Treatment and Effective Removal of Metal Fine Particles from Waste Cutting Fluids by Flotation via Microbubbles and Skimming

Abstract

Cutting fluids (CFs) are chemical liquids or aqueous emulsions of mineral (or synthetic) oil widely used in metal-machining processes. They contain toxic organic compounds and petroleum products, and spent CFs contain numerous small metal particles derived from the processing of metal workpieces. The iron fine particles (IFPs) in CFs can diminish the quality and precision of machine products. Machining industries purchase large amounts of CFs, which they must treat appropriately and from which they must remove the IFPs; therefore, cost-effective ways to treat spent CFs are needed. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of collecting and separating the IFPs and treating organic matter in spent CFs using microbubbles (MiBs). We found that numerous IFPs with sizes of ~1 μm were suspended in spent CFs and that they could be very effectively removed by bubbling with MiBs and skimming the surface of the CFs. The lifetime of the CFs could be doubled via this treatment. The cost for treating spent CFs using MiBs was 12% lower than the cost of traditional treatment. These results strongly suggest that bubbling with MiBs is a cost-effective and eco-friendly way to treat spent CFs.