Michelin has invested in hydraulic oil treatment technologies
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Since 1889, Michelin continues to innovate to improve the mobility of people and goods, sustainably. Technological tyre leader for all forms of mobility, the Group proposes services that increase the efficiency and offers that brings Michelin’s unique mobility experience to its customers. It develops its expertise in high technology materials.
Corporate citizen, Michelin joined the UN Global Compact and undertakes to support and implement ten fundamental principles with respect to human rights, labour, environment protection and anti-corruption.
It is with the protection of the environment in mind that the project to treat hydraulic oils from the Roanne plant came to be.
The Site:
Since 1974, Michelin’s Roanne plant in the Loire produces high performance tyres for the premium and sports car segments.
IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEMS
THE PROBLEM:
Placing high demands on the quality of its products, the Roanne plant is equally demanding on environment related issues.
Used hydraulic oils from this plant are collected in pits, a decantation system then carries out a first separation of the free water found in these oils. But these oils contain solid contaminants and water, making them unfit for reuse in the plant’s hydraulic system.
Concerned about protecting the environment, the “Environment and Health” department at Michelin’s Roanne plant expressed the wish to collect these oils, treat them and reuse them.
WHY DID MICHELIN CHOOSE ID SYSTEM FLUID / MADORE?
Several companies were consulted. The Madore/ID SYSTEM FLUID partners were selected to supply a treatment system capable of treating these volumes of oil quickly using vacuum dehydration technology associated with a multi-stage particulate dead end filtration.
Since 1950 Madore is specialised in the supply and reliability of hydraulic and pneumatic components. It is a long-standing partner of Michelin France for all hydraulic applications and associated work.
ID SYSTEM FLUID specialises in the cleanliness of hydraulic fluids. It covers all issues relating to the purification, decontamination and filtration of fluids.
THE ID SYSTEM FLUID SOLUTION
Oil treatment station in operation. Display units are used to control water and solid contamination.
OPERATION:
The system is designed to operate by batch. A volume of oil to be treated is sent to a first intermediate bulk container (IBC) referred to as “dirty oil”.
This volume of oil is then directed into a compartmented tank to be treated. A HyPro VUD1 Purifier, operating on the principle of lowering the boiling point of water, is used to remove free and dissolved water as well as oil gases. The removed liquid water and water vapour are evacuated using a cellar pump type system. A 3 stage dead end filtration removes the solid contamination in order to achieve the required level of cleanliness.
2 sensors are used to control the water and solid contamination on-line, when the target thresholds are reached, the operator is warned by a visual signal. He/she can then stop the purification and transfer a volume of the treated oil into a second IBC referred to as the “clean oil IBC”. This volume of clean oil is available to Michelin to be re-injected into the plant’s hydraulic system.
RESULTS
Tests conducted during the start-up allowed volumes of 400 litres to be treated in approximately 4 hours, removing 1 to 3 litres of water depending on the batch. The removed water was temporarily stored in a condensate tank before being drained. In the end, this project is part of Michelin’s environmental approach since it avoids the evacuation of used oils, it is more cost-effective since it results in substantial savings by reducing the volume of new oil that needs to be bought. The Madore/ID SYSTEM FLUID tandem also accompanied Michelin Roanne during the start-up phases and to monitor the quality of oils in the plant’s workshop during the first year of operation. This type of oil treatment can be generalised to a large number of applications and industrial sites. Once again, Michelin is a step ahead in opening the way to more environmentally friendly solutions.
