Honeywell International, Inc.
Freeport, Illinois
Intern: Ashish Patel
University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa
Honeywell’s Freeport facility has been manufacturing sensors, switches,
and control devices for automotive, health care, and appliance industries
for over 38 years.
The intern conducted a lighting survey in the facility. A
closed-loop system was investigated for reducing the generation of waste water
in its circuit board line. The intern was also tasked with finding effective
ways to extend the life of caustic cleaning solutions that are used to clean
parts prior to electroplating.
Anticipated Results:
The facility has already installed electronic ballasts in its current lighting
scheme. An annual cost savings of over $27,000 could be realized
by:
- Converting current T12 fluorescent lights to T8 lights.
- Replacing compact fluorescent exit signs with LEDs.
After circuit boards are populated, they are washed with high purity deionized
(DI) water to remove excess flux and solder. Current DI water generation
for this wash process costs $54,000 per year. This includes energy
costs for heating and pumping, labor and maintenance, and regeneration of
the ion exchange columns. A closed-loop polishing system could be
rented by US Filter along with a fee for its wastewater treatment service
of the unit for $4,800 (not including installation of the unit). Over
90% of the DI water would be recycled and wastewater generated would be reduced
by 725,000 gallons per year. The total amount of savings would be $46,000. This
has a 1-month payback.
It was determined that the facility should install a $9,600 washer solution
filter in the plating operation to separates the dirt and oils from the caustic
cleaning solution. This would reduce the amount of chemicals used for
bath make up by $1,000 and reduce disposal costs by $4,700 per year. The
payback period of the washer unit would be 16 months.
Actual Results:
Lighting results: The information was provided into the annual project
reviews for selecting projects for capital improvements. The payback
was about four years and didn’t make the cut at the current time. The
projects need to have a two year payback or better. The project is
being kept so that with rising electrical costs and aging lighting it can
be reviewed periodically for consideration.
Circuit board cleaner: A system has been leased and installed from
Culligan Corporation at a better cost. The system has been working
very well. De-foaming chemicals previously used are no longer needed. Actual
cost savings of just under $50,000 have been realized. Water savings
of 725,000 gallons have been realized.
Washer solution filter: A number of filtering systems have been tried
with varying degrees of success. We are currently using a system under
trial that is working okay in some baths. The final results of the
improvements have not been determined yet at this point.
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