Minimization of chromium‐contaminated wastewater at a plating facility in the Eastern United States

摘要

AbstractThe Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is conducting a hazardous waste minimization program at an industrial plating facility located in the Eastern United States. A. Detailed investigation of the existing facility was conducted by ORNL which indicated that chromium was the major source of contamination. Several improvements in the operation of the facility were implemented which reduced the quantity of chromium lost from the facility by ∼85. The remaining chromium–Contaminated wastewater streams will be treated by reverse osmosis (RO) followed by evaporation of the RO concentrate for further volume reduction. This paper discusses (1) the plating shop modifications which resulted in an 85 reduction of the quantity of chromium contamination exiting the plating facility, (2) the results of RO pilot–scale tests, and (3) start up of the full–scale RO/evaporator system the plating f