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Clear Advantage Emerging With PPG's Breakthrough Powder Coating

30 October 1998

Clear Advantage Emerging With PPG's Breakthrough Powder Coating

    PITTSBURGH, Oct. 30 -- A breakthrough in automotive paint
technology is responsible for the gleaming finishes of autos rolling off the
BMW production line in Germany.  The coating is environmentally benign, speeds
production and improves finish quality.
    The final finish on 5- and 7-Series models produced at the Dingolfing
assembly plant is an Enviracryl coating -- the world's first powder clear coat
-- developed by Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries .  R&D magazine has
cited it as one of 1998's most technologically significant new products.
    Powder coatings were introduced in the auto industry during the 1980s,
initially on components such as wheels and engine blocks; body primer
applications began later.
    But clear coat is a colorless finish applied to protect the auto's color
coating.  Unlike conventional liquid coatings, PPG's powder product is
solvent-free, can be recycled and requires no chemicals for treating waste
created during the spray process.
    "Powder clear coat offers many advantages," says Ronald J. Isger, global
manager of automotive powder technology at PPG's Strongsville, Ohio, coatings
facility.  "BMW acknowledges that our Enviracryl powder clear coat is a
premium product appropriate for its premium cars."
    "There is a huge potential with powder," said Walter Wimmer, manager of
BMW's paint shop.  "That is why we decided to go ahead with construction of
powder clear coat lines at Dingolfing."
    Isger adds that PPG is working with the Low Emission Paint Consortium,
created by Chrysler Corp., Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp., which is
evaluating the environmental benefits of powder clear coats for North American
automakers.
    Powder clear coats exceed requirements of United States Environmental
Protection Agency regulations and represent the most environment-compatible
coatings technology available, according to Isger.  Because over-spray can be
recovered and reused, creating little or no waste, powder clear coats give
automakers a cost-effective alternative to liquid clear coats, he adds, with
no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from application.
    With solvent-based liquid clear coats, air circulated through the paint
booth cannot be recycled back into the booth and requires an emission control
system.  Powder coatings require much less booth ventilation and permit up to
90 percent of the air volume to be recirculated.  Because the powder
application process is cleaner, booth maintenance is minimal and use of
aggressive cleaning compounds is unnecessary.
     Powder clear coat is spray-applied electrostatically to grounded car
bodies.  Isger says powder particles remain in an excited state within the
electrical field, contributing to a consistent coating thickness free of
drips, runs or sags that can occur with liquids, so rejection rates for finish
quality are low.  A combination of infrared and convection ovens melt the
powder particles adhering to the car body, fusing them.
    "Because of increasingly stringent environmental requirements, powder
coatings are the fastest growing segment of the coatings industry," says
Isger.  "These products are environmentally friendly, but our goal for top
coats, especially important to automotive customers, is to also match the
finish quality of liquid coatings and exceed them in appearance and
durability."
    With more than 100 plants in 21 countries and annual sales of about
$7.5 billion, PPG is the world's largest producer of automotive and industrial
coatings and a leading maker of fiber glass, flat glass and chemicals.  About
45 percent of its business involves original equipment and repair products for
the transportation industries.