Introduction
Powder coatings don’t require a carrier. The additives, pigments, and resins are formulated in a powder form. To apply the material to parts, the powder is electrostatically charged and conveyed via compressed air. The charged powder is attracted to a grounded part. The part is then taken through an oven, where the heat changes the powder from a solid to a liquid and then to a solid coating. Generally, powders do not have any or extremely low VOCs.
Properly cured powder coatings can offer superior protection against chipping, scratching, UV rays, and corrosive elements. This is why powder coatings are often specified to coat metal products destined for outdoor use.
Advantage
There are several advantages of powder coating over conventional liquid coatings:
- Powder coatings emit zero or near zero volatile organic compounds (VOC).
- Powder coatings can produce much thicker coatings than conventional liquid coatings without running or sagging.
- Powder coating overspray can be recycled and thus it is possible to achieve nearly 100% use of the coating.
- Powder coating production lines produce less hazardous waste than conventional liquid coatings.
- Powder coated items generally have fewer appearance differences between horizontally coated surfaces and vertically coated surfaces than liquid coated items.
- A wide range of specialty effects is easily accomplished which would be impossible to achieve with other coating processes.
How Does the Coating Affect the Environment?
Solventborne coatings are often specified for a finish because of their dependable performance and ability to air-dry in a matter of minutes. Unfortunately, most of the traditional liquid paint formulations from yesteryear no longer are around because of the need to reduce VOCs emitted during application.
That has led to the development of more environmentally friendly coatings, such as new waterborne formulations and high-solids coatings, that emit low VOCs. The waterborne, which have come a long way from the early versions used 15 years ago, are slowly growing in acceptance. However, some manufacturers still have reservations about applying a water-based product directly to metal. High-solids are liquid coatings that have a solids content of at least 65 percent, which means minimal solvents are present. But fewer solvents also means that the coating is more viscous. That has led to the development of multipart application systems (referred to as 2K systems if two parts are mixed, 3K if three parts are mixed, etc.) that are formulated to be mixed only seconds before application.
All finishers that apply liquid coatings spray to waste. The overspray can’t be reclaimed. If filters are used to capture the overspray, the finisher has to dispose of the filters according to regulations established by local authorities.
The powder booth does not require exhaust. As stated previously, if any VOCs are emitted during the powder coating process, they are typically very low.
Powder coatings can be recycled with the right reclamation equipment. Companies looking for Class A finishes have reclamation systems that depend on thorough cleaning and maintenance because any cross-contamination of reclaimed material ruins the original material’s ability to deliver a specific color.
