Quality for the environment

Environmentally, surface treatment plants are challenging due to the rinse water used on the pieces to be coated. Rinsing water must be cleaned of heavy metals before being discharged into the public water treatment system.

Pinnoitus Helini has an environmental permit for a surface treatment plant issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and our operations are supervised by the rescue authority.

The BAT (Best Available Technology) acronym stands for the best available measures and means to minimise environmental pollution. Coating At Helin, it means cleaning and environmental protection methods that make use of the latest and most advanced technologies available. This means more efficient management of material and substance flows, more efficient use of energy and lower emissions.

Examples of BAT recommendations followed by Pinnoitus Helin:

• A fully automated constant flow plant that stops the flow if the process values are not within the permissible range. In addition, the process includes verification measurements to detect any discrepancies or sensor failures.
• Precipitation is ensured by a sand filter that is continuously cleaned.
• Before being discharged into the sewer, the waste water is passed through a final ion exchanger to remove any very low concentrations of heavy metals. The recovery interval of the ion exchanger is monitored by weekly flow-weighted values of bulk samples.
• We deliver the precipitated heavy metal sludge to a recycling plant, where the precipitated metal is cleaned and reused.
• The easiest and safest way to stay within the permitted limits is careful selection of the chemicals used. Minimising the use of complexing chemicals will greatly facilitate the coagulation process and subsequent heavy metal precipitation.