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Conval,
Inc. (Somers CT), founded in 1967, manufactures high pressure
globe valves used primarily in the power generating industry.
The fact that Conval exports about 76% of its output is
testimony to the worldwide reputation for quality and reliability
its valves have achieved in this extremely demanding service.
The valve bodies are machined from forgings, primarily steel
plus some aluminum, bronze, and Stellite, on 20 CNC machines
operating two shifts. Because the shop has been extremely
busy over an extended period of time, Roger Poirier, shop
manager, is constantly evaluating all areas of shop operation
to find possible gains in productivity.
One source of continuing production problems was contamination
of the coolant. High levels of tramp oil and solids in the
coolant flooding the working part caused rapid tool wear.
According to Roger, “The rapid tool wear required frequent
machine adjustments during a run in order to maintain Conval’s
tight dimensional specifications. Even with these adjustments,
the amount of rework on out-ofspecification parts was bogging
down our delivery schedules. In addition, we were pumping
out and changing our sumps every six weeks.” The reduced
throughput on the machines and the loss of machine time
for pumpout convinced Poirier that he had to act to deal
with the coolant contamination problem.
Roger was referred to Keller Products, Inc. (Acton, MA) by his
coolant supplier. Keller Products is a leader in sump-side
coolant cleaners, with thousands of units in service. The
Keller salesman surveyed the shop and quickly determined
that one of Keller’s five standard portable pump/separator
units, Model #315, could be recommended to solve the Conval
coolant contamination problem. The cart-mounted Model #315 pump/separator unit
can clean a typical 60 gallon to 200 gallon sump in a few
hours and then can be easily moved and set up at the next
sump. Keller recommends that each sump be treated once per
week. Since the Model #315 can readily treat two sumps in
an 8 hour shift, one separator can maintain the cleanliness
of the coolant in 10 or more sumps. All Keller separators
incorporate self-priming air operated pumps (no electricals),
a bag filter to remove floating solids that enter the separator
with the oily coolant, and patented permanent oil separator
elements.
Roger Poirier purchased one Model #315, and the results were dramatic.
He states, “On the first couple of machines, we removed
2 to 3 gallons of tramp oil in a few hours. The bag filter
removes the fines associated with machining forged material.
We are currently going on nine months with coolant in the
sump, and there is no indication yet that the coolant will
need to be changed any time soon. Tool life has increased
substantially, the need to make machine adjustments during
a run has dropped sharply, and rework due to coolant issues
has been virtually eliminated. Not to mention the savings
associated with eliminating downtine and disposal of coolant
for pumping out 20 CNC machines every six weeks.” About
one month after installing the first Model #315, Poirier
purchased a second unit to ensure that all 20 Conval sumps
will be kept free of tramp oil and floating solids. Noting
that the dramatic improvements in shop operations were achieved
with the modest investment in the Keller units and without
interrupting normal operating procedures, Poirier says his
only regret is that he did not address the coolant problems
sooner.
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