Numerous commercial electroplating sheet metal lines are already taking advantage of the ElectroJet^® and HydroJet™ technology. Other owner-operators are planning conversions to ETL’s high-efficiency, low-cost plating technology for implementation in calendar year 2005.

ElectroJet embodies a system of strategically placed polymeric (non-conducting) "wiper blades" on opposing sides of the strip. By using these plastic blades, the anode-to-cathode distance can be reduced to approximately 1/2 inch (13 mm)–without the danger of anode-to-cathode contact. In this system, the flexible blades maintain a centerline metal strip position, equi-distant between opposing anodes (i.e. anodes above and below the strip). In addition, the wiper blades strip away the layer of hydrogen bubbles from the surface of the strip being plated. Removing this "barrier layer" that often impedes the electroplating process allows for faster plating speed. Thus, the combination of closely controlled anode-to-cathode distance and the constant removal of the barrier layer by the wiper blades remarkably improves the efficiency of the continuous sheet metal electroplating process.

In early 1998, ETL filed to protect the name of ElectroJet for both software and services. In January 2000, the US Patent and Trademark office granted ETL a registration for the mark Electrojet^®.

ElectroJet is a hydromechanical process that induces a "natural forced hydraulic" in such a manner that "spent" electrolyte is constantly replenished by fresh, high concentration electrolyte. This mechanism assures high-level electrochemical efficiency at all times. HydroJet, on the other hand, is a hydrodynamic process, which also permits very close proximity electroplating but utilizes a different mechanism than ElectroJet. In fact, commercial HydroJet plating cells have been designed, built and installed for daily operation with an anode-to-cathode distance of only 1/8" (3mm). The process utilizes certain principles of fluid mechanics to accomplish the replenishment of fresh electrolyte. Fluid mechanics also is used in the HydroJet process to strip away the "barrier" layer associated with all electrochemical processes. HydroJet utilizes a "liquid cushion" to prevent the coated strip from making inadvertent contact with the anodes and/or other hardware in the plating cell. Thus, the method and apparatus associated with HydroJet are substantially different from those employed in the ElectroJet process.

The initial HydroJet work conducted by ETL was on a pilot line setup for zinc plating in the 1998-1999 period. Research and refinement work has continued to date on this newer technology. The R&D work and the results obtained to date have led ETL to file numerous patent applications. These patents are pending and the first one to issue by the USPTO is US Patent No. 6,322,673, issued on November 27, 2001. The second HydroJet patent (US Patent No 6,780,302 B2) issued on August 24, 2004.

More information will be introduced to this website as ETL’s patents issue in the United States and abroad.