The analysis of environmental and human impacts of using Strong Alkaline Water for cooling during machining

An eco-friendly manufacturing approach is important for the environment. Enhancing machining performances is not only required to improve product’s quality, time saving, and reduces costs; it is also contributed to the environmental protection efforts. Cooling is important aspect for obtaining this purpose. Therefore the benefits of Strong Alkaline Water (SAW) cooling method was assessed and compared with conventional wet cutting method. An experiment was performed at Nagaoka University of Technology machining centre. Three machine tools including a milling machine, a drilling machine and a turning machine were used. The study shows that using SAW for cooling is far more efficient than conventional cooling method. It reduces annual global warming potential by 72.95%, acidification potential 98.18%, ozone depletion potential 99.6%, smog formation potential 85.71% and human toxicity potential 42.86% compare with conventional method. The study concludes that besides inhibiting corrosion, prolonging tool life, improving surface roughness of final cutting and reducing energy usage, strong alkaline water cooling is an environmentally friendly approach and has positive impact on human health