Copper electroplating Operation

This process is currently being used at five other installations manufacturing copper and copper-alloy products. The chemical rinse technique is applicable to electroplating operations and has gained... 

Several studies of occupational exposures and one study with a human subject were located. In the occupational exposures (summarized in Table 5- 3), neurological symptoms consistent with cyanide intoxication were demonstrated, but the likelihood of concomitant exposure to other chemicals could not be ruled out. For example, cleaners and cutting oils, as well as sodium and copper cyanide, may be present in electroplating operations (ATSDR 1997). The experimental human study involved the exposure of a single subject and a dog to a high concentration for a short exposure period. 

Spent plating solutions and rinse waters containing copper, nickel, tin, lead, gold, and cyanide result from electroplating operations. 

Large quantities of this acid are used in the metallurgical industries in the pickling of iron and steel, in the production of zinc, in the electrolytic refining of copper and other metals, in electroplating operations, and so forth. 

Copper-rich waste disposed of in lagoons behind an electroplating operation has percolated down to the groundwater and dissolved, creating a plume. A sample of the porous medium and associated pore water is taken from the plume area and analyzed. The results are... 

Point-of-Source Recovery - in certain circumstances, it is possible to utilize reverse osmosis to effect a "zero discharge" electroplating rinse water recovery system. The rinse water from the first rinse is pumped to a reverse osmosis system that concentrates the salts and directs them back to the plating bath. The purified rinse water (permeate) is directed to the last rinse, and neither solute nor solvent is lost. in the united States there are approximately 150 reverse osmosis systems operating in this manner on nickel baths and 12 on acid copper. There are also a few installations operating on copper cyanide, hexavalant chrome, and acid zinc. 

The heavy metals used in printed circuit electroless plating (copper and nickel) are in chelated form (chemically "tied-up" in an organic matrix). The plating baths are more unstable than electroplating baths, thereby resulting in more frequent "dumping". As a result, waste treatment requirements in printed circuit manufacturing operations present special problems and opportunities for membrane separation processes. 

Thin ( 2 /mi) layers of nickel and tin are electroplated over the silver termination, the former to act as a barrier preventing dissolution of the silver during the subsequent wave-soldering operation when the chips are surface-mounted onto a substrate. The tin layer ensures good wetting of the termina tion by the solder. In the case of the BME capacitor (see below) the termination is copper fired on under reducing conditions and covered with an electroplated layer of nickel. 

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