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Titanium in electroplating

Relevance

The galvanic method of metal coating is the most widespread. To increase the intensity and efficiency of production and technological processes of galvanic coatings, new electrolytes, increasing temperature and current density are used. This requires construction materials and equipment that meet the increased requirements of corrosion resistance. In addition to improved technical performance, maximum extension of the operating life of the equipment, which depends on the quality of the lining and construction materials, is of utmost importance. Despite the fact that there are quite a few suitable materials, it has not yet been possible to solve the problems related to durability and service life. Lead in chromium and other acidic electrolytes, although chemically resistant, is easily destroyed mechanically. If the lead lining gets damaged, the tub body is subjected to intense corrosion.

Alternative materials

Steel baths lined with vinyl plastic which is resistant to acidic electrolytes are used for nickel plating, copper plating, galvanizing , etc. But if the temperature is too high, vinyl plastic sheets can crack from thermal expansion. This is because vinyl plastic has six times the thermal expansion coefficient of steel. This leads to loss of integrity of the lining, especially in the area of the welding seams, and later to the dissolution of the material of the bath by corrosion and contamination of the electrolyte composition. Even a minimal amount of corrosive constituents (heavy metal impurities) in the electrolyte can cause a dramatic drop in the quality of the coating. To counteract this, rubber is used for lining. However, it also shows little effectiveness due to the rapid ageing and cracking of its coating. In addition, the lining and humification process is expensive due to the low adhesion to certain metals. All current insulating and protective technologies for hangers using chemical-resistant rubber, perchlorvinyl varnish or tape make it possible to use the hangers for two to three months. Replacing or repairing hangers frequently is an extremely time consuming and economically unprofitable endeavor.

Corrosion resistance

Titanium is known for its resistance to corrosion in virtually all alkaline, weakly acidic and acidic electrolytes. It is resistant in pickling solutions containing 10% H2 SO4 at 75 °C, but will corrode rapidly as the concentration rises to 18-20%. If nitric acid or its salts are added to the electrolyte as inhibiting additives, the corrosive destruction of titanium can be prevented. In this case, an oxide film is formed on the surface of the metal, which prevents its dissolution. Titanium will also corrode rapidly in electrolytes containing hydrofluoric or hydrofluoric-boric acid. In all other cases the use of titanium as a protective coating in electroplating is extremely promising.

Electroplating equipment

For pre-treatment and plating, tubs, anode baskets, cathode drums, heating coils, hangers, heat exchangers, pipes, filters, pumps, etc. are used.

Titanium Baths

Titanium use in chrome plating baths increases their service life five to seven times. When Melitopol engine plant instead of traditional baths of steel and lead were installed three baths of the alloy BT1-0, then due to the increased duration of theirdepreciation, lower electrolyte costs and reduced labor and energy consumption, it was possible to significantly increase the annual revenue figure.

Electrolytes

In the electrolytes used in copper plating, nickel plating, cadmium plating, brass plating, galvanizing and silver plating, titanium experiences virtually no corrosion damage other than in hydrofluoric and hydrofluoric acid solutions. In addition, it is undesirable to use titanium in combination with media containing fluoride ions because of the difference in corrosion rate when using the anodic circuit and the current cutoff.

Replacing Baths

The replacement of baths made of carbon steel lined with vinyl plastic or lead by titanium baths is advisable in order to stabilize the production process: reduce the frequency of current repairs, maintain the purity of the electrolyte, increase coating quality and most importantly, the possibility to adjust the temperature or acid balance of the electrolyte. Resistance of titanium alloys to corrosion in the above-mentioned electrolytes makes it possible to reduce the wall thickness by more than half. This makes titanium baths and vinyl lined steel baths virtually identical in cost.

Anode Baskets

Three types of anodes are used in baths designed for nickel plating, galvanizing and copper plating: electrolytic, cast and rolled. The latter are most commonly used because they dissolve most uniformly, whereas electrolytic anodes are characterized by more intensive dissolution and sludge formation.

Sludge

In order to minimize the harmful effects of sludge, the anodes are placed in special "belting" or "chloride" bags which have previously been treated with hydrochloric acid. In this case, the waste reaches only twenty to thirty percent of the total weight of the anodes. The use of anode baskets made of titanium is extremely promising. As early as 1959, Ford developed and put into operation the first anode bins made of titanium. This greatly reduced the maintenance costs of the equipment and increased the daily operating time by four hours.

Performance

The anode garbage cans are designed to increase the overall productivity of the operating plant. Also, it is not necessary to drain the remaining tank liquor to add anode material to the tank. The anode material is consumed practically in full, maintaining a constant density and ensuring maximum efficiency. Since 1959, they have been used for cyanide and acid copper plating, cyanide white brass plating and bright nickel plating. Introduction of titanium baskets into domestic production process made it possible to create fully soluble anode.

VT1-0.

The application of anode baskets made of the BT1-0 titanium alloy at the Melitopol motor works made it possible to raise considerably the annual economic index in the production of nickel-plated parts used in power units. The main indicator of economical efficiency of this innovation is the 100% usage of nickel anodes, whereas before the technology implementation only 70% of all anodes were used. Furthermore, the copper hooks previously used for installing new anodes are no longer needed and the labor cost for anode replacement has been reduced.

Cost reduction

The titanium baskets made from the alloy VT1-0 have made it possible to significantly reduce the consumption of nickel anodes and to simplify bath maintenance by adjusting the electrolyte level. Anode baskets with special hooks for hanging are created from 0.8-1 millimeter thick titanium sheets. The cross section of the hooks is calculated on the basis of the low thermal conductivity and the current density, which is less than 1 A/dm.

Tinning

During high-speed tinning, titanium baskets are used that are pre-filled with granulated tin that acts as an anode. This anode material significantly increases the productivity of electrolytic tinning by increasing the active current density which is distributed over the entire area of the anode in the basket.

Economic effect

The titanium baskets designed according to different schemes gained a wide popularity in nickel plating, tinning, copper plating and galvanizing processes, as they allow to use the anode material to the full extent and hence save expensive starting materials: nickel, tin, copper and others. In addition, it becomes possible to use ingots, pellets, ingots of primary material, which cost much less than their rolled anode equivalents.

Profitability

Even with half the thermal conductivity of lead or steel, titanium makes it possible to create heater tubes with much thinner walls, as it features high corrosion and mechanical strength. It follows from this the price equality of coils from leaded carbon as well as stainless steel and equipment from titanium grade BT1-00 and BT1-0. Besides the use of titanium alloys allows significant reduction of equipment operation costs, increasing the operation time in four-six times.

Coils

Even in conventional chromium plating baths the titanium coils will serve for many years. Plant "Kommunar" in Zaporozhye uses for the heating of electrolyte during chrome plating titanium heaters 3 meters long and Ø 2.5 millimeters, which replaced the obsolete lead coils 7 meters long and Ø 6 millimeters. During four years of operation, this type of equipment has yielded invaluable economic benefits. Titanium heaters are also used on dozens of automatic lines at the Tambov Mechanical Plant.

Hangers and attachments

Titanium has also been widely used in creating hangers for anodizing parts made of aluminum and its alloys. For example, simple aluminum frames very quickly succumb to oxidation and begin to deteriorate. In order to extend their average operating time beyond four to six weeks, it is imperative that the frames be exposed to an alkaline environment. Titanium frames, on the other hand, show no signs of beginning to deteriorate under similar operating conditions even years later. Titanium hangers have also shown their best qualities in tinning and galvanizing processes. They are not susceptible to corrosion, which avoids loss of their valuable material, extends the life of the part and reduces repair costs.

Tools

A British company specializing in the manufacture of washing machines uses more than sixty tools made of titanium for the anodizing of aluminum parts as well as over four hundred aluminum fixtures with titanium tips in its technical arsenal. Repairing electroplated pendants is quite expensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive. The use of titanium production elements keeps such repairs to a minimum. In addition, titanium maintains electrical conductivity at a fairly high level over a long period of time.

Cleaning challenges

When the production capacity of metal coating shops increases, it is necessary to take more care about the treatment process of waste water, which contains a huge amount of toxic components (acids and their salts) that are formed during the pickling of metals and their hydroxides from the anode cleaning. In the galvanizing, copper plating and cadmium baths there are large amounts of metal alkaloids and toxic cyanides, whose concentration should be less than 0.1 mg/l, and the chromium content in the chrome and chromium baths should not exceed 0.5 mg/l.

Conclusions

Numerous experiences with the use of titanium in electroplating structures prove the feasibility of using titanium elements. It concerns the reliability, quality, service life and economic efficiency of using this material. Use of titanium equipment in production is the evidence of progressiveness of the company, following up-to-date trends and taking care of indicators of productivity, labor input reduction, decrease of heavy maintenance, increase of coating quality, saving of electrolyte, water, energy, steam, decrease of production cycle time, increase of equipment lifetime, improvement of labor conditions and growth of production culture.

Supplier

Are you interested in titanium in electroplating? Titanium in electroplating from the supplier "Auremo" compliance with GOST and international quality standards, the price - optimal from the supplier. We offer to buy products from specialized warehouses with delivery to any city. Buy today. Wholesale customers favorable price.

Buy at a bargain price.

Titanium in electroplating from the supplier "Auremo" is offered today at the best price. The widest selection of products in stock. Always in stock titanium, the price - due to the technological features of production without the inclusion of additional costs. Optimal price from the supplier. Buy today. Waiting for your orders. We have the best price-quality ratio for the whole range of products. Experienced managers - will promptly help you to buy titanium in bulk or by installments. Regular customers can buy titanium rolled products with discount discount.

Relevance

The galvanic method of metal coating is the most widespread. To increase the intensity and efficiency of production and technological processes of galvanic coatings, new electrolytes, increasing temperature and current density are used. This requires construction materials and equipment that meet the increased requirements of corrosion resistance. In addition to improved technical performance, maximum extension of the operating life of the equipment, which depends on the quality of the lining and construction materials, is of utmost importance. Despite the fact that there are quite a few suitable materials, it has not yet been possible to solve the problems related to durability and service life. Lead in chromium and other acidic electrolytes, although chemically resistant, is easily destroyed mechanically. If the lead lining gets damaged, the tub body is subjected to intense corrosion.

Alternative materials

Steel baths lined with vinyl plastic which is resistant to acidic electrolytes are used for nickel plating, copper plating, galvanizing , etc. But if the temperature is too high, vinyl plastic sheets can crack from thermal expansion. This is because vinyl plastic has six times the thermal expansion coefficient of steel. This leads to loss of integrity of the lining, especially in the area of the welding seams, and later to the dissolution of the material of the bath by corrosion and contamination of the electrolyte composition. Even a minimal amount of corrosive constituents (heavy metal impurities) in the electrolyte can cause a dramatic drop in the quality of the coating. To counteract this, rubber is used for lining. However, it also shows little effectiveness due to the rapid ageing and cracking of its coating. In addition, the lining and humification process is expensive due to the low adhesion to certain metals. All current insulating and protective technologies for hangers using chemical-resistant rubber, perchlorvinyl varnish or tape make it possible to use the hangers for two to three months. Replacing or repairing hangers frequently is an extremely time consuming and economically unprofitable endeavor.

Corrosion resistance

Titanium is known for its resistance to corrosion in virtually all alkaline, weakly acidic and acidic electrolytes. It is resistant in pickling solutions containing 10% H2 SO4 at 75 °C, but corrodes quickly when the concentration rises to 18-20%. If nitric acid or its salts are added to the electrolyte as inhibiting additives, the corrosive destruction of titanium can be prevented. In this case, an oxide film is formed on the surface of the metal, which prevents its dissolution. Titanium will also corrode rapidly in electrolytes containing hydrofluoric or hydrofluoric-boric acid. In all other cases the use of titanium as a protective coating in electroplating is extremely promising.

Electroplating equipment

For pre-treatment and plating, tubs, anode baskets, cathode drums, heating coils, hangers, heat exchangers, pipes, filters, pumps, etc. are used.

Titanium Baths

Titanium use in chrome plating baths increases their service life five to seven times. When Melitopol engine plant instead of traditional baths of steel and lead were installed three baths of the alloy BT1-0, then due to the increased duration of theirdepreciation, lower electrolyte costs and reduced labor and energy consumption, it was possible to significantly increase the annual revenue figure.

Electrolytes

In the electrolytes used in copper plating, nickel plating, cadmium plating, brass plating, galvanizing and silver plating, titanium experiences virtually no corrosion damage other than in hydrofluoric and hydrofluoric acid solutions. In addition, it is undesirable to use titanium in combination with media containing fluoride ions because of the difference in corrosion rate when using the anodic circuit and the current cutoff.

Replacing Baths

The replacement of baths made of carbon steel lined with vinyl plastic or lead by titanium baths is advisable in order to stabilize the production process: reduce the frequency of current repairs, maintain the purity of the electrolyte, increase coating quality and most importantly, the possibility to adjust the temperature or acid balance of the electrolyte. Resistance of titanium alloys to corrosion in the above-mentioned electrolytes makes it possible to reduce the wall thickness by more than half. This makes titanium baths and vinyl lined steel baths virtually identical in cost.

Anode baskets

Three types of anodes are used in baths designed for nickel plating, galvanizing and copper plating: electrolytic, cast and rolled. The latter are most commonly used because they dissolve most uniformly, whereas electrolytic anodes are characterized by more intensive dissolution and sludge formation.

Sludge

In order to minimize the harmful effects of sludge, the anodes are placed in special "belting" or "chloride" bags which have previously been treated with hydrochloric acid. In this case, the waste reaches only twenty to thirty percent of the total weight of the anodes. The use of anode baskets made of titanium is extremely promising. As early as 1959, Ford developed and put into operation the first anode bins made of titanium. This greatly reduced the maintenance costs of the equipment and increased the daily operating time by four hours.

Performance

The anode garbage cans are designed to increase the overall productivity of the operating plant. Also, it is not necessary to drain the remaining tank liquor to add anode material to the tank. The anode material is consumed practically in full, maintaining a constant density and ensuring maximum efficiency. Since 1959, they have been used for cyanide and acid copper plating, cyanide white brass plating and bright nickel plating. Introduction of titanium baskets into domestic production process made it possible to create fully soluble anode.

VT1-0.

The application of anode baskets made of the BT1-0 titanium alloy at the Melitopol motor works made it possible to raise considerably the annual economic index in the production of nickel-plated parts used in power units. The main indicator of economical efficiency of this innovation is the 100% usage of nickel anodes, whereas before the technology implementation only 70% of all anodes were used. Furthermore, the copper hooks previously used for installing new anodes are no longer needed and the labor cost for anode replacement has been reduced.

Cost reduction

The titanium baskets made from the alloy VT1-0 have made it possible to significantly reduce the consumption of nickel anodes and to simplify bath maintenance by adjusting the electrolyte level. Anode baskets with special hooks for hanging are created from 0.8-1 millimeter thick titanium sheets. The cross section of the hooks is calculated on the basis of the low thermal conductivity and the current density, which is less than 1 A/dm.

Tinning

During high-speed tinning, titanium baskets are used that are pre-filled with granulated tin that acts as an anode. This anode material significantly increases the productivity of electrolytic tinning by increasing the active current density which is distributed over the entire area of the anode in the basket.

Economic effect

The titanium baskets designed according to different schemes became very popular in nickel plating, tinning, copper plating and zinc plating processes, as they allow to use the anode material to the full extent and hence save expensive starting materials: nickel, tin, copper and others. In addition, it becomes possible to use ingots, pellets, ingots of primary material, which cost much less than their rolled anode equivalents.

Profitability

Even with half the thermal conductivity of lead or steel, titanium makes it possible to create heater tubes with much thinner walls, as it features high corrosion and mechanical strength. It follows from this the price equality of coils from leaded carbon as well as stainless steel and equipment from titanium grade BT1-00 and BT1-0. Besides the use of titanium alloys allows significant reduction of equipment operation costs, increasing the operation time in four-six times.

Coils

Even in conventional chromium plating baths the titanium coils will serve for many years. Plant "Kommunar" in Zaporozhye uses for the heating of electrolyte during chrome plating titanium heaters 3 meters long and Ø 2.5 millimeters, which replaced the obsolete lead coils 7 meters long and Ø 6 millimeters. During four years of operation, this type of equipment has yielded invaluable economic benefits. Titanium heaters are also used on dozens of automatic lines at the Tambov Mechanical Plant.

Hangers and attachments

Titanium has also been widely used in creating hangers for anodizing parts made of aluminum and its alloys. For example, simple aluminum frames very quickly succumb to oxidation and begin to deteriorate. In order to extend their average operating time beyond four to six weeks, it is imperative that the frames be exposed to an alkaline environment. Titanium frames, on the other hand, show no signs of beginning to deteriorate under similar operating conditions even years later. Titanium hangers have also shown their best qualities in tinning and galvanizing processes. They are not susceptible to corrosion, which avoids loss of their valuable material, extends the life of the part and reduces repair costs.

Tools

A British company specializing in the manufacture of washing machines uses more than sixty tools made of titanium for the anodizing of aluminum parts as well as over four hundred aluminum fixtures with titanium tips in its technical arsenal. Repairing electroplated pendants is quite expensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive. The use of titanium production elements keeps such repairs to a minimum. In addition, titanium maintains electrical conductivity at a fairly high level over a long period of time.

Cleaning challenges

When the production capacity of metal coating shops increases, it is necessary to take more care about the treatment process of waste water, which contains a huge amount of toxic components (acids and their salts) that are formed during the pickling of metals and their hydroxides from the anode cleaning. In the galvanizing, copper plating and cadmium baths there are large amounts of metal alkaloids and toxic cyanides, whose concentration should be less than 0.1 mg/l, and the chromium content in chromium-acid and chrome baths should not exceed 0.5 mg/l.

Conclusions

Numerous experiences with the use of titanium in electroplating structures prove the feasibility of using titanium elements. It concerns the reliability, quality, service life and economic efficiency of using this material. Use of titanium equipment in production is the evidence of progressiveness of the company, following up-to-date trends and taking care of indicators of productivity, labor input reduction, decrease of heavy maintenance, increase of coating quality, saving of electrolyte, water, energy, steam, decrease of production cycle time, increase of equipment lifetime, improvement of labor conditions and growth of production culture.

Supplier

Are you interested in titanium in electroplating? Titanium in electroplating from the supplier "Auremo" compliance with GOST and international quality standards, the price - optimal from the supplier. We offer to buy products from specialized warehouses with delivery to any city. Buy today. Wholesale customers favorable price.

Buy at a bargain price.

Titanium in electroplating from the supplier "Auremo" is offered today at the best price. The widest selection of products in stock. Always in stock titanium, the price - due to the technological features of production without the inclusion of additional costs. Optimal price from the supplier. Buy today. Waiting for your orders. We have the best price-quality ratio for the whole range of products. Experienced managers - will promptly help you to buy titanium in bulk or by installments. Regular customers can buy titanium rolled products with discount discount.

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