Case Study: Effective Waste Minimization Using Ion Exchange Technology
46th Annual Purdue Industrial Waste Conference, May 1991.
- Kenneth E. Kaszubowski, P.E.
The Brass Division of the Kohler Wisconsin facility manufacturing brass plumbing faucets and fittings, which are finished by a wide variety of processes. These metal finishing processes create several wastewater stream which must be effectively managed in order to maintain compliance with established regulatory limits and minimize operating costs within the Brass Division. These wastewater stream are highly variable in terms of composition, volume and flow rate. Management of these wastewaters presents significant challenges with respect to pollution prevention, optimization of treatment methods, and compliances with effluent discharge limits. The Brass Division employs a conventional metal hydroxide precipitation treatment process train for a majority of the wastewater streams generated in the facility. Some stream are shipped off-site for treatment and disposal. A simplified schematic of the Brass Waste Treatment (BWT) facility is presented in Figure 1.
The Brass Division requested the assistance of Kohler's Corporate Environmental Engineering and Safety Department and Chemical and Metallurgical Laboratory to assist them in reducing cost associated with managing their wastewater streams while continuing an outstanding record of regulatory compliance.
The goals of this paper are to present a case study of a waste and cost reduction project which:
- illustrates the decision process to select an appropriate waste and cost reduction technology
- describes the selected technology and the interaction with the existing metal finishing and waste treatment operations
- describes the anticipated and actual benefits achieved