RDO Springs: Productivity increase thanks to VACUDEST Clearcat evaporator from H2O GmbH

The solution

The search for a solution to replace the existing evaporator involved several criteria:

• Return of the distillate to the vibratory grinding tanks and the passivation chain. The quality of the extracted water is an essential criterion.
• Easy maintenance and simple operation. The existing plant requires up to 40 percent of the machine operators' working time; this should be reduced.
• Sufficient processing capacity for the entire wastewater stream. To cope with the increase in production, the machine must be sized accordingly.

Based on these decisive criteria, the experts for wastewater-free production at H2O GmbH took the following actions to find a solution: 

• Draw up a complete balance sheet of the wastewater flows and the corresponding volumes.
• Compile a list of all the products used (vibratory finishing additives, nitric and phosphoric acids, soaps...). This part is crucial as it helps to identify and possibly isolate products or flows that could be critical or limiting for the proposed solution.
• Carry out extensive laboratory tests at H2O to determine the relevance of the groupings. This test demonstrated that 316Ti stainless steel, the standard material grade at H2O, is sufficient and most appropriate.
• Determination of upstream and downstream storage capacities: The existing tanks had sufficient capacity.
• Determining the post-treatment options of the distillate to meet the quality requirements: According to the distillation tests carried out in the laboratory, a post-treatment was not required for recycling. The installation of a UV lamp to prevent the growth of microorganisms upon storage was suggested.
• The standard evaporator throughput was determined based on the flows involved and via the concentration factor achieved:

The requirements were met by a VACUDEST 2.100 Clearcat evaporator, which can process up to 6 m³/day at a concentration factor of at least 33 or a maximum of 3 percent concentrate. RDO Springs opted for this vacuum evaporation solution and replaced the previous plant.

Operation and initial feedback

After more than a year of operation, the evaporator is delivering very satisfactory results. Mr. Sohier, production manager at RDO Springs, would make the decision for an H2O solution again and again: "The commissioning of the unit went very quick, and the training was comprehensive. We can now even reuse the distillate because the quality allows it. H2O's customer service is both competent and responsive. We are called back within an hour or at the latest within 24 hours. To refine the settings and stabilize the process, H2O sent an experienced technician on site for a week. In addition, the fully automated operation and easy maintenance of the machine allowed us to make better use of our resources and concentrate fully on production."

H2O's after-sales service now takes on the task of ensuring the machine's availability, answering questions, carrying out important maintenance work and recommending improvements where necessary.