Ultraviolet Light Cure Powder Coating
Project Number - ESTCP WP-0801
As part of the Information Exchange efforts, JG-PP is monitoring the progress of the new Environmental Securities Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) project Ultraviolet Light Cure Powder Coating.
The Department of Defense (DoD) spends millions of dollars each year utilizing solvent-borne organic coatings on weapon systems. Tremendous risk and cost are associated with use of these chromated primers and topcoats containing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs). Handling, disposing and tracking toxic hazardous wastes and Title V permitted action levels associated with these coatings is extremely costly, time consuming, and presents risk to human health and the environment. Additionally, use of these compounds pose risks in the form of fines for non-compliance to federal, state, and local regulations from the EPA and OSHA. Fines may be imposed for violations to the Clean Air and Water Acts, National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and Resource Conservation and Recovery (RCRA).
New powder coat paint technologies are available that reduce or eliminate these risks since they are applied without use of solvents. However, powder paint use is limited due to the high temperatures required for application. Newer low temperature cure powder paint help address the parent substrate material temperatures and VOC/HAP issues. However, these coatings still require periods of time in conventional ovens to cure. Target material physical dimensions limit the size and amount of components that could take advantage of this technology to the sizes and capacities of the ovens.
The objective of this project effort is to demonstrate, validate and successfully implement a VOC/HAP-free Ultraviolet cure powder coating on DoD depot production hardware to replace solvent-borne organic coatings. The project will utilize an existing COTS UV-curable powder and the current wet paint system in a side-by-side demonstration. The project will demonstrate both the elimination of hazardous VOC and HAP materials, and demonstrate significant cost savings in both energy use and labor.
This site last updated February 28, 2008.
