Faradayic® Recycling Electrochemical Machining for Metal Recovery and Waste Reduction

This paper will discuss a technology being developed by Faraday to integrate a process step for recovery and recycle of metals with electrochemical machining (ECM). ECM is well suited for low mass removal, high value-added manufacturing steps not easily performed using conventional machining, whether due to workpiece material properties, tooling limitations, or high surface integrity requirements. Sludge byproducts formed during conventional ECM processes are difficult and often expensive to recycle, and discarding the sludge (if environmentally feasible) results in the loss of potentially valuable “waste” metal as well as entrained electrolyte. Results will be presented demonstrating the FARADAYIC® Recycling ECM technology, which is based upon patented FARADAYIC® cell designs and pulsed waveforms, targeting the following materials: C18000 copper, alloy steel, and Inconel® 718. These alloys were machined in electrolyte and subsequently recovered by electrowinning in solid/metallic form devoid of hydroxides/hydrated oxides, without intermediate electrolyte processing.