Using reverse-osmosis systems to recycle used rinse water
Although powder coatings are dry, companies that apply them require large amounts of water to expedite the finishing process. Despite the fact that water was cheap and plentiful at one time, finishers now know it's not an infinite resource that can be squandered. By using reverse osmosis [RO] and deionization [DI] technologies, finishers have found ways to reduce their water consumption. This article focuses on RO technology to recycle used rinse water. It also discusses the history of water use in the powder coating industry. It then explains how ROand DI technologies came to play a role in water treatment and how RO can be used to recycle as much as 90 percent of the rinse water used in surface preparation.
The powder coating industry demands a high volume of purified water to support production. Finishers use purified water to clean and rinse parts. Simultaneously, finishers face the need to reduce the total volume of wastewater from their plants. As companies begin to find out that many of their waters can be reused internally by containing them and then repurifying them, finishers are also finding that the process involved is so simple, it's often cost-effective for them to reclaim the water. This is particularly true when membrane processes are used to treat water because the water recovery for reuse is extremely high, typically around 80 to 95 percent.