CASE STUDY
2020
  • Railway

An innovative wall-mounted vacuum system for painting high-speed trains

Customer

SBB Swiss Federal Railways – Bellinzona, Arbedo-Castione, Olten

Objective

Implementation of a new liquid painting line with an advanced wall filtration system

Challenges

  • Obtain a flexible solution for painting different types of rolling stock
  • Avoid construction work for its construction, as it is a cabin to be installed in a pre-arranged space
  • Reduce energy consumption
  • Simplify maintenance
  • Reduce installation times
An innovative wall-mounted vacuum system for painting high-speed trains

Eurotherm wins the tender to supply new coating systems at the three maintenance sites of the Swiss Federal Railways SBB for the installation of a paint booth with an innovative side suction system that provides flexibility and energy savings and avoids the need for excavation for the floor system.

Impact

Sector suction system

In order to avoid structural work prior to installation, the spray booth is equipped with a dry-filtered suction wall system divided into three separate sectors with a total length of 34 meters on both sides, each sector being operated independently by its own dedicated air handling unit.

01 Liquid painting booth for railway sector 1 Eurotherm
carrozza 3 1 Eurotherm

During painting, the operation of the side suction system is constrained by the positioning of the operator platform, allowing only those sectors affected by the processing to be activated.

Closed air recirculation system

The air supply comes from the roof through a plenum that is easily accessible to maintenance. With this system, air is taken directly from outside the factory, pushed into the plenum through an exhaust fan and fed into the high-pressure cabin, and then expelled outside, creating a cycle that is totally independent of the factory’s indoor environment.

Carrozza 1 1 Eurotherm
eurotherm case ex 4 4 Eurotherm

Constant temperatures and humidity

Each of the three AHUs is equipped with an automatic hydraulic system to cool or heat the air depending on outside temperatures, so that the cabin maintains a constant indoor temperature throughout the year; and is also equipped with a humidity level control system through an osmotized water humidification system operated by sensors installed in the cabin.

Advanced aerodynamic management

Thanks to the advanced aeraulic management system, acting from the touch panel of the control PLC, operators can adjust various parameters to manage the surface preparation and paint application stages with controlled temperature and humidity: three colors, white in two coats, blue and red, identifying a leader in the rail industry.

05 Liquid painting booth for railway sector 1 Eurotherm

Plus

Originally conceived as a project for the Olten (CH) site, the installation of the liquid coating and drying booth was diverted to the Bellinzona plant. Due to the client’s extreme urgency, the work was completed in only six months.

Due to the generous size of the booth and the air chimneys to be placed outside the plant, a helicopter was required-a procedure applied in the case of oversized installations such as those at the SBB Workshops.

Focus on

SBB CFF FFS logo 1 Eurotherm

In 2023, the rolling stock owned by the Swiss Federal Railways amounted to 691 electric trains, 219 shunting locomotives and 172 self-propelled special infrastructure vehicles, totaling 1916 passenger carriages and 4518 freight wagons*. SBB has three industrial hubs for train maintenance: in Yverdon-les-Bains, Bellinzona and Olten.

As part of a renovation project for the Astoro fleet, a group of electric trains undergoing an extensive upgrading and repainting process, Eurotherm supported the company with the supply of a state-of-the-art smart and sustainable liquid paint system.