Synergetic modelling of energy and resource efficiency as well as occupational safety and health risks of plating process chains

To meet the sustainable development goals of the United Nations, the energy and resource efficiency of industrial processes have to increase, and workplaces have to become decent for the involved workers. Plating process chains are typically associated with high energy and resource demand and the use of hazardous chemicals. For the analysis and improvement of the energy and resource efficiency as well as for modelling the occupational safety and health risks, a variety of separate approaches are available. Combined approaches are not available yet. An agent-based simulation is used as the basis for integrated energy and resource as well as occupational safety and health risk assessment. In particular, an energy and resource flow model provides the life cycle inventory data for an environmental assessment. The integration of a mechanistic inhalation exposure model through a surrogate model approach enables a combined synergetic consideration of environmental and occupational safety and health effects. A simulation case study shows the impact of chrome acid changes in chrome electroplating processes as well as the effect of different rinsing cascade settings and rinsing control strategies.