There are two methods for plating chrome from a trivalent solution, Sulfate and Chloride. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages:

• The color of the deposit is closer to hexavalent chrome
• The process is very tolerant of metallic contamination
• The process is comparatively simple to operate
• Ion exchange is recommended for consistent performance in both corrosion and color
• Operating temperature of the solution is ~65C meaning you do not need to bail out solution to compensate for additions
• Chemical purification is possible as well as dummy plating

• The anode material is made of Iridium coated Titanium. This makes the cost of anodes expensive compared to chloride based processes

• Comparatively easy to operate
• Anode material is pure graphite making the anode costs comparatively cheap compared to sulfate based processes

• Color is different to hexavalent chrome deposits, sulfate based processes are much closer
• Temperature is ~25-35C so solution has to be removed if large additions are made to the bath