EN 2010: Tuesday, November 9th

8:00am:  Registration Opens

8:30am:   Continental Breakfast

9:00 – 11:45am:  Business and Environmental Issues

Fire in My Plant!  What to do When Disaster Strikes

Reliable Plating , OMG and Products Finishing

In this informal interview session, listen in as Kurt Weamer (OMG) and Don Kline (PF) talk to Reliable Plating, a plating facility located outside of Chicago, IL that had to learn a hard lesson in business continuity when a fire tore apart their business.  Would you know how to handle picking up the pieces if disaster struck your facility?  Learn from the first-hand experience of a company that had to figure out how to keep their business thriving during disaster. 

Electroless Nickel Makes “Cents” for Many Plating Applications, Present and Future

Jordan Beavers and Marc Aleksinas, Metal Chem Inc. 

In the midst of continual environmental restrictions and the current depressed state of the economy, Electroless Nickel remains a coating that has distinct chemical properties that may prove to be advantageous for future applications. By replacing environmentally hazardous materials such as chrome and more expensive materials like stainless steel, EN coatings increasingly have made more economic sense for today’s applications.  Coating of new base materials such as magnesium, titanium, zinc die casts and other substrates will provide additional new avenues where EN will be used likely in the future.  Here, close examinations of costs and benefits of EN coatings will be made for various applications.

Minimizing the use of Hazardous Chemicals in processing Aluminum Alloys

George E. Shahin, Atotech USA

Currently, the most common pretreatment processes for aluminum alloys utilize nitric acid and cyanide-based chemistries to produce a zincate surface compatible with electroplating.  There has always been some concern over the risk associated with improper use of nitric acid or cyanide in these processes.  This has lead to the recent development of pretreatment cycles based on less hazardous chemicals.  This paper discusses these new processes and compares them to the more accepted cycles.  The discussion will include a comparison of operating parameters of the cycles, resultant zincate morphology, and a direct comparison of resultant properties after EN deposition.  In addition the corrosion resistance of various electroless nickel deposits using the new pretreatment chemistries will be compared to such using conventional pretreatment cycles.

Survival Strategies for an EN Plater in a Post Crisis Era
Roger Plath, Twin City Plating

The recent economic downturn was a reminder to all of us that the business world is a harsh and unforgiving environment. To the grossly unprepared, the past two years brought more than just significant turmoil to bottom line performance.  Many companies simply did not survive.  To others fortunate enough to overcome the turbulence, the imminent bottom forced us to soberly evaluate daily operations, streamline where needed and adjust long term growth strategies. We discovered a well prepared and properly managed company with an open mind can survive just about anything.

This paper will describe our company's unique approach to overcoming the most significant downturn in US history and how we developed a blue print for a successful future.  Some of the measures we will cover in the paper are Responsive Mobile Application (RMA) of our EN coatings, equipment "leasing" for cutting edge applications and our experience with a novel approach called Collaborative Supply.

Keynote Address:  The EPA's New Rule Concerning Electroless Nickel

Donna Lee Jones, Ph.D., U. S. Environmental Protection Agency

EPA issued national emission standards for control of hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for the plating and polishing area source category on July 1, 2008 (40 CFR, part 63, subpart WWWWWW).  This rule went into effect on July 1, 2010, for existing sources.  These final emission standards reflect EPA’s determination regarding the generally achievable control technology (GACT) and/or management practices for this area source category.  The plating and polishing rule established emission standards in the form of management practices for new and existing plating and polishing tanks, thermal spraying equipment, and mechanical polishing equipment that use or emit compounds of one or more of the following metal toxic air pollutants:  cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, and nickel.  

Dr. Jone’s Keynote address will discuss the management practices that need to be implemented to be in compliance of the new rule.  Verification of what is and what is not subject to the rule will be discussed and a Q&A period will follow so attendees can fully understand how this new rule will affect their business. 

12noon – 1:30pm Lunch:  Roundtables with Industry Experts

1:30 – 5:00pm – Afternoon Sessions:  Trends and Technologies

Electroless Nickel Composite Coatings Using PTFE and Diamond: Practice, Properties, and Applications

William B. Staples CEF, Atotech

Many different materials can be incorporated into electroless nickel deposits to produce special properties to enhance lubricity, wear resistance, or abrasiveness, and composite EN coatings have found use in many engineering applications. Specialized tanks and handling equipment are required for application of Composite Diamond Coatings (CDC). The diamond particles must be kept suspended in solution by agitation with recirculation in order to codeposit, and bath stability must be maintained because of a danger of plate out. Part fixturing is also critical for a uniform deposit. CDC deposits generally incorporate 10-20% by weight diamond and have high abrasiveness and wear resistance. EN/PTFE composites contain 20-30% by volume PTFE and have good lubricity. A high speed electroless nickel/ PTFE process has recently been introduced with plating rate approximately twice the speed of traditional EN/PTFE baths. The bath is lead and cadmium as well as PFOS free. This paper will cover the specialized techniques used for plating Composite Diamond Coatings as well as High Speed EN/PTFE; critical bath parameters and deposit properties will also be described.

Coatings for Product Tracking and Authentication

Michael Feldstein, Surface Technology, Inc.

Increasingly companies are looking to protect their brands, IP, and market share.  The new coating technology discussed in this paper can aid coaters and their customers in this important regard.  When small quantities of certain novel "markers" are incorporated into a coating, their presence can be detected quickly in a non-invasive manner with a small electronic device.  Such markers therefore allow companies to verify the authenticity and source of a product as well as many other inventory tracking and control factors.  Manufacturers can reliably demonstrate for them selves and to end users that parts are truly original equipment and not counterfeit.  Coaters can use the technology to identify which coated parts were, and hence were not, processed in their shops. Dozens of unique markers have developed which expand the number and varieties of this new technology, equivalent to a chemical bar code within a coating.  This paper will focus on electroless nickel coatings with this identification feature, though many other forms of plating and coating can be enhanced by this technology.   

Tier 4 Applications:  EN as a Replacement for Organic Coatings

Phil Brockman, Techmetals

Listen to this experienced plater explain how his company has used EN to replace some traditional organic coatings. This is exclusive information to the EN conference and a session you won’t want to miss!

Multipurpose Electroless Nickel Bath Components

George Millad . Uyemura International

There are fundamentally five types of electroless nickel phosphorus products commonly used in the metal finishing and electronics industry.  Specifically, these product types are categorized as low phosphorus, mid phosphorus bright and semi-bright, high phosphorus and low temperature strike.  These various products provide a wide range of metallurgical physical properties and bath chemical properties useful to the plater and end user. 

Each of the five product types normally requires three components to operate a bath.  These components consist of a nickel constituent for make-up and replenishment, another for make-up only and a third for replenishment.  Applicators that operate multiple processes are faced with inventorying up to 15 different chemical concentrates to make-up and maintain the five bath varieties described. 

Using electroless nickel components that are flexible; this presentation describes an alternative approach to running different electroless nickels using two concentrates, two small volume additives and nickel sulfate. 

Green Technology for Plating Magnesium
Brad Durkin , Coventya

Finishers have always been challenged to process magnesium.  The DOW process for the preparation of magnesium substrates prior to plating has been commercialized since the 1960’s and successfully utilized over these years to provide functional and decorative finishes to this class of engineering light metal.  Unfortunately, the use of chromic acids, phosphoric acids, lithium fluorides and cyanides limit the use of a DOW process platform with the environmental focus of today.  Process variations on this technology platform have proved limited success over the years and with a greater emphasis on environmental “green” requirements, processes that are chrome, phosphoric, lithium and cyanide free are gaining acceptance but also have improved performance.  

Electroless Nickel is Not Only for Metallic Applications
Linda M. Wing, Enthone Inc.

The extensive use of electroless nickel for its wear resistant and corrosive protective properties is well documented in numerous articles and journals.  These include steel enclosures, aluminum connectors, brass valves, case hardened steel pinions, cast iron yokes, and countless other applications.  But a less well known electroless nickel application is its use on plastics.  Electroless nickel can be found on familiar applications such as chrome plated plastic faucets and shower plates, cosmetic containers, clocks, kitchen appliances, and most prominently on vehicles.  The electroless nickel used for plastics differs from the types used on metals.  Its function and the development of a more environmentally process are examined. 

The Little Things That Make a Difference

Kurt Weamer , OMG

Electroless nickel plating is a process requiring a certain level of analysis and control to run successfully. Even when a process is in control in the eyes of the operator, situations arise which appear unexplainable. This paper will discuss the dynamics of electroless nickel plating from the standpoint of the components within a bath to give the user an understanding of the chemical interactions that occur during operation. These interactions can then be related to some of the unexplainable issues encountered in everyday production.

What Influences the Internal Stress of Electroless Nickel?

Nicole Micyus, MacDermid

The internal stress of electroless nickel (EN) deposits is an important physical property. High internal stress can lead to deposit cracking and loss of adhesion. The internal stress depends heavily on the formulation and %P of the EN process. Most systems are designed to have low to moderate internal stress- so why do some baths become highly stressed? This paper investigates the formulation and operational factors that influence the internal stress. A quantitative assessment of the stress drivers will be given and conclusions on how to minimize it will be outlined.

5:00pm: Networking Happy Hour

Mingle with your peers and talk to the experts that you heard speak during your 2 day immersion in the world of Electroless Nickel.  This is a great opportunity to ask additional questions, meet other platers and expand your business network.