Ventilation Requirements for Nickel Plating

A. Last time I looked in the OSHA industrial ventilation guidelines, which were based on the ACGIH book "Industrial Ventilation", nickel plating did not require exhaust ventilation. That does not mean that it should not be exhausted here in 2004, but it means that I think you'll presently find OSHA silent on this.

A. Hi Chris,

What Ted says is correct. But with plating, one doesn't ever go by the number of air changes per hour but by the chemical, the process,the temperature and also by the hood design ... these factors will give you the right, if somewhat over-engineered, airflows. I, too, would recommend the Ventilation Manual. Not cheap!

If you feel that you must ventilate your nickel tanks, consider (in wintertime especially) the continuing air make-up heating costs. For your tanks, at the worst it would probably be a 'C' rating.

A. Nickel is presently being looked at by the government for further regulation of air emissions. If you install an exhaust you may be required to also install a fume scrubber by local regulations, i.e., required in NYC as a noxious exhaust. If possible you should wait until such time as new regulations for air emissions of nickel are promulgated before making an investment.

A. Hi Chris:

What Gene says may be true, I don't know. However, if you put up a ventilation system, may I suggest that you leave at least a straight duct leading into the fan of approx. 6X the diameter of the ducting.

If you do this, and if you have to put in some type of scrubber then this approach would make it so easy for you to do.

This happened to me in Ontario where they said that they didn't need a scrubber ... lo and behold, they had emissions and my scrubbing unit fitted in perfectly. End result -- happy customer.

What I used was NOT mass transfer but a two-stage horizontal eliminator generating max 1" SP.

Hope this helps.

A. We recently removed the nickel scrubber due to the high cost of maintaining the scrubber. My company is following EPA Air Quality rules which state three options to control nickel fumes: 1. Nickel Scrubber. 2. Full cover. 3. Surfactant.

Our wetting agent, used to manufacturers recommendations, is our control choice. We do have a partial cover with ducts leading to an exhaust fan.

Thanks Dave!

A. Readers: the vapor pressure of nickel metal is high, so there are no actual nickel metal "fumes". Rather, the emissions consist mostly of evaporated water vapor (harmless), but also tiny droplets of plating solution generated by air agitation or hydrogen bubbles from the plating process creating a ginger ale effect. These droplets are relatively heavy and don't want to travel far. So, as we've noted in other threads but may bear repeating, if possible keep the solution level as low as practical so as large a proportion of the droplets as possible can simply fall back into the tank.

Regards,