Venturi/Vortex Scrubber Technology for Controlling/Recycling Chromium Electroplating Emissions

Chromium electroplating is an essential DOD process. Chromium has a combination of qualities that are very difficult to substitute, however, the process itself is inefficient, resulting in the production of byproduct gases that rise and create a mist of chromic acid strongly regulated as an air pollutant above the plating tank. VenturiVortex Scrubber Technology VVST was designed to control chromium electroplating emissions by collecting the gas bubbles before they burst at the solutions surface. This project demonstrated the VenturiVortex Scrubber Technology at the Marine Corps Logistics Base MCLB in Albany, GA. This study concluded that the PLRS was able to reduce the flow rate of the current conventional ventilation system at the one tank chromium electroplating facility at MCLB Albany by 63 percent. If new ventilation and control equipment were to be installed at MCLB Albany, this system would offer a 25 percent reduction in capital costs and a 48 percent reduction in annual costs, representing 36 percent in life-cycle cost savings. This study also presented a strong case for the use of Spark-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for monitoring real-time chromium emissions above a chromium electroplating tank.