Lubro-refrigerant is a fluid that isused to cool the cutting zone, reduce the friction and wear of the forces and energies in play, remove the swarf from the work area and protect the surfacefrom possible corrosion.
The concept of lubro-refrigeration has taken shape over the years as a system that affects all the machining process of industrial machinery, which goes from the selection to the disposal and the sustainability of the fluid, assuming therefore a central role in the entire production process.
This system, however, in addition to performing these functions also has critical issues, given that it entails the significant use of lubricant which makes the work environment dirty and afterwards has tobe disposed of, with a resulting negative environmental impact.
Because of this minimum lubrication is expanding more and more in the processes of mechanical machining, since it is a solution that is compatible with the environment, improves productivity and reduces the costs in cutting operations.
The idea at the basis of this change concerns the quantity and how the lubricant is applied. When the Minimum Lubrication (MQL) technology is used, the lubricant is transported to the cutting edge in the form of aerosol, in contrast with the conventional methods of lubro-refrigeration in the removal process of the swarf, since only a minimum quantity of lubricant is used.
Today's great challenge is to create an MQLsystem for tools that generate and transport a very fine and perfect aerosol.
With the necessary modifications andsome arrangements, an MQL system can be installed on most of the existingmachines and in particular on the new machine tools which are developedspecifically for this new standard, therefore increasing the life of thetool.
The elimination of therefrigerant, of water and oil consumption entails a significantreduction of the environmental impact,in addition to providing the benefit of having boththe swarf and the machinedry. Additional advantagesare theelimination of unpleasant odours,as well as the removal of complex and expensive filtration systems andengineering solutions.
Therefore, the minimum lubrication is now a reality that with the replacement of the traditional lubro-refrigerant system creates healthier conditions for the operators.
This particular lubrication technology is increasingly gaining hold in the industrial world, and the application sectors where the minimum system can be used best are almost all those where swarf is produced.
Minimum lubrication is used for all types of machine tools for drilling, milling, boring, turning, tapping, milling ofthreads, rolling and deep drilling, machines for cutting both with circular saws and with belt saws, and in deformation processes and gear cutting machines.
These machine tools, from the simplest to the CN ones, have the capacity to reduce processing time by up to 80% and consequently can increase their performance thanks to the MQL lubrication system.
The MiQueL modular system provides acalibrated lubrication with a control of all the functions, and provides thepossibility of individually checking both the flow of air and the flow of oilfor every single element. The MKD-Dual system can be easily installed alsoon machines already in operation, and requires at most one day of machineshut-down.
Thanks to its use, the minimum lubrication system keeps the work environment clean and comfortable, and it will no longer be necessary to dispose of the refrigerant, which is eliminated.
The results is a significant reduction in working time and waste of lubricant, with a favourable impact at the environmental level and an optimisation in the management of the entire production process.
