Testing of Alternative Technologies
Ability to test alternatives is often a major stumbling block for manufacturers interested in evaluating and embracing innovation. Process efficiency improvements and radical processing changes involve investigation of material properties, equipment efficiency, and residual generation. ISTC has access to a variety of test and process equipment to answer the myriad of questions that arise in conjunction with change.
ISTC evaluates materials and material substitutes used in a specific process and analyze how they affect waste generation. ISTC also evaluates equipment or techniques for removal of hazards from processes or waste streams. Projects can be conducted in ISTC’s pilot laboratories or in some cases on-site utilization of the equipment.
Available Equipment
Pilot Scale Technology Lab – Used to demonstrate methods that physically separate soils such as oil and grease from processes or waste streams.
Process Equipment
- Aqueous Parts Washers – safer, more cost-effective alternative to solvents.
- Fluid Purification Units – removes free-oils from aqueous process fluids (cleaners, metalworking fluids, etc.), extending bath life, conserving water and chemicals and reducing raw material and disposal costs.
- Conductivity Controllers – automated systems that monitor and control process tank cleanliness via a system comprising a sensor, analyzer and solenoid, conserves 50-90% water.
- Compressed Air Safety Guns – compliant, safer, reduced noise, saving 25-30% energy.
- Basket centrifuge – used to remove solids from liquid and sludge waste streams (i.e., paint booth wastewater).
- Disc centrifuge – effective at separating liquids with different densities for waste stream reduction (i.e., machine coolant).
- Ultrafiltration and Microfiltration Units – extremely useful for separating emulsified oils and greases from wastewaters and process solutions (i.e., metal cleaning), reclaiming solutions, extending bath life, reducing raw material and disposal costs.
- Reverse Osmosis Unit – effective at removing dissolved solutes and salts such as heavy metals from industrial process streams, especially electroplating rinse waters.
- Vacuum Evaporation Unit – designed for concentrating solutions and solvent mixes that are beyond the capabilities of ultrafiltration or reverse osmosis systems (i.e., electroplating).
Material Investigation Equipment
- Equipment to measure physical properties such as viscosity, density, surface tension, and contact angle.
- UV, FTIR, AA, and ICP-MS spectroscopic techniques.
- Imaging equipment such as Scanning Electron Microscope, Transmission Electron Microscope and Confocal Microscope.
- Particle size characterization using Photon Correlation Spectroscopy and Diffraction.
- Equipment for corrosion measurement.
- High-pressure glass reactors for organic synthesis and reaction studies.