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An analysis of industrial water usage at Wisconsin Engraving, Inc. / by Urbain Boudjou.

by Boudjou, Urbain

Engraving -- Wastewater management.

Hazardous wastes

Sewage purification -- Electrodialysis process.

ix, pagination varies : ill. ; 29 cm.

Advisor: Dr. Deborah Jackman.

Committee Members: Dr. Carol Diggelman, Dr. Francis Mahuta.

Introduction-- General -- Production process -- Process wastewater sources -- Process wastewater not discharged -- Sample locations -- Several chemical treatment techniques for managing hard-to-treat wastewater -- Detoxification processes for a ferric chloride etching waste -- Acids and iron salts removal from rinsing water after metal etching using electrodialysis -- Waste reduction techniques -- Do nothing option -- Ship process wastewater produced to an off site holder -- Hydroxide precipitation of metals and landfill resulting sludge -- Electrodialysis technology (ED) -- Mechanical etching option (Laser Engraving Machine) -- Results and discussion -- Conclusions and recommendations -- Reference -- Appendix A) Waterwater discharge permit; B) Material safety data sheets (MSDS); C) Etching process flow diagram; D) Facility map; E) Texturing process flow diagram; F) Sample test result; G) Process flow diagram (mechanical etching).

Wisconsin Engraving, Inc., engraves metal molds for the plastics industry. Within the last decade, they have been faced with many challenges while trying to manage problems with the wastewater that discharges into the sanitary sewer system. Some of their problems include: having sample reports being submitted incorrectly, their waste water containing high metal concentrations and having a low pH.

This project was undertaken in order to determine the best way to handle Wisconsin Engraving's wastewater and included: an inventory of all manufacturing processes that generate wastewater with the intent to minimize or eliminate these discharges a review of technical options for minimizing or eliminating the discharges in the sanitary sewer, and an economic analysis of the various technical options.

Many different avenues have been used to conduct my research for this investigation. The main ideas stemmed from interviews with the owner of Wisconsin Engraving, and from the review of ten year's worth of data from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. The best solution to this problem began to emerge as I performed the economic analyses, which are summaries in tables in section D. I had four real choices to choose from, and deciding which one to use depended on the economic analyses. As an immediate action, I feel Wisconsin Engraving should choose to ship all of their processed wastewater off site; this is a good choice both economically and environmentally. As a long-term solution, the mechanical etching (laser engraving machine) should be considered because of the minimal amount of waste generated.

An auxiliary conclusion from this project is the fact that even though a company may try being "environmentally friendly", financial restrictions may get in the way of pursuing that dream. Sometimes, a company might need to take a "middle road", choosing an alternative that, while in compliance with environmental regulations, might not be the most environmentally advantageous, and yet is economically viable.

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