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Acid zinc plating -- Removal of excess oil
Q. My name is greg,
I'm an electroplater in Australia.
We have an excess oil problem in our acid zinc baths.
I was wondering if there was a way of removing just the oil?
We have stepped up our pre-treatment to reduce contamination to zinc baths,
and have added extra carrier to help break done the oil,
but still have some oil on parts when removed from plating.
plating shop employee - Geelong, Victoria, Australia
April 22, 2012
A. Hi Greg.
I think the first thing you need to determine, either by analysis or by looking at the rinse tanks preceding plating, is whether the oil you are speaking of is being dragged into the plating tank because the cleaning process hasn't thoroughly removed it, or whether your plating brighteners are "oiling out".
If the oil is coming from earlier in the process, there are polypropylene non-woven mats that can be used to absorb the oil, and there are even oil separation machines (with small continuous belt and scraper system) which can be employed on the cleaning tanks; eliminating the problem will be more promising than dealing with it.
However, if the problem is "oiling out" in the zinc plating tank itself, you'll have to work with your plating process supplier to find out why your operational parameters are causing it, and how to alter them. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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