PREMISE/Collaborative Research: Integrated Drag-out and Dynamic Water Allocation for Maximum Reduction of Waste and Energy in the Electroplating Industry

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In this Product Realization and Envrionmental Manufacturing Innovative Systems (PREMISE) project, Wayne State University and Lamar University plan to jointly develop a comprehensive profitable pollution prevention (P3) theory, with a specific focus on the development of an integrated reversed drag-out and dynamic water allocation methodology for maximum waste and energy reduction in general cleaning, rinsing, and plating systems in electroplating. The dynamic waste and energy reduction will capture all-time details of product and environmental quality and economics in the entire production system. This distinguishes it from commonly practiced approaches that focus on: (i) a solely steady-state result of waste reduction, (ii) individual units, and (iii) end-of-plant, rather than end-of-line waste. In this development, the PIs will conduct three types of integration: (i) the integration of cleaning, rinsing, and plating, (ii) the integration of design (modification) and control (operation), and (iii) the integration of economics and environmental concerns. In system design, the basic approach of the methodology is to pump cleaning, rinsing, and plating solutions back (seemingly very risky), to maximize the dirt residue on parts to the upper limits of dirtiness (seemingly not acceptable), to increase drag-out in certain operations (seemingly against convention), and to dynamically switch water allocation (seemingly very difficult). The methodology will be tested in a real industrial setting. The preliminary results will justify the initiation of the second phase of the project. The joint effort will also benefit the graduate education in the two universities as students will not only be co-advised by the professors with different strengths, but also have opportunities to work with collaborating engineers.As the second most environmentally regulated industry, the electroplating industry is facing tremendous challenges in achieving increasingly stringent environmental and energy goals and maintaining global economic competitiveness. An urgent need for the industry is the methodology that can substantially improve pollution prevention (P2) practice and gain economical benefits simultaneously in electroplating plants.