CHINA'S BlueStar Group said yesterday that it has eliminated toxic residues from chromium chemical production in a pioneering plant in central China.
The company launched the world's first pollution-free 10,000-ton chromium chemical project in Henan Province in conjunction with the Chinese Academy of Science, the company said in a statement.
The project had zero discharges of chromium residue and chromium dust, the company said.
The treatment of residues has been a problem for chromium chemicals worldwide, with even the most advanced manufacturing techniques in developed nations unable to eradicate pollution completely.
In China, the chromium conversion rate is typically 75 percent, and the overall resource utilization rate is less than 20 percent.
The production of a single ton of chromium chemicals results in the discharge of 2.5 tons of highly toxic residues, causing serious pollution to water, soil and air, according to the country's chemical industry.
The chromium industrial recovery rate of BlueStar's new technology, however, is more than 98 percent and was eight to nine percent higher than the world's most advanced methods.
Compared with traditional techniques, BlueStar's project consumed 20 percent less power and produced 80 percent less chromium residue, the company statement said.
The residue can be completely used in producing high value-added products, it said. The overall utilization ratio of resources was more than 98 percent.
Company experts said the project not only turned a high-pollution industry into a clean industry but also realized outstanding economic profits and investment returns.
Chromium chemicals are used in light industry, leather tanning, pigments, and electroplating.