Efficient powder recovery from component parts

Metal treatments specialist uses a Finex Separator^™ to improve production productivity

Chromin Maastricht BV helps companies in a range of industries to avoid wear and tear or corrosion on component parts. Founded in 1977, it works with customers in the automotive, food, chemical, and textile industries as well as general machine construction. It also has a certified metallurgical laboratory for carrying out damage surveys and material analysis.

The Netherlands-based company specializes in combining diffusion techniques with complementary heat treatments to make the source material resistant to abrasion and adhesion. Chromin Maastricht BV uses chrome diffusion to improve the life span of component parts including plungers, bearing bushes, and ball valves.

Chrome diffusion uses chromium powder to create a chrome plating layer in the base metal through a chemical reaction. Each component part is baked in a heat-resistant container, along with the chromium powder, at temperatures of 800 to 1000 degrees Celsius. The diffusion process creates a chrome layer with a depth of 15 to 200 microns and with a surface hardness of up to 2000 Vickers Hardness.

After the diffusion process, excess chromium powder remains on the component parts. Cleaning the parts was done using a hand sieve, but this made it a time-consuming process. It required two FTEs to manually operate the sieve and it was a physically demanding role. The operators also used compressed air which created a large volume of dust.

Chromin Maastricht BV installed a 40” Finex Separator^™ to remove the excess powder from the parts and allow the powder to be recovered. With the help of the Finex Separator^™, the company’s capacity has now expanded from 20 containers per day to 40 containers per day.

The metal treatments specialist now only requires one operator to run the separation process compared to the two FTEs it took previously. The Finex Separator^™ has removed the time-consuming manual steps and improved efficiency. In addition, the Finex Separator^™ is quiet in operation and requires very little maintenance.

About Russell Finex

Founded in 1934, Russell Finex is a specialist global supplier of sieving and filtration equipment. With its head office in the U.K. and subsidiaries in Belgium, the U.S.A., India, and China the company supplies to over 140 countries.

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