Achieving Zero Process Water Discharge at Ace Plating Company : Ace Plating Part III

Submitter: Matthew Cordial

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/2005 Copy

Description

Title

Achieving Zero Process Water Discharge at Ace Plating Company : Ace Plating Part III

Contributor(s)

Brown, Jerry

Issue Date

2001, 2013

Keyword(s)

• Metal plating industry -- Illinois -- Pollution prevention -- Case studies
• Metal plating industry -- Illinois -- Source reduction (waste management) -- Case studies
• Electrocoagulation

Abstract

"Ace Plating Company is a small Chicago job shop offering a variety of decorative electroplating finishes including varioustypes of brass, nickel, bronze and copper. In 1993, Ace Plating used about five million gallons of water annually and discharged 176 pounds of metal to the sewer. In light of new discharge fees and what appeared to be ever-changing environmental regulations, Ace Plating sought assistance from the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) to seek waysto reduce disposal costs and minimize environmental liability. Beginning in 1995, the management at Ace used ISTC’s assistance to launch an aggressive effort to use environmentally responsible processes and procedures in all of its business operations. After reviewing severalsystems, ISTC worked directly with two vendors and conducted pilot studies atAce Plating. Eventually Ace purchased and installed one of the vendor's electrocoagulation units. The electrocoagulation system allowed Ace to recycle and reuse its water several times over, but a small amount of water had to be bled off to prevent build-up of dissolved solid contaminants. Details of the electrocoagulation work and conclusions about the technology can be found in ISTCpublication number TN13-071. With the start-up of the electrocoagulation system in September 1997, Ace began recycling and reusing its rinse water. Ace reduced its process water discharge approximately 99% from its 1993 usage. The build-up of sodium, sulfates and chlorides in the process water forced Ace to batch discharge 1,000 gallons of this ""clean"" water weekly. Therefore, Ace was still subject to the local sanitary sewer district regulations. Ace requested and received a change in its discharge authorization status in June 1998 from significant industrial user (SIU) to batch discharger. In February 1999, Ace finalized implementation of a spray rinse system for its cleaner tank. The project reduced sodium contaminants in the process rinse water, but batch discharge was still required. This fact sheet describes how Ace Plating moved from batch to zero discharge of its process rinse water."

Publisher

Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (formerly Illinois Waste Management and Research Center)

Series/Report Name or Number

TN Series (Illinois Sustainable Technology Center) ; TN13-078

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/2005

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