The treatment and recycling of process fluids allows companies to increas process stability, reduce costs and protect the environment at the same time. “Industrial process fluids” are water based fluids, which contain chemicals and chemical additives and are used in industrial processes. Very typical aplications are degreasing baths and rinsing baths in the field of metal parts and surface cleaning.

In general terms, the treatment consists of the following steps:

1. Extraction of the process fluid from the cycle or tank
2. Removal of contaminants / dirt
3. Dosing of chemical additives / compounds
4. Returning of the fluid to the process

Membrane technology for process bath treatment

Membrane based processes play and important role in the treament of process baths. The membrane is a clear and well defined barrier. The permeate can pass through the membrane, the retentate (reject water) is held back. This is a purely physical separation process, this means the process bath is chemically not altered during the process. Membrane processes can be classified according to the pore size of the membrane and according to the flow pattern of the water inside the membrane (learn more about the distinct membrane filtration technologies). For each case of application the type of membrane filtration is selected individually with the objective to eliminate contaminants with the membrane and let process chemicals (additives, cleaners, chemical compounds,…) pass through the membrane and can be recovered with the water. In addition to this quality requirement, the stability of the filtration process plays an important role for the selection of the right process characteristics. The system has to be able to provide a high and constant permeate flux.

As experts for membrane technology and manufacturer of membrane filtration systems, we can define the best combination of membrane, machine type and process parameters for your individual application. In addition to the theoretical design, we can also test the systems on site in your industrial process.

Benefits from automated process bath treatment

Companies can benefit from a continuous treatment and recycling of their process fluids in multiple ways at the same time:

• constant quality of the process bath / fluid
• constant process quality (less reject, defective parts,…)
• increase lifetime of the process bath up to 10 times
• savings on working time
• savings on chemicals and cleaning agents
• reduced waste water and disposal costs
• compliance with wastewater discharge limits

Depending on the individual characteristics of the case, the emphasis of the benefits can vary. For many customers saving on chemicals is merely a nice side-effect. Their main objective is to reduce the personnel costs and to avoid process quality problems. For some customers however, the savings on chemicals, water and wastewater (treament or disposal) are so significant that these savings alone justify the investment in the process bath treatment and recycling system.