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In the metalworking industry, cooling lubricants are required during many milling, drilling and grinding applications. Tools, work pieces and equipment must be protected from the heat that’s generated and protection against wear and tear is needed. Most current cooling lubricants consist of water for cooling, mineral oil for lubricating and emulsifiers to stabilize these water-and-oil mixtures.

But, there’s a downside: emulsified oil is water repellant and limits cooling capacity. As a result, the amount of wear increases and very often the surface integrity of workpieces is impacted by residues of cracked oil and oxidized material. In addition, some of the usual ingredients can cause skin irritation or create vapor that leads to health problems.

Help is, however, at hand. GELITA has developed a patented, innovative solution called NOVOTEC^® CL800. Much like its revolutionary cleaning concept based on NOVOTEC^® CB800 — a new additive for detergents — the company has created a new liquid that’s based on  functional proteins.

At its core, NOVOTEC^® CL800 is a new additive for water-miscible metalworking fluids and full synthetic cooling lubricants. It consists of functional proteins that attach themselves firmly to various surfaces, for example, metal or glass. The proteins also combine with each other to form a stable, resistant film. As soon as water hits the surface of this film, the proteins attract the water molecules instead of repelling them, like oil would. As such, the metal is cooled in a more effective way and the surface integrity is improved as less residues form.

The consumption of the cooling lubricants can be reduced by up to 40%. Why? Because less oil is sticking to the protein-protected metal surfaces. A big additional benefit for the user: The cleaning of CNC-machines and workpieces is  very simple, and the chips are almost free of fluid when they are dispatched from the CNC-machine.

NOVOTEC^® CL800 can be implemented into a wide range of water-miscible lubricant formulations, however it is not soluble in pure oils. Additional additives like NOVOTEC^® CL800 are often undesired as they increase the manufacturing costs. So how could it still be a good idea to add it to a formulation in terms of cost calculation?  Sure, on the one hand it increases manufacturing costs, but on the other hand the protein film can partly replace other components like extreme pressure (EP) and anti-wear (AW) additives. Thus, the addition of NOVOTEC CL800 is improving the overall cost situation on both sides: The manufacturer can save performance additives and the consumer can reduce the overall lubricant and water consumption, which also helps to protect nature. And unlike traditional oils and emulsifiers, the NOVOTEC^® proteins are natural compounds, skin friendly and they do not generate harmful vapors. In addition, NOVOTEC^® CL800 is fully biologically degradable and free from both allergenic agents and harmful substances.

It looks like water, performs like oil and can cool metal surfaces much more effectively than conventional products based on mineral or synthetic oil, reducing refilling by up to 40% and providing benefits such as increased skin tolerance, easy cleaning and less consumption.

Keen to learn more? Please don’t hesitate to contact us.