Abstract

Pollution prevention methods were applied at an optics manufacturer in an effort to improve recovery of a valuable polishing component, cerium oxide (ceria), 77% of which was lost to dragout and sewer discharge. Centrifugation and microfiltratiion were evaluated to develop a process that would increase recovery of used ceria, which would then be sent back to the ceria supplier for reclamation and reuse. Full-scale implementation included a high-speed centrifuge that operates continuously with a microfiltration system through recirculation in a single process tank. Sydor Optics has improved ceria recovery from 23% to 48%, saving thousands of dollars annually.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Publication Date

Spring 5-2020

Document Type

Article

Department, Program, or Center

Sustainability (GIS)

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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