Sunday, September 22, 2013

Anodizing - An Environment-Friendly Process

By Roy van Rivero


Aside from producing better quality finish, other important reason why anodizing is considered a promising industry process - particularly in the metal finishing industry - is the fact that it is more environment-friendly than other processes available. This feature is relevant most especially today that climate change issues are a hot topic.

I have listed below some of specific benefits for the environment as claimed by several companies in the industry -check out the following:

* The use of simple water-based chemicals - this is one of the reasons why the process is considered environment-friendly; water-based chemicals do not produce harmful wastes out into the surroundings. Contrary to other processes where toxic organics (e.g. halogenated hydrocarbons) are used.

* An acceleration of a natural oxidation process - or in other words, the process does not produce harmful or hazardous by-products and therefore potential damage to human health and environment is avoided.

* Produces finish that is chemically stable - it will not decompose; it is non-toxic; and, it is heat-resistant to the melting point of aluminum, which is at 1,221 degrees Fahrenheit.

* Produces recyclable liquid by-products - since the liquid by-products are recyclable, they can be reused for another set of anodizing process (note: by-products are the secondary products produced during the process)

* Produces harmless primary by-products - aluminum hydroxide and aluminum sulfate are primary products that are produced by the process; they are not harmful and can be used as filters in the sewage treatment process.

* Solid by-products has other uses - some example of solid by-products produced in anodizing process can be used in aluminum manufacturing, for cosmetics reasons, for news print.

* Emits no ozone-producing solvents - the process does not contribute to the worsening of our ozone layer and there are no heavy metals involved during the process.

* Anodizing as energy-saving catalyst - in genreal, anodizing is applied to aluminum alloys and this gives energy-saving advantage as well as environment safety. The reason is that Aluminum metal is a good electricity conductor while the anodic coating functions as good insulator -- properties substantially contribute to a product longer lifespan and reduced energy demands.

Above are just few reasons why anodizing is of real advantage over other metal finishing process. This, indeed, plays a crucial role in the industry,environment-wise -- not to mention the benefits it provides in producing quality finish.




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