Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing Magazine March/April 2022 - 27

PAINT AND COATINGS MANUFACTURING: PAINT MIXING
IN THE MIX
BY ALYSSA KERSLAKE
T
he paint industry is rebounding from the recent
downturn of the pandemic, according to Ceresana's
most recent market study. As a result of regulatory
restrictions, the coatings industry refined standard
low-solid, solvent-based formulas and developed more
waterborne systems, high-solid coatings, energy-curable inks,
and other low-VOC technologies during the last few decades.
Specifically, market shares for waterborne paints and coatings
will likely develop the most dynamically in the future.
The changing requirements of modern enterprises and
customers heralded the arrival of new advancements in
formulation and functionality. A steady increase in the
demand for specialty and high-value-added coatings demands
manufacturers to consider this need when developing their
processing methods, particularly when it comes to mixing and
milling procedures. Members of the coatings business always
seek to increase performance and compliance while also
managing finances effectively. It makes commercial sense to
optimize the mixing methods in a company organization. Even
if they are conventional, well-established goods and processes
might benefit from a strategic reconsideration of the mixing
operation. Paint, ink, and coating manufacturers use various
dispersion tools to create their products, and some of these
technologies are relatively recent answers to long-standing
processing challenges. The selection of a mixer is dependent on
many parameters, including the viscosity profile, the need for
shear requirement, the order of addition, and throughput.
For example, paint agitator equipment assists incorrectly
mixing materials, which is the first step in achieving industrial
finishing applications. We reached out to SAMES KREMLIN to
learn more about the agitation process. Steve Romer, the Senior
Systems Application Engineer explains at length how agitation
is an integral component of the finish system, although often
overlooked: " In today's liquid coating finishing equipment and
coatings review, the most overlooked area is the agitation of the
coatings before and during use. Everyone looks at the coatings
and the application equipment but often overlook the agitation
of the coatings before they are applied. "
" Years ago, I provided a complete automatic liquid application
system. There were many different colours (up to 60), pumps,
agitators, heaters with circulation, which provided a completely
mixed coating to the applicators. The results were very good,
with great uniformity in the film builds and appearance with a
high Application Transfer Efficiency (or ATE). One morning I
came in, and the system was completely shut down as they could
not get coverage even with a dry film build of 2 mils. As the more
wet film was applied, the coating ran while still not providing
hide- this resulted in the rejection of all parts. "
" The day before, they had a rush order for a colour which was
March/April 2022
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Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing Magazine March/April 2022

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