Plating shops then installed waste treatment systems for their liquid waste products and air scrubbers for their ventilation systems. Fortunately, this had the effect of educating the industry about these dangers. This resulted in regulations limiting the amount of chemicals that could be discharged or the workers exposed to. The EPA was established in 1970, and OSHA in 1971 with mandates to improve and protect America's environment and workers. Many chrome plating operations, especially the smaller ones, could not afford the equipment required to meet the newer regulations.īecause of this, chrome tanks were ventilated directly outside, and chrome baths were frequently dumped into city sanitary sewers because the cities had waste treatment abilities. This was not isolated to the chrome platers because all industrial trades suffered the same ignorance regarding the negative effects of the chemicals they used. Up until the mid-1960, most hard chrome platers were unaware of the damage that chromic acid had on the environment. Our country would be crippled and our economy devastated without the properties that hexavalent hard chrome plating provides. In short, it is vital to America's industry, economy, security, defense, and even Her sovereignty. It is also widely used in weapon systems and aerospace applications. It found wide usage in industries like agriculture, aircraft, automotive, chemical, electrical, engines, fluid power, food processing, mining, optical, ordnance, paper, printing, railroad, textile, tooling, and even dies and molds. No other coating can provide these features as easily and inexpensively as hard chrome does. Among others, this includes surface hardness, lubricity, wearability, and corrosion resistance. The primary reason is the improved surface properties it provides to metallic parts and components. Hexavalent hard chrome quickly developed into a widely used industrial process. Many job shops, however, were smaller family-based companies with only 2-10 employees. By 1960 there were literally thousands of hard chrome OEMs and job shops some of the OEMs were large installations, as were a few of the job shops. The industry continued to expand through the 1940s and 1950s. The industry grew rapidly from these initial companies, and soon afterward, other hard chrome job shops were operating in most large cities across America. A patent infringement suit caused the merger of these two companies forming the Chromium Corporation of America, which later operated a third chrome plating plant in Waterbury, Connecticut.īy 1926 chrome plated became a buzzword for a hard, wear-resistant, and durable finish that also offered improved corrosion protection. Hard chrome plating was commercialized in 1924 with the establishment of the Chemical Treatment Company in New York and the Chromium Products Corporation in New Jersey. In 1924 the process was further developed by Colin Fink and Charles Eldridge at Columbia University. George Sargent improved the process in 1914 and established the standard 100:1 solution, which is still used today and known as the Sargent bath or the standard bath. patent for chromium plating was granted to Emile Placet and Joseph Bonnet of Paris, France, with U.S.

The first known chromium electrodeposit was achieved in 1855 by German scientist Dr. To understand the future, one should start with an understanding of history and the technology involved.Įric Svenson Sr.The element chromium was discovered in 1797 and isolated in 1798.

Details By Eric Svenson Sr., Master CEF, Plating Resources Plating

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