Economic Aspects of Regeneration of Etchants
Winter 1986
The chemical machining industry, as well as the printed
circuit industry, have long considered etching the backbone of
the process. Consequently, much emphasis has been put into
reducing etchant costs, refining process controls, and reducing
equipment downtime. The search for a method to address these
problems resulted in the birth of etchant regeneration.
Regeneration, as the name implies, is a process used for
keeping the etchant bath fresh or as close to fresh as possible.
This paper will discuss the regeneration of cupric chloride when
etching copper and copper alloys, and ferric chloride when
etching steel and steel alloys.
Randall Markle, Chemcut Corporation
