Chemical Engineering March 2023 - 7

More sustainable curing technology for coil coatings
C
oil coating is a continuous process for producing
prepainted sheets of metal (steel or aluminum),
which can then be fabricated into various
building and other materials. Because organic
coating materials are used, the process requires substantial
energy for the curing and drying steps, and can generate
significant emissions of volatile organic compounds
(VOCs). To make the curing process more sustainable,
efforts to find alternatives to traditional thermal-curing
processes (diagram, left). The European Coil Coating
Assn. (ECCA; Brussels, Belgium; prepaintedmetal.eu)
considers ultraviolet (UV) and electron-beam (EB) curing
technology to be the most significant game changer in
terms of decarbonization of the coil coating industry.
Now, Wilh. Beckers Holding GmbH (Berlin, Germany;
www.beckers-group.com) has developed the first commercial
paint formulations for dual UV and EB curing (diagram,
right). Until now, the only available
industrial application of radiation curing
in coil coating has been EB irradiation
used for packaging material. Long-term
collaboration between Beckers and one
of its customers has led to the first ever
full-scale application of advanced, dualUV/EB-curing
technology in coil coating
for the building industry.
At Beckers' development laboratory in
Montbrison, France, a team of researchBeckers
ers
has demonstrated that UV/EB curing has significant
potential to reduce the CO2 footprint of coil coating, due
to the fact that it requires much less paint and energy in
the curing process. " UV/EB curing allows us to use up to
100% solid, solvent-free formulations that are more efficient
and provide up to twice the surface coverage per
kilogram of paint, " says Gavin Bown, CTO at Beckers.
Solid, solvent-free UV/EB paint formulations are more
sustainable, because around half the volume of paint is
needed and they significantly reduce VOCs. " Compared
with conventional gas-fired curing, the UV/EB coldcuring
process also uses much less energy, facilitates
the transition from natural gas to renewable electricity,
avoids the use of expensive gas, and does not require
water for cooling, " says Bown. Because the UV/EB curing
process is almost instantaneous, coating lines can
be shorter and run at higher speeds.
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Chemical Engineering March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering March 2023
