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
