Plating Service at IWG

PV-Plants

Not only do we use energy efficiently and effectively, but we also generate most of our power ourselves. Our photovoltaic system generates up to 240 kW of electricity, turning our plant into a genuine Green Building

Building and Bath Heating

Both our main building and our baths are heated using air-water heat pumps.
The air-water heat pumps generate heat for one water cycle of bath heating using heating coils. This saves electrical energy and reduces the fire hazards encountered when using dry-running, plastic baths.

Water Cycle – Wastewater

We found we needed to build a wastewater treatment facility for both ecological and economic reasons. Precious metals are recovered as purely as technically possible and put into our recycling process. The wastewater is treated once the precious metals have been separated from the baths and rinse water. The method used and capacity level depends on the baths involved. Given the varying composition of the baths and varying natures of the hazardous substances in them, there are different substance flows requiring a range of different treatments. The catch basins below the precious metal baths are also not emptied into the wastewater system but are sealed tight with a ball valve. The catch basins can take the entire content of a bath.

Close Loop Plant Acidic and Alkaline

The different rinse waters are separated into acids and alkalines and kept in individual water cycles where they are permanently cleaned using ion exchangers and carbon filters. Should there be operational problems in these close loop systems during the cleaning process, we can conduct additional separations of the rinse water using separate ion exchangers and carbon filters. The regeneration of the loop plant generates eluates, which are fed into a vacuum evaporator. Wastewater from processes, baths containing used non-precious metals and baths stripped of precious metals are separated into acidic, acidic fluoric, alkaline, and alkaline cyanide wastewater, depending on their composition. Alkaline wastewater containing cyanide is detoxed using oxidation before treated further.
Alkaline and acidic wastewater is mixed to set its pH-level and can be precipitated with caustic soda/sulfuric acid and flocculants, as necessary. The sludge is separated using an automated filter press. Then, the processed wastewater is concentrated in a vacuum evaporator. The filter sludge and evaporation concentrate are disposed of professionally. The remaining distillate is put back into the closed loop plant, so that there is no unnecessary water wastage. Water only leaves the plating process as evaporator concentrate.

Wastewater-Free Production

Water is one of the most valuable resources on our planet. We are driven by our commitment to protect these resources and make them economically sustainable. This is why we strive to operate using wastewater-free plating processes, which allow us to retain all the water in processing cycles thanks to our state-of-the-art treatment methods.

Exhaust Air System

Aerosols — acidic and alkaline — are extracted using two exhaust air pipes. Any rinse water in the exhaust air is fed into the wastewater system. The electrolysis current is disconnected by our plant’s software control, should the exhaust air system fail.