Monday, September 23, 2013

Why Anodizing Is Considered Environment-Friendly Process

By Roy van Rivero


Apart from producing good quality finish, one compelling reason why anodizing is recognized as a promising industry process is that it is more environment-friendly as compared to any other available processes in the metal finishing industry. This feature is what makes it even more relevant most especially today that climate change issues are one of the hottest topics discussed across various sectors.

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 - anodizing is recognized as environment-friendly as it uses simple water-based chemicals that produce no harm to both people and the surroundings. It does not use halogenated hydrocarbons or similar toxic organics in the process.

* An acceleration of a natural oxidation process - this is, in other words, means it does not produce harmful or hazardous by-products and thus ensure no damage to human health or the environment.

* Produces finish that is chemically stable - the resulting finish is non-toxic, can stand the heat to the melting point of aluminum, which is 1,221 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition, the resulting finish does not decompose and is not easily ruined through time.

* Produces recyclable liquid by-products - by-products (also known as secondary product produced in the anodizing process) are recyclable and thus, can be reused for another round of processing.

* 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 - they can have a variety of uses such as in aluminum manufacturing, baking powder, for cosmetics, for newsprint, and as a fertilizer.

* Emits no ozone-producing solvents - ozone layer depletion, as we know it, is one of the pressing environmental concerns up to these days and, thankfully, anodizing does not contribute to the further damage of our ozone layer.

* Anodizing as energy-saving catalyst - generally, anodizing is applied to aluminum alloys and this provides energy-saving advantage as well as environment safety. The reason is that Aluminum metal is a good electricity conductor while the anodic coating serves as good insulator. These properties substantially contribute to a product longer lifespan and energy demand reduction.

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




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment