ionEdge Corporation
513 B North Link Lane, Fort Collins, CO 80524
„ „„„ nn,2 httptf/www.ionedge.com
DESCRIPTION OF THE TECHNOLOGY
With support from the Environmental Protection Agency's
(EPA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Pro-
gram, ionEdge Corporation has developed and commer-
cialized an innovative metal-plating technology that re-
sults in "zero-waste." It eliminates most of the air
emissions, wastewater, and solid and hazardous wastes
associated with zinc and cadmium plating. One EPA study
noted that electroplating effluents are the single largest
source of natural water contamination in the United States
(Electroplating Wastewater Sludge Characterization, EPA-
600/52-81 -064). Much of the waste from conventional elec-
troplating operations is associated with contaminated rinse
waters, which require treatment and subsequent disposal
of a hazardous sludge in an approved landfill.
To address environmental and occupational issues related
to electroplating, ionEdge achieved zero-waste plating by
using the novel concept of a vapor bath inside a vacuum
in lieu of the conventional liquid bath in air. Further-
more, special technological features of the ionEdge pro-
cess allow for material recycling. Only the parts exiting
the chamber are plated, leaving the chamber and racks
free of deposits. The sealed chamber operation also mini-
mizes operator exposure to hazardous particle emissions.
The dry-plating line consists of only four process steps as
opposed to the dozen bath operations in conventional elec-
troplating, and a waste treatment facility is unnecessary.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TECHNOLOGY
ionEdge's zero-waste dry plating process eliminates the
costs and liabilities related to the transport and disposal
of hazardous sludges; waste treatment savings are esti-
mated to exceed $1,000 per day for the average
electroplater. Because ionEdge's plating process takes
place in a sealed chamber, it also minimizes operator
exposure to hazardous particle emissions and eliminates
solid waste by facilitating in situ recycling of the metals
used in the plating process. In addition, this dry-plating
process uses less chemicals, requires 75 percent less en-
ergy, and reduces water consumption by an order of mag-
nitude in comparison to conventional electroplating pro-
cesses.
Zinc and cadmium coatings are electroplated on steel
hardware components used in the defense, aerospace,
automotive, and construction industries to protect them
from corrosion in natural environments. The electroplat-
ing process is occupationally and environmentally haz-
ardous because it requires the use of toxic liquids and
generates large quantities of contaminated wastewater
and solid and hazardous wastes.
A rack plating apparatus using ionEdge's process has been
in production for more than 4 years. For a batch of parts,
the start-to-finish process time for the degrease-to-chro-
mate operation is about 30 minutes. The quality of
4- ionEdge has developed a zero-waste dry plating process that eliminates most of the air emissions,
wastewater, and solid and hazardous wastes associated with zinc and cadmium plating.
4- ionEdge's dry plating process eliminates the need for conventional toxic plating bath liquid chemicals
and minimizes the liabilities related to the transport and disposal of hazardous sludges.
4- The zero-waste dry plating process is economical—it requires 75 percent less energy, reduces water
usage by an order of magnitude, and results in waste treatment cost savings of approximately $1,000 per
day, for an average electroplater.
4- ionEdge's in-house dry-plating line has been certified for use by an aerospace company. ionEdge is
seeking strategic partnerships for implementation of a plan to expand the dry plating line to increase
throughput by an order of magnitude, along with installation of a full commercial production line for
high-volume processing (10,000 parts/hour).
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ionEdge achieved zero-waste plating by using the novel concept of a vapor
bath inside a vacuum in lieu of the conventional liquid bath in air. This technol-
ogy eliminates most waste associated with plating; reduces chemical, water,
and energy consumption; and significantly reduces waste treatment costs.
ionEdge's cadmium coatings has been acceptable accord-
ing to standard federal and U.S. military specifications,
and the coatings have performed well in more than 7,000
hours in salt-fog tests. The apparatus and process devel-
oped during the EPA SBIR project were upgraded and im-
proved to meet customers' requirements in pilot produc-
tion. In-process improvements and adjustments were made
to maintain product quality and to achieve process repeat-
ability. Test samples from three prospective customers were
coated on the pilot line. The quality of these coatings was
evaluated and approved by all three customers.
COMMERCIALIZATION SUCCESS
This success led to the first commercial sale of the dry-
plating process to an aerospace customer who requested
ionEdge to set up three additional processes to complete
the customer's plating line. The expanded plating line
and processes have been certified for coating aerospace
parts, and ionEdge continues to provide coating services
to the aerospace industry. During 1998 alone, more than
50,000 steel components were cadmium dry plated on
this plating line. These components are now in service in
commercial airplanes, jet fighters, helicopters, and mis-
siles. ionEdge is preparing a business plan for expanding
the dry-plating line to increase the throughput by an or-
der of magnitude (in the range of 2,000 parts of 1-inch
size/hour). Simultaneously, a full commercial production
plating line will be installed for high-volume parts pro-
cessing (10,000 parts/hour), which will allow customers
to evaluate the full economic benefits of the dry-plating
process. ionEdge is seeking strategic partnerships for
implementation of this expansion plan.
AWARDS AND COMPANY HISTORY
f> Cj Due to its outstanding technological contribu-
'!/ tions over the years, ionEdge Corporation was
_-' awarded the prestigious 1998 Tibbetts National
j^ Award by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The company was founded in 1988, with the spe-
* cific goal of developing environmentally safe coat-
ing and surface finishing methods. ionEdge's cad-
mium-plated parts are in service in various fighter and
commercial airplanes, helicopters, and missiles. The tech-
nology has been extended to plating other metals such as
aluminum, copper, chromium, and nickel on ceramics and
other non-conductive materials.
EPA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program was created to assist small businesses in
transforming innovative ideas into commercial products. The SBIR Program has two phases—Phase I is
the feasibility study to determine the validity of the proposed concept and Phase II is the development of
the technology or product proven feasible in Phase I. EPA also offers Phase II Options to accelerate the
commercialization of SBIR technologies and to complete EPA's Environmental Technology Verification
(ETV) Program. For more information about EPA's SBIR Program and the National Center for Environmental
Research, visit http://www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir.
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