From A Positive Business Relationship Starting In 1983, Superior Metal Products Sees No Reason To Look Elsewhere

With the on-going support and service of Eco-Tec, Superior Metal Products eliminated its buildup problem and recycled over 99% of its nickel drag-out.

Superior Metal Products (SMP) manufactures burner bowls and other parts for stoves. They produce about 75,000 burner bowls every 24 hours, and nearly all the major appliance manufacturers use SMP bowl burners for their stoves. Having captured 80% of the OEM market and 95% of the after market for this type of product, they have to be concerned with the maintenance and efficiency of their manufacturing processes in order to maintain their high quality.

SMP uses a patented proprietary multi-layer nickel plating process which combines the brilliance, leveling, durability and speed of bright nickel with the economy of iron, through the deposition of a nickel-iron alloy. The coating is ductile, highly receptive to subsequent chrome plating and exhibits good corrosion resistance. The multi-layer nickel plating process employs a system of stable addition agents which promote consistent deposit characteristics over a wide range of applications. The process control enables alloy deposition with precise nickel/iron ratios, but over 2.5 lbs (1.1 kg) of nickel and iron were being dragged out of the plating bath each hour. That's 60 lbs (27 kg) every 24 hours! It was clear that SMP was wasting valuable materials that could be recovered. What was worse, the nickel metal buildup problem was threatening the integrity of their entire system. Eco-Tec's engineers studied SMP's mechanical, chemical, waste and storage systems at every step of the operation. Together with SMP, they determined that it was possible to adapt a system that was amenable to SMP's unique nickel plating chemical p rocess in order to regenerate nickel product. The proposed Nickel Recovery System would recover over 99% of the nickel drag-out and return it to the plating baths as a concentrated nickel salts solution. To resolve the nickel metal buildup problem, an insoluble anode was recommended in conjunction with the Eco-Tec Nickel Recovery System.