WASTE ORIGIN: Electroplating Operations
WASTE TYPES:Acid Fumes, Ammonia Fumes, and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING OPTIONS: Process or Equipment Modification

• Modify rinsing methods to control drag-out by:
  • Increasing bath temperature;
  • Decreasing withdrawal rate of parts from plating bath;
  • Increasing drip time over solution tanks; racking parts to avoid cupping solution within part cavities;
  • Drip boards;
  • Shaking, vibrating, or passing the parts through an air knife, angling drain boards between tanks;
  • Using wetting agents to decrease surface tension in tank.
  • Cost Savings Examples:
    • Using drip bars.
      Capital Investment: $100/tank. Savings: $600/year.
    • Using drain boards between tanks.
      Capital Investment: $25/tank. Savings: $450/year.
    • Installing racking.
      Capital Investment: Zero dollars. Operating Costs: Minimal. Savings: $600/year.
    • Employing drag out recovery tanks
      . Capital Investment: $500/tank. Savings: $4,700/year.
    • Increasing parts drainage time.
    • Installing an ion exchange system.
      Savings: $1,900/year. Capital Investment: $78,000. Operating Costs: $3,200/year.
    • Employing a reverse osmosis system.
      Capital Investment: $62,000. Savings: $40,000/year.
• Use water conservation methods including:
  • Flow restrictors on flowing rinses;
  • Counter-current rinsing systems;
  • Fog or spray rinsing;
  • Reactive rinsing;
  • Purified or softened water;
  • Dead rinses;
  • Conductivity controllers;
  • Agitation to assure adequate rinsing and homogeneity in rinse tank;
  • Flow control valves.
• Install atmospheric evaporator to reduce metal concentrations.
• Install process (e.g., CALFRAN) to reduce pressure of vaporization water cooler temperatures and recycle water by condensing the vapors in another container, thus concentrating and precipitating solutes out.
• Use reactive rinsing and multiple drag-out baths.
  Reduce cost of treating spent process baths and rinsewaters, increase lifetime of process baths and reduce the quantity of rinsewater requiring treatment.
• Improve control of water level in rinse tanks, improve sludge separation, and enhance recycling of supernatant to the process by aerating the sludge.
  Savings: $2,000/year. Waste Savings/Reduction: reduced sludge generation by 32 percent.
• Install system (e.g., Low Solids Fluxer) that applies flux to printed wiring boards, leaving little residue and eliminates the need for cleaning CFCs.
  • Cost Savings Examples:
  • Counter flow rinsing and cascade rinsing systems
    . Costs: $75,000 to upgrade existing equipment and purchase new and used equipment.
    Waste Savings/Reduction: reduce water use and wastewater treatment costs.
  • Installing a counter-current rinsing operation.
    Capital Investment: $1,800-2,300. No direct costs. Savings: $1,350/year.
    Waste Savings/Reductions: reduce water use by 90-99 percent.
  • Redesigning rinse tank.
    Capital Investment: $100. No direct costs. Savings: $750/year.
• Regenerate plating baths by activated carbon filtration to remove built up organic contaminants.
  Capital Investment: $9,192. Costs: $7,973/year. Savings: $122,420/year.
  Waste Savings/Reduction: 10,800 gallons/year. Reduce volume of plating baths disposed and requirements for virgin chemicals.
  
• Install pH controller to control the alkaline and acid concentrations in tanks.

Sources

Return to Previous Page