leading PVD coating service provider for precision tools. The site applies protective coatings to up to 150,000 precision cutting tools each month. The process operates 24 hours per day for 5 days a week.

The range of tools processed includes new and refurbished drills, end mills, reamers, and cutters for industries such as defence, aerospace, automotive, and general CNC machine shops. The protective coatings are mostly applied to tungsten carbide and high-speed steel (HSS) materials. The high-quality coating significantly extends tool life and improves cutting efficiency.

The Challenge:

To start the coating process, tools are passed through an aqueous cleaning system to remove any residual oil contamination and waste particles that have been created during manufacturing or refurbishment. If this contamination and particles are not removed prior to applying the coating, there is a risk of the poor adhesion leading to quality issues. Ultimately, it could mean finished products fail to meet demanding quality standards.

During the wash process, an alkaline aqueous degreasant solution is used at 60˚C. To ensure thorough results, the cleaning line is divided into separate cells. A pre-wash, which is fed from a 270-litre tank to remove the vast majority of contamination.  It is then followed by an 11 stage robot controlled cleaning line whereby the first 2 wash tanks are fed by a 70-litre and 250-litre tank, respectively. The wash solution is recirculated through a 50-micron string-wound cartridge filter to remove unwanted particulate contaminants.

Due to the limited collection capability of the existing cartridge filters, very fine magnetic particles were flowing through the filter and remaining in circulation. This build-up of particles in the wash solution meant fluids at each stage needed to be replaced every month. This involved a full drain-down, giving rise to 8 hours of downtime, plus resultant costs of replacement fluids, and specialist disposal costs.

As part of an on-going continuous improvement effort and a drive to achieve ISO 14001 by minimising waste of all types, the Ionbond team looked at opportunities to reduce the residual contamination present in the fluids. As most of the contamination particles were magnetic tungsten carbide and ferrous-based materials, a high-intensity magnetic system emerged as the optimum solution.

The Solution:

3 xFiltramag+ 11,000 gauss filters were installed to improve contamination capture. A 2.0 Filtramag+ was installed on the pre-wash on the flow cycle between the holding tank and return to the spray chamber. The 2 subsequent tanks of the cleaning line were each fitted with a smaller 1.5 Filtramag+ on the return feed to the oil separator holding tank, prior to it passing through the cartridge filter. 

With their robust stainless-steel construction, the Filtramag+ units are compatible with the 60˚C fluid temperature. The high-intensity 11,000 gauss magnetic circuits are also ideal to capture the ferrous HSS and cemented carbide-based contamination particles.

The Filtramag+ filters have now been operational for 2 months, and the Ionbond team has already seen a 25% increase in fluid life, resulting in an anticipated annual cost savings of £2,500. In addition, downtime related to fluid changes has decreased by 25%. It is also anticipated that the disposable cartridge filters will have a longer lifespan as the Filtramag+ units extract the bulk of contamination before it reaches them. The cartridge filters are visually cleaner since fitting the Filtramag+ filters.

Chris Constable, Managing Director at Ionbond UK, commented, “Since installing the 3 Filtramag+ units, we have seen significant increases in cleaning fluid quality and bath lifespan. We have made savings in fluid replacement costs, process downtime, and disposable filter usage, in addition to a reduction in trade effluent charges. The filters have been a positive addition in our overall quest for increased efficiency, to minimise consumable waste and play our part to improve our environmental credentials and sustainability". 

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