“By mimicking real process conditions on our pilot mill, Quaker Houghton de-risks fluid upgrades for rolling mills,” Peter De Bruyne, Global Business Director Non-Ferrous, Quaker Houghton

Peter De Bruyne, Global Business Director Non-Ferrous, is responsible for strategy development for the non-ferrous industry at Quaker Houghton. Peter was awarded a PhD in analytical chemistry before joining the aluminium industry in 1993. He gained hands-on experience as a laboratory manager and lubrication engineer in the aluminium rolling industry. In his 18 years at Quaker Houghton, Peter has worked in both technical and commercial roles before taking up his current position in 2016.

AL Circle: Could you provide a brief overview of the function of rolling fluids in flat rolled aluminium production?

Peter De Bruyne: During the rolling process, rolling fluids serve to lubricate, cool, and remove aluminium fines from the strip surface. For cold rolling, this is usually achieved with kerosene-based oil supported by select additives. For hot rolling processes, where incoming metal temperatures can reach up to 600°C, enhanced cooling is required, and so oil-in-water emulsions are employed. These rely on either fatty acids in the case of soap-based emulsions or esters in non-soap products.

The output from a rolling process depends on the interactions between the mill hardware, the process parameters, and the rolling fluid. Optimising the equilibrium between these influencing factors is critical to achieve good surface quality, meet rolled material specification, and to maintain high productivity levels, and minimise operating costs. For this reason, rolling fluids must be specifically formulated and optimised according to each mill’s unique process conditions.

AL Circle: What recent trends and challenges are rolling mills facing and how do they impact rolling fluid development?

Peter De Bruyne: Growing demand for aluminium in the transportation, packaging and construction sectors, driven primarily by sustainability initiatives, means rolling mills are having to adapt their products for new markets and applications, as well as keep up with increased production. This has a direct impact on the rolling fluid in use: alloys with superior strength for impact resistance, for example, require more extreme process conditions and so rolling fluids must be modified or upgraded to deliver optimal lubricity.

In addition to supporting downstream industries, producers of flat rolled aluminium are also looking to improve the sustainability of their own operations. Reducing energy consumption, minimising human health hazards, and in particular minimising waste — which is something that our latest hot rolling fluid technology can support with.

Reliability and resilience of supply continues to present a challenge for mill operators, with ongoing economic and geopolitical turbulence likely to disrupt supply chains for the foreseeable future. Indeed, helping rolling mills navigate uncertainty and mitigate risk is central to our unique rolling fluid development process at Quaker Houghton.

AL Circle: Can you tell us more about this rolling fluid development process and how it benefits the producers of flat rolled aluminium?

Peter De Bruyne: As with any form of change, the adoption of new technologies can carry associated risks. At Quaker Houghton we recognise the need for mills to have confidence in trialling and implementing solutions: new products must be proven, as well as innovative. For that reason, we take a unique and rigorous approach to rolling fluid development.

As a global industry leader, we’re uniquely placed to take on new challenges for our customers. We see the latest trends in aluminium production, and we hear first-hand the needs of production managers, process engineers and laboratory managers around the world. After drawing up the product requirements, we look closely at the specific process needs using our unmatched application knowledge and lubrication expertise, before screening raw materials from our extensive database.

Multi-sourcing strategies sit at the forefront of the development process alongside considerations for multiple production locations, in order to support risk management for rolling mill operations. Cross-functional collaboration at this early stage is therefore essential: colleagues across R&D, product management, procurement and product stewardship work together to arrive at the initial formulation.

Next, we take it to the lab, using custom-designed equipment such as roll-bite mimicking that simulates the rolling process, which provides us with proof of concept. From there Quaker Houghton has a unique capability among rolling fluid suppliers: our 4-high pilot mill in Qingpu, China, where we evaluate rolling fluid behaviour in real-world conditions. By developing hot mill protocols to mimic real customer rolling conditions, we can fine-tune products for their intended applications — effectively de-risking fluid upgrades for rolling mills and giving our customers great confidence in running a trial. Read the full interview here.