CASE STUDY
2022Paint plant and energy conservation: the challenge continues
Objective
Double the production capacity of an existing saturated liquid coating plant by installing a new powder coating plant complete with pre-treatment.
Challenges
Reduce consumption and reduce energy costs for a constantly operating plant.
Impact
Production capacity doubled
The continuous feed powder coating plant, designed to be constantly on resulting in continuous feeding of parts to be painted, is designed to ensure high production volumes and increase painting quality. The plant includes a 4-stage washing tunnel, a dedicated blowing and drying area, an automatic spray booth, and a 250°C baking oven, all connected by an automatic overhead conveyor. The powder coatings used are of a special type that withstands high temperatures, suitable for the field of thermal heating.
Advanced heat recovery system
The firing tunnel is equipped with a pre-chamber with the dual purpose of making the firing more homogeneous and advantageously taking up the waste heat, to convey part of it, via a by-pass system, to the heat recuperator that heats the degreasing liquid and feed the rest back into the firing chamber itself.
Plus
The dual heat recovery system of heat from the cooking and drying tunnels allows the degreasing liquid in the washing tunnel to be heated by a water exchanger, and the remaining hot air to be used to heat the working environment.
Thanks to this innovative technological solution, the main critical issue of continuous systems-that is, heat loss due to the absence of heat containment doors and barriers-has been converted into energy-saving opportunity.