Efficient treatment of industrial wastewater from the machining industry

Take full advantage of cash and resource savings by using patented Clearcat technology.

No matter if it’s drilling, turning, milling or sawing, industrial wastewater is created during the machining process – and it has to be disposed of at a high cost. H2O GmbH’s vacuum distillation system presents an efficient and cost-saving solution for this. With an annual industrial wastewater volume of 6,000 cubic metres, for example, annual savings to the tune of EUR 400,000 can be made by using VACUDEST instead of conventional waste disposal. That’s a lot of money freed up for other uses.

A number of machining processes incur considerable costs for the disposal of spent and generated cooling lubricant emulsions. On average, costs amount to around EUR 80 per cubic metre for disposing such oily waters. The spent emulsions contain a large variety of cooling lubricants. With VACUDEST, there is a massive reduction in the volume of wastewater that needs to be disposed of every year – a fifteen- to twenty-fold reduction, in fact. Disposal costs are reduced on the same scale. This simple but huge cost-saving potential has led many businesses to completely rethink their wastewater management.

It saves a small fortune. Wastewater treatment with a VACUDEST evaporator yields savings of over 70 euros/m³ by comparison with costly conventional disposal.

VACUDEST reduces annual disposal volumes by up to 95 per cent

These businesses now rely on in-house wastewater treatment and are no longer dependent on local waste management companies. VACUDEST meets local discharge thresholds and, in many cases, enables distillate to be recycled. The costs for purchasing additional fresh water are reduced. This leads to huge savings every year.

Wastewater from other machining steps can often also be treated together with the spent cooling lubricants from the machining processes. This may include degreasing water and rinse water, as well as floor washings. It can be worth looking beyond the obvious to identify such additional sources of wastewater. VACUDEST is the perfect solution for highly varied wastewater mixes.

Spent cooling lubricant emulsions from machining processes commonly contain emulsified and oily components. Our patented Clearcat technology provides a crucial advantage in this respect.

Clearcat technology guarantees the highest reduction in organic load.

Crystal-clear and oil-free distillate

Oils and volatile components are reliably separated in the system once condensed. The oily residual contaminants caused by co-distillation remain in the evaporation residue.

The COD (chemical oxygen demand) caused by mineral oils, a measure for the biological load of water, is reduced by up to 98%. This corresponds to a 60% improvement compared to single-stage distillation. In addition, the hydrocarbon index (oil index), which is caused by non-polar hydrocarbons, is consistently reduced to < 10 mg/litre and thus meets official thresholds. No processing is required with downstream technology.

Advantages at a glance:

• No investment costs: No procurement costs for further costly post-processing, such as coalescence separator, activated carbon or membrane system.
• Reduced floor area: Much less floor area is needed for the system due to the modular design and integrated Clearcat module.
• Reduced operating costs: VACUDEST with Clearcat technology does not require any additional operating resources.
• Recycling of distillate: Recycling distillate saves on the high costs of disposal and 3 euros/m³ for the additional purchase of fresh water.
• Reliable compliance with legal thresholds: If the distillate is to be disposed into the public wastewater system, VACUDEST fully complies with official requirements and eliminates the need for annual inspections.