http://www.finishingtalk.com/community/topic403$2.html The most recent posts in Eco-Efficiency in the Metal Finishing Industry. Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:40:59 +0000 PunBB http://www.finishingtalk.com/community/post890.html#p890 Great strategies. Thank you for sharing! info@finishingtalk.com (Finishing Talk) Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:40:59 +0000 http://www.finishingtalk.com/community/post890.html#p890 http://www.finishingtalk.com/community/post889.html#p889 I experimented a lot with wastewater management when I was responsible for the wastewater treatment needs of a cyanide zinc/nickel plating jobshop, a few years back. Here's a few specific strategies I found to be winners. 1) Reuse treated water in less sensitive applications. I would frequently do chrome reduction/pH adjustment on chromating rinses, then allow the solids to settle with minimal or no flocculant addition for a day or so. Then, I'd pump the clarified decanr back up to the line and use it again as a electrocleaner rinse. 2) We emptied one of the rinse tanks following the cyanide zinc tanks and installed a spray rinse system, consisting of a high pressure pump fed from a DI tank that powered 12 spray rinse nozzles. The spent spray rinse got fed to an evaporator. We had plans that never materialized to feed it to an electrolytic recovery unit. But, then, Zn was 65 cents a pound. Nowadays, we would have been motivated to make it happen. An important thing, if you do this: have the spray rinse on some kind of timed, short cycle that's optimal for your operation. The platers will tend to overuse it if you have it controlled by a simple valve and don't watch them, and this winds up overburdening the evaporator. 3) Watch drag-in from the plating tank to the chromate, if this is the kind of operation you're running. We'd have to do periodic dumps of the chromating solution because of this, and that generated a lot of excess crappo. My understanding is that the trivalent chromates are more sensitive to this than the hex ones we used. 4) Training and proper supervision of the platers is vital. It is all too easy, when a big production deadline looms, for the line guys to skimp on the drip time when the work comes out of the tank. It's understandable: they're trying to do a good job and hustle the work out. But that extra 30 - 40 seconds of drip time over the tank can cut your drag out in half. When you compare that to the time that the whole plating cycle takes, you can see that it's worth it. Those waste minimization sites are full of great ideas. The trick is proper implementation of those P2 strategies that work for you. [url=http://www.dedalusenviro.com]Dedalus Environmental - The On-Site Treatment Specialists[/url] info@finishingtalk.com (Dedalus) Fri, 03 Aug 2007 11:54:27 +0000 http://www.finishingtalk.com/community/post889.html#p889 http://www.finishingtalk.com/community/post888.html#p888 [i](From the August edition of Southern Metal Finishing)[/i] Efficiency is always an important factor in any industrial sector; cutting down on material, chemical, energy, and waste management costs is a welcome consequence of making your business more eco-efficient. Due to the heavy use of chemicals, large amounts of water, and the hazardous waste produced through finishing processes, the metal finishing industry is an ideal candidate for improving its eco-efficiency. This can be achieved by changing processes, finding alternatives, and reducing or eliminating the generation of toxic wastes instead of focusing on managing it later on. The number of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes alike can be greatly reduced through the implementation of even minor practices. Interestingly enough, the most significant gains have been made through process control and operating practices rather than through the use of new technology. Substituting cyanide with non-cyanide, for example, and hexavalent with trivalent chromium or less toxic non-chromium plating solutions can help reduce hazardous waste and make it easier to comply with environmental legislation. Storage and handling of materials can also factor into the overall efficiency of your operation. An important cost saving measure that companies can take is to make sure that employees are trained in handling and moving materials to reduce the chance of damage. When possible, order materials that are sold in reusable containers; you may wish to work with your supplier to find ways to minimize waste. The layout of your process and rinse tanks can also affect your efficiency, as well as play a significant role in the amount of waste you generate. Modifications to your tank layout can boost worker productivity, use chemical feed stocks and water at your site more efficiently, reduce generation of wastes, and encourage recovery and reuse of certain chemicals. Utilizing spray rinse systems and installing a sufficient number of drag-out tanks, for example, can help lower the incidence of chemical loss. Electrowinning units, integrated into an effective rinse system, can also reduce both water use and chemical discharge. Other effective ways to increase efficiency include installing drain boards between tanks in the process line to help reduce the amount of solution wasted when parts are moved between tanks, and segregating wastes to reduce cross-contamination – this improves recyclability and reduces the volumes of hazardous wastes. Even more generic are ways to boost efficiency outside of the finishing process itself. Simple actions, such as turning off equipment when not in use, turning off lights and lowering heat at night, more efficient fixtures and bulbs, and low flow toilets and sink aerators are only a few ways to rack up energy savings. If you’re interested in going a step further, you could implement a recycling program at your facility, use reusable shop towels and a laundry service instead of disposable rags and paper towels, and trade your conventional cleaning products for environmentally safe cleaners to use around the shop. The ultimate aim of eco-efficiency is to prevent pollution, reduce the use of energy, water, and material resources and minimize waste profitably, all without reducing production capacity. This can be achieved through eliminating the need to use hazardous materials, or at least minimizing their use. There are also many opportunities to reuse waste products, which will help to reduce the demand for raw materials as well as the cost of treatment and disposal. Certain recyclable items can even be sold, therefore negating the disposal costs. As a last resort, treating and disposing of the waste, though generally the most costly option, may sometimes be unavoidable. Please visit the below resources for more detailed information about Eco-efficiency in the Metal Finishing Industry. Resources: [url="http://www.engg.ksu.edu/enggext/ppi/publications/manual/MetalFinish/contents.html"]—Pollution Prevention for the Electroplating and Metal Finishing Industry[/url] —[url="http://www.gpa.uq.edu.au/CleanProd/toolkits/toolkits.htm#A_Cleaner_Production_Manual_for_the_Metal_Finishing_Industry"]A Cleaner Production Manual for the Metal Finishing Industry[/url] —[url="http://eco-efficiency.management.dal.ca/Files/Business_Fact_Sheets/metals_manage_fs.pdf"]Eco-Efficiency Centre - Fact Sheet[/url] —[url="http://es.epa.gov/techinfo/facts/california/metal-fs.html"]U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [/url] info@finishingtalk.com (Finishing Talk) Fri, 03 Aug 2007 04:30:45 +0000 http://www.finishingtalk.com/community/post888.html#p888