Environmental Stewardship: Pollution Prevention

The course consists of 10 lessons. Each one contains a wealth of valuable, practical information. And if you score 70 or above on the optional exam, you’ll receive 1 credit toward certification as a Master Surface Finisher. MSF is the world’s most respected – and most widely recognized – designation for finishing industry professionals. Those passing 6 course exams earn the coveted MSF designation.


Course Options

  • Web-Based

    Dates: August: 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, 28
    Registration Deadline: July 30, 2024
    Member: $975 | Non-Member: $1,300


  • Who Benefits?

    This training program is beneficial for operators and supervisors of contract and captive shops performing metal finishing operations such as electroplating and anodizing. The course can also benefit sales personnel who work for manufacturers or service companies in the pollution control industry.

    Goal

    The goal of this course is to provide the student with a broad range of information related to methods of preventing pollution by employing good operating practices, recycling or substitution.

  • At the conclusion of this course, attendees can expect to:
    • Understand the best operating practices employed in metal finishing operations.
    • Be able to better understand and specify equipment used for pollution prevention and recycle.
    • Know the basics of ion exchange, electrolytic, evaporative, membrane technologies used for the recovery and recycling of processing chemicals.
    • Be aware of methods for reducing pollution from plating and stripping processes.
    • Know the types of recycle and recovery technologies used in aluminum finishing processes.
    • Be aware of alternatives that may be employed to eliminate the need for electroplating.
    • Be prepared to take the examination which is part of the Foundation MSF certification program.

Course Description

1. Best Operating Practices
This lesson covers operational practices that can have a significant impact on the generation of waste. Topics include: analytical control of solutions, filtration design, anode bagging, drag-out reduction methods, ventilation designs that minimize energy loss, good rinse designs, minimizing drag out in barrel plating and good housekeeping.
2. Pollution Prevention for Acids and Cleaners
TThis lesson discusses means by which the metal finisher can increase the life of acids and cleaners. Topics include low emission vapor degreasers, extending the life of cleaners with lipophilic filtration, use of inhibitors in acids, acid substitution, biological cleaners and operational changes that keep cleaners and acids functioning at peak efficiency.
3. Pollution Prevention and Ion Exchange
This lesson details how ion exchange works and provides guidance in selecting the best equipment and resin for a given task. Column technology, regeneration issues and cost of operation with various types of resins is covered.
4. Electrolytic Recovery Systems
This lesson explores electrolytic systems for recovering the metal from spent process solutions and rinses. High and low surface area systems are covered, as well as advanced high-speed rotating cathode systems. A comparison between DC and pulse rectification in electrolytic recovery is also given.
5. Evaporative Recovery Systems
This lesson covers evaporative recovery systems, including atmospheric, vacuum, cold vaporization and vapor recompression technologies.
6. Reverse Osmosis and Other Membrane-based Recovery Systems
This lesson provides information on high and low pressure reverse osmosis systems. Also covered are recovery systems employing electrodialysis, diffusion dialysis, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and micro-filtration for the recovery of cleaners and acids.
7. Pollution Prevention in Plating Processes
This lesson discusses how a plating process can be operated and/or modified to minimize waste generation. Topics include substitution of less polluting plating solutions, continuous purification of hard chromium plating solutions, and contamination control. A special focus is given to pollution prevention ideas for electroless nickel and electroless copper.
8. Pollution Prevention in Aluminum Finishing
This lesson discusses technologies and operational changes that can be employed on anodizing lines. Extending the life of the anodizing process using acid sorption, ion exchange or diffusion dialysis is covered, as is crystallization to extend the life of caustic etchants. Substitutes for type I (chromic acid) anodizing are also discussed.
9. Pollution Prevention for Stripping Operations
This lesson provides a few suggestions for stripping operations where pollution prevention technologies are viable.
10. Alternatives to Electroplating
Alternatives such as physical vapor deposition, HVOF Spray, Plasma Spray and Sputter Ion Plating are covered in this lesson. For each technology advantages and disadvantages are discussed.