Full-body automotive powder coating blooms with gains in multicolor primer
Over the past six years, numerous automotive finishers have brought full-body primer-antichip systems online in North America with excellent results.
The plants and process equipment for powder systems of this magnitude have evolved over this period to a high level of performance for the primer and anti-chip application. However significant market penetration of this technology in Europe has been hindered by the fact that these systems were designed for one-color primers. Most European automakers use multi-color primers, presenting a challenge for powder technology because of the recycling of oversprayed material. Powder systems with separate spray booths for each color aren't economically competitive with liquid paint systems. This paper highlights some of the technology that has helped gain acceptance for single-color primer systems. The paper then introduces a technological breakthrough that provides an economically competitive solution to multi-color primers. It then discussed software technology for three-dimensional plant design.