Why Is It Important to Have a Good Oil Skimmer

Organizations in the metalworking industry need reliable skimmers for quality assurance and waste minimization. However, not all oil skimmers are created equal. An oil skimmer is a tool that removes oil and grease from water or coolants. Without an effective oil skimmer, companies such as automotive parts manufacturers could experience costly and dangerous issues, including fluid leaks, harmful bacteria development, and skin rashes on workers. If you haven’t invested in a quality oil skimmer, you’re putting your business at risk.

What Is an Oil Skimmer?

An oil skimmer is a simple tool that enhances the purity of water or coolants by removing oil, grease, and hydrocarbons. Oil skimmers come in many different sizes and shapes and use different technologies to remove oil contamination. Some are self-propelled, while others require time to remove oil contamination. Organizations in the metalworking industry that can benefit from oil skimmers include:

• Automotive part manufacturers
• Tire manufacturers (e.g. Linamar, Nexteer, and Continental)
• Engine and landing gear manufacturers (the Aerospace industry)
• Machine manufacturers and dealers (such as Doosan, HAAS, and Mazak)
• Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
• Medical manufacturers
• Food processing facilities

Oil and water don’t mix. Oil skimmers take advantage of this fact to skim oil and other unwanted hydrocarbons from the surface of water or coolants. Oil skimming is a cost-effective way to remove most oil before other treatment processes. Investing in a reliable, high-quality oil skimmer can prevent contamination and a host of other major problems for metalworking organizations.

How Do Oil Skimmers Work?

Oleophilic oil skimmers attract oil. Oleophilic skimmers use belts or chains to make it easy to remove collected oil. The belt-type oil skimmer from MicronfilterUSA, for instance, goes directly on the machine coolant tank. The Model OS-1 Oil Skimmer uses a glass wool skimmer belt to attract and collect oils. It then uses dual scraper blades to automatically remove oil attached to the belt. Gravity takes the oil to a separator tank (exclusive to MicronfilterUSA) for storage, which further separates the oil from any water or coolant. The water or coolant returns to the tank, while oil flows to a port for easy elimination.

What Makes a Good Oil Skimmer?

An organization should feel confident in the oil skimmers it purchases. It should not have to be overly concerned about oil skimmer installation or regular maintenance. Auto part manufacturers and other organizations can distinguish “good” oil skimmers by the following qualities:

• Easy installation
• Cost-efficient
• Simple oil elimination process
• Effective removal of tramp oil
• Easy and safe to clean
• Long-lasting and durable
• Portable (in some applications)

Good quality skimmers will operate as intended with minimal worker intervention. They should resist clogs and remove most oil particles from the water or coolant liquid. An effective oil skimmer can contribute to productive business processes, waste coolant or water reduction, and help improve overall product quality and work environment.

Additional qualities of top-tier oil skimmers include:

• Lightweight design for ultimate portability
• Corrosion and heat resistant materials to ensure product longevity
• UV-resistant qualities to avoid unwanted sun damage
• The ability to remove up to 1.3 gallons of oil contaminants per hour
• An anti-clogging design for seamless operation

Benefits of Investing in an Oil Skimmer

The small investment in a quality oil skimmer can lead to enormous cost savings, as well as reduce other serious risks to your workers and company. It can mitigate common problems such as hydraulic systems leaking oil carry-over from other processes into tanks. Oil skimmers will save valuable operating dollars, time, and help eliminate waste at many different organizations.

The benefits of investing in good oil skimmers include:

• Cost reduction. An oil skimmer reduces the costs of purchasing new lubricants, machine down time and waste disposal. It can also prevent expensive issues, such as oil or bacteria contaminating a company’s end products, or hazards that could lead to worker injury lawsuits. The low cost of an oil skimmer can be well worth the investment to reduce operating and disposal costs.

• Improved part quality. Removing hydrocarbons from water or water-based machine lubricants can greatly improve the quality of the final part. The machine tool will run more effectively. A company can improve the quality of its end products for greater customer safety and satisfaction.

• Contamination prevention. When oil sits on top of water, it is a breeding ground for bacteria in the tank, as is solids collecting at the bottom of the tank. The hydrocarbons floating on the top of the water-based fluids provide a food source for the bacteria, while the solids at the bottom of the tank encourage fungal growth. Skimming the oil and grease off the coolant tank reduces the chance of harmful bacteria, even if a company doesn’t clean the tank as often as it should.

• Fluid life extension. An oil skimmer can extend the life of metalworking fluids by purifying and removing potential sources of liquid contamination. Extending fluid life will save money, as a company won’t have to buy replacement coolants as often. The coolant lasts longer, and the organization doesn’t have to worry about disposal as often. Both save on a company’s bottom line.

• Injury prevention. Bacteria build-ups in tanks can smell terrible and present a serious health hazard to employees. Workers coming into physical contact with bacteria at the top of a tank can suffer skin irritation or rashes, eye irritation, respiratory problems from mold inhalation, and more. Worker injuries can cost a company thousands of dollars and injure its professional reputation.

Sump tanks can quickly look, smell, and perform poorly if a manufacturer allows oil and grease to build up on the tanks’ surfaces. Oil skimmers can solve these problems, prevent health and safety hazards, and save lots of money. At around $5 or more per gallon for replacement lubricants, a machine that takes 200 gallons could easily cost $1,000 to refill. A $420 oil skimmer, however, can significantly reduce the number of lubricant changes necessary. It can also save on waste disposal costs – around $1.50 per gallon to properly dispose of waste. Finally, it reduces machine down time due to switching out lubricants, saving days annually of production time.

Oil Skimmers – Technical Details and Applications

Oil skimmers are useful in several industries; they are key products in automotive parts manufacturing. Many machine builders are now including this important component to their machinery. Companies that manufacture automotive components such as engine parts, drivetrain parts, and suspension and brake components all rely on oil skimmers to maintain the health and safety of workers, as well as to create higher quality parts. In addition to having a good quality liquid filtration system, adding a high quality oil skimmer is critical in removing tramp oils from coolants and other liquids.

Here is a technical breakdown of two of the best oil skimmers from MicronfilterUSA:

Model OS-1 Oil Skimmer

This belt-type skimmer is ideal for applications in the automotive industry. Parts manufacturers can quickly and easily install these oil skimmers in coolant tanks to separate tramp oil from the coolant. This simple addition will dramatically increase the life of the coolant or metalworking fluid and lead to machinery that performs more efficiently. This oil skimmer is also beneficial for other metalworking or heavy industrial manufacturers such as steel, pipe or tubing mills that deal with oil-in-water contamination or need to keep oil accumulation under control in other liquid-holding tanks. The MicronfilterUSA OS-1 automatically separates oil from the surface of the liquid and stores it in a separate holding tank for disposal.

Industries: automotive, metalworkers, machine builders

Applications: parts washers, grinding machines, CNC Lathe & Machining centers

Technical Details:

• Removes and separates tramp oils
• Glass wool with special coating
• Dual skimming capabilities
• 0.5-1.3 gallons per hour capacity
• 2.5-inch belt width
• Footprint of 11.8″x5.9″
• Roller and belt space required: 6″x6″
• 120 volt – 1 phase – 60 hertz
• Dimensions: 14.1″x5.5″x8″
• Weight: 11 pounds
• Built-in separator tank
• Withstands temperatures up to 176 degrees Fahrenheit
• Easy installation and belt replacement

OIL CLEAN Portable Filter System

This portable system removes solids from coolants, lubricants, and other liquids. It has a simple design that is highly reliable. It best serves customers in the metalworking industry. It offers high performance with simplified management, intended to use in a variety of liquid tanks. MicronfilterUSA constructs its filter elements from resin-impregnated cellulose, polyester blend or high quality microglass media to meet the application requirements. The replacement filter elements are available at filtration ratings ranging from 25 to 3 microns.

Industries: automotive, industrial, metalworking

Applications: solid particle filtering, solids recycling, filtration of machine tools

Technical Details:

• Motor power of 0.75 kW
• Voltage 460V/60Hz
• Flow rate of 120 liters per minute in OIL CLEAN 1
• Flow rate of 150 liters per minute in OIL CLEAN 2
• Filtering area of 6 m2 in OIL CLEAN 1, 12 m2 in OIL CLEAN 2
• Weight when empty: 50 Kg OIL CLEAN 1, 65 Kg OIL CLEAN 2
• Portable; designed to roll between machines
• Extends machine life by recycling machine lubricants
• Fluids kidney-looped at the tank, with fluids circulated so solids don’t settle
• Optimizes efficiency by recycling oils and solids

The oil skimmers you purchase can affect the quality of your end products, the efficiency of your business processes, and the lifespan of your machines. Selecting the proper oil skimmer for your manufacturing facility may take comparing and contrasting different models available at MicronfilterUSA. If you are not sure which oil skimmer product is right for your desired applications or industry, discuss your needs with one of our experts.

What Sets MicronfilterUSA Apart?

As a production supervisor, maintenance person, or employee in the metalworking industry, you may have noticed a distinct need for something that clears residual oil and grease from the surface of a tank of water or metalworking fluid. Perhaps you’re tired of the noxious odor and dangerous bacteria, or recognize that removing the oil could improve the quality of your end products. No matter what the reason, if you’ve discovered a need for oil skimmers, count on MicronfilterUSA for a reliable product.

People choose us for many reasons, including:

• Years of filtration experience. We’ve been in operation since 1984. We have the experience in oil skimming and coolant filtration to provide proven solutions for many different company needs. We know how to comply with strict safety and quality standards in the metalworking industry.
• Stocking distributors. We stock everything at our warehouse in Texas for immediate shipment. We sell direct as well as through distributors, nationwide and in Mexico and Canada. Contact us to find a provider near you.
• Proven products. Our OS 1 machine coolant tramp oil skimmer reduces waste and extends coolant life. It has superior performance that can extend operating life. Many customers have taken advantage of our products for improving their machining processes and our expertise in providing high quality efficient filtration solutions.

Our oil skimmer uses two scrapers for dual skimming, with 0.5 to 1.3 gallons per hour capacities and 2.5-inch belt width. The easy-to-replace belt uses glass wool with a special coating. It can operate in temperatures up to 176 degrees Fahrenheit. Its dimensions are 14.1″ x 5.5″ x 8.” It requires 120 volts of power.

Invest in a Great Oil Skimmer Today

Any organization in the metalworking field that experiences the issue of hydrocarbons infiltrating water or coolant tanks will benefit from investing in oil skimmers. From avoiding safety concerns to saving big on replacement coolants, companies can enjoy many different benefits by making the simple investment of a good oil skimmer. Discuss your individual product needs with someone at MicronfilterUSA today. Contact us.