OAR Box 1313 

Prepped by LaTeia Shed 

Document Number: 

74) ll-B-48 

Docket Number: 

A-88-02 

Printed 6/12/2008 9:03:30 AM Sheet 74 of 99 

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VIRI& 

A-88-02 

MIDWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE 

"H7b-<4<3 ^:e3*-

••01 Harrison Oaks Bouievart 

Carv. NC ITS' 

85/02a feikxTtlS^ 

Date: May 20, 1988 r • ' •'< • 

(Finalized June 30, 1988) \ ' . i% 

Subject: Site Visit—Automatic Die Casting SpecialtieV~Ihc. \6& 8 ^ Vv'U 

Chromium Electroplating NESHAP ^7 ! ^•-..-•^>'1 

EPA Contract 68-02-3817; ESD Project 

MRI Project 7717-K 

From: Robin Barker 

To: Andrew Smith 

ESD/ISB/SSS (MD-13) 

U. S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Research Triangle Park, N.C. 27711 

I. Purpose 

The purpose of this site visit was to determine the suitability of 

the decorative chromium plating operation at the plant for chromium 

emission testing to assess the effectiveness of chemical fume suppressants 

in inhibiting chromic acid mist. 

II. Place and Date 

Automatic Die Casting Specialties, Inc. 

33101 Harper Avenue 

St. Clair Shores, Michigan 48082 

(313) 369-1632 

January 13, 1988 

III. Attendees 

Automatic Die Casting Specialties, Inc. (Automatic) 

David Lawrence, Vice President of Operations 

Fred Taft, Plating Manager 

Midwest Research Institute (MRI) 

Robin Barker 

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IV. Discussion 

A meeting was held with plant personnel to discuss the decorative 

chromium plating operation and possible emission testing at Automatic. 

The discussion was followed by a tour of the plating facility. 

A. General 

Automatic Die Casting Specialties, Inc., is both a job and captive 

shop primarily engaged in decorative chromium plating of automotive wheel 

hubs and trim plates. The plant employs 100 people, with 1 worker per 

shift directly involved in chromium plating. The plating shop operating 

schedule is 20 hours per day, 4 days per week, 52 weeks per year. 

B. Process Description 

There are two decorative chromium plating lines at this plant. 

Figure 1 presents a schematic of the plating shop at Automatic. One line 

is a large automated line used to plate all decorative chromium plated 

parts. The other line is a small hand-operated line used to replate the 

rework parts from the automated line. 

The automated line consists of a series of tanks used for cleaning 

and plating the parts. Parts are plated with layers of copper and nickel 

before they are chromium plated. A process flow diagram is shown in 

Figure 2. The entire plating cycle takes 2 hours and 20 minutes for one 

rack of parts to complete. The chromium plating tank in the line is 

3.4 meters (m) (11 feet [ftj) long, 0.84 m (2.75 ft) wide, and 1.5 m 

(5.0 ft) deep and holds approximately 3,860 liters (a) (1,020 gallons 

[gal]) of plating solution. Six racks of parts are in the chromium 

plating tank at a time with a retention time of 3 minutes and 35 seconds 

for each rack. The tank is equipped with three rectifiers. The normal 

operating voltage is 5.2 volts, and the amperage ranges from 5,000 to 

6,000 amperes of direct current. The automated line operates 20 hours per 

day, 5 days per week, 52 weeks per year. 

The rework line consists of the following tanks in series: 

(1) caustic strip, (2) water rinse, (3) nickel activator, (4) two water 

rinses, (5) acid spray, (6) water rinse, (7) chromium plating, and 

(8) four bisulfite rinses. A process flow diagram is shown in Figure 3. 

The chromium plating tank in the line is 1.2 m (4.0 ft) long, 0.9 m 

(3.0 ft) wide, and 1.5 m (5.0 ft) deep and holds approximately 1,500 i 

(400 gal) of plating solution. The tank is equipped with one rectifier. 

Normal operation is 4.5 volts and 3,000 amperes. Each rack of parts is 

manually transferred through the plating line. The rework line operates 

8 hours/day, 5 days per week, 52 weeks per year. 

Both chromium plating tanks contain chromic acid at a concentration 

of 280 grams per liter (37 ounces per gallon) of plating solution. The 

plating solutions contain both a fluoride and sulfuric acid catalyst. 

C. Emission Control 

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Both chromium plating tanks are equipped with single-sided draft 

hoods. The hoods are ducted into a common duct along with the lateral 

hood on the alkaline soak tank in the automated line. The common duct is 

connected to a single packed-bed scrubber manufactured and installed by 

Duall Industries, Inc. in 1979. Figure 4 presents a diagram of the 

ventilation and control system. The airflow rate to the scrubber is 

133 actual cubic meters per minute (4,700 actual cubic feet per minute). 

A permanent-type fume suppressant, Quin-Tec Cams Nos. 3 and 4, 

manufactured by 3M and sold by Quin-Tec in Warren, Michigan, is used to 

reduce chromic acid mist from the chromium plating tank in the automated 

line. This type of fume suppressant controls mist by forming a foam 

blanket which entraps the mist and also reduces the surface tension of the 

plating solution which reduces the formation of the mist. The fume 

suppressant appears to be effective at controlling chromic acid mist 

because no visible misting was observed when the tank was operating during 

the plant visit. The fume suppressant is not used in the chromium plating 

tank in the rework line because the fume suppressant causes electrical 

arcing when used in the hand-operated line. 

D. Conclusions 

Automatic Die Casting Specialties, Inc., is both a job and captive 

shop performing decorative chromium plating of automotive parts. 

Emissions from the chromium plating tank in the automated line are 

controlled by a temporary-type fume suppressant and a packed-bed 

scrubber. In addition, plant personnel have indicated that the 

ventilation hood on the automated chromium plating tank is effective at 

capturing chromic acid mist when the plating bath is operated without the 

fume suppressant. The ductwork prior to the scrubber is 18 m (60 ft) long 

with three entry points downstream of the chromium tank, which should be 

adequate for locating a test port. Therefore, the chromium plating tank 

in this line is a good candidate for performance testing of a fume 

suppressant. The plant has agreed to run the plating tank uncontrolled 

and also run the tank with a temporary- and permanent-type fume 

suppressant to enable EPA to obtain performance data on both a temporaryand permanent-fume suppressant. 

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Figure 1. Schematic of the decorative chromium plating shop at 

Automatic Die Castings Specialties, Inc., St. Clair Shores, Michigan. 

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CHROMIUM PLATING TANK 

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Figure 2. Process flow diagram of the main decorative chromium 

plating line. 

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Figure 3. Process flow diagram of the rework decorative 

chromium plating line. 

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Figure 4. Diagram of ventilation and control system for chromium 

plating tanks at Automatic Die Casting Specialties, Inc., 

St. Clair Shores, Michigan. 

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