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Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Calculating acid zinc barrel plating production rate

-----
2006

Q. I wish to know how to calculate the acid zinc barrel plating production rate.

I try once with the following calculation,

Assuming my barrel can hold 1000 pieces of objects (half full), with each objects surface area of 0.2 dm^2. So the total surface area for plating is 200 dm^2.
The current density is assumed to be 1 A/dm^2 so the barrel need to conduct 200A.

Assuming the deposition rate is 0.25 µm/minute, so for 8um I need 32 minutes.

For production of 8 hours, I can produce 15 lots.
With 1 barrel in the plating line, one day (8hr) I can produce 15000 pieces.

Am I correct?

Also, where I can find the deposition rate vs. current density?

Thanks

Robert Au
Hobbyist - Hong Kong

A. I see no mistakes in your calculations, Robert.

The "Electrochemical Equivalents" appendix in the back of the Metal Finishing Guidebook contains the chart you are looking for, and offers the number of ampere-hours per square foot required to deposit 0.001" of each of the common metals. But if you want to go back to first principals, it can all be calculated from Faraday's Law without charts, from his simple relationship that 96,485 ampere-seconds will deposit one gram equivalent weight (this assumes 100% efficiency, and you should either get an estimate of efficiency from your supplier, or determine in yourself. Good luck.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2006

Q. What will be micron zinc deposit on 1 ampere and 1 hour?

PAWAN SHARMA
- AGRA, UTEER PRADESH, India
June 11, 2014

A. Hi Pawan. Per the chart I mentioned, 14.3 ampere-hours per square foot is required to deposit an average thickness of 0.001" at 100% efficiency.

It is not possible to determine the thickness in your case without knowing the area of the part which you have plated and estimating the efficiency of your zinc plating solution. Please review and try to understand Faraday's Law, and everything will be very clear to you. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 2014

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