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Progress at PCE 2002
POWDER COATINGS 11111111111111111111llllllllllllllllllllll A MONTHLY REPORT FROM SID HARRIS FEBRUARY 2002 In this issue TECHNICAL
2-6
Powder Coating in Europe Highly weather resistant powder coating systems The contribution of additives to powder coating performance Coloured and silver metallic powder coatings INDUSTRY
NEWS
6-7
The art of innovation: DPC exhibited advanced technologies at PCE MARKETS
7-a
French conference on powder paints includes market figures NEW PRODUCTS
a
Color effects and total ease of processing for powder coatings: HELICONE HC . effect pigments
POWDER
COATINGS
POWDER
Although the Conference organizers at PCE 2002 have had two years to arrange the programme it was disappointing to discover that the bound copies of the conference papers often omitted a written account of the paper, either in German or English, or in some cases both. The main culprits were the German speakers, and even a key note presentation by Dr Mauss of BASF was not printed in either language. Most conference organizers insist that any paper must be written and presented well in advance of its presentation, or the paper is not accepted. It seems that the German organizers were inclined to be tolerant at this event, particularly in respect to their fellow countrymen. Again, the advanced publicity informed potential delegates that all presentations would be in German and English, and even a special programme was planned for a French speaking audience, which did not materialize. The main culprits who either presented a paper in a single language or not at all, were multinational companies with adequate facilities for presentation in both languages. Many overseas delegates were unable to sit through the earlier papers which were largely presented in German, with no text to follow COATINGS
POWDER
and no simultaneous translation facilities. If this valuable event is not to be doomed to failure then a radical policy review is needed. The biennial meeting should be held in different European locations to justify the description “Powder Coating Europe”. Presentations may be made in the language of the speaker, but it must be supported by a text in English, which for all its faults and lack of appreciation by the French and Germans, is still the most commonly understood language amongst European technologists engaged in the powder coating industry, thanks largely to the widespread influence of the Americans who exert a powerful presence in European industry. Despite these criticisms which also reflect the views of many other delegates, the contents of the papers that could be abstracted provided some interesting new aspects of powder coating market potentials, formulating methods, manufacturing, pretreatment and application. The first paper reviewed was an overall assessment of the current European powder coatings market, which still continues to thrive in the face of major industrial downturns during the past year. Growth is forecast for powder coatings while the liquid
COATINGS
POWDER
COATINGS
paint markets at best remain stable. Future growth for powder coatings in Europe will depend on new outlets that are presently being developed with the aid of new technologies. The paper by Stefan Leb offers a broader approach to the benefits of using the more expensive super durable powder coatings, by comparing the real cost savings that can be achieved during routine maintenance over a ten year period. Additives can significantly improve the performance of powder coatings and the latest developments by Ciba Specialty Chemicals, in this field, describe materials to improve powder application qualities and film performance. Finally, the concept of partially bonded metallic pigments seems to offer a versatile alternative to existing methods of incorporating metallic pigments into powder coatings. The annual reports of the major chemicals and coatings companies do not make good reading for the shareholders, with cost cutting and rationalization being undertaken as interim measures. While many non-core activities are suffering closures or disposal, there is a realization that powder coating is a growth industry that is worth supporting and promoting in these difficult times. When the economy improves, powder coatings will be at the forefront of recovery. Sid Harris
Powder Coating in Europe The first paper in the opening session of the PCE 2002 Conference, was presented by Robert Strouhal, the Chairman of the CEPE Powder Coating Group. Many hitherto buoyant areas of the global economy have recently seen setbacks which at best reflect negative growth, but the 2
speaker was confident that the powder coatings market can still look forward to positive development in the future. Powder coatings have gained wide industrial acceptance over recent years and now account for roughly 10% of the industrial coatings market. Annual growth varies from 5 to 15% depending on the region. Liquid coating sales remain stable, but show almost no growth. Charts were shown which confirmed the world powder production figures for 2000 and figures for European powder coatings production in each of the major countries were quoted. Paradoxically, these figures differed considerably but the paper emphasized that they came from different sources. Although, the figures quoted differed by about 10% on average, they still revealed that Italy was the major producer, followed by Germany, with Britain, France and Spain, a considerable way behind. Growth in European powder coatings will, in the near future, depend upon breakthroughs into new market areas. The new opportunities include: MDF for kitchen cabinets, ready-to-assemble furniture or off ice furniture; plastics; preassembled components with temperature sensitive parts; dense materials with tremendous heat sink characteristics; coil coating lines; thin film powder coatings for office furniture; and acrylic powder coatings for the automotive industry. Trends within the industry covered the following topics: Low bake powder coatings based on epoxy systems can be cured as low as 110°C. This is the same temperature range for polyester systems but the flow behaviour of polyesters is much lower due to significant melt viscosity differences. The increased reactivity at these low temperatures is brought about by the use of catalysts, but there is a delicate balance between
reactivity and viscosity of the system which limits the cure speed and cure times, with stoving times of between 15 and 25 minutes in conventional ovens. Although the cure temperatures are low, the shelf life of these products is around three months at 30°C. New substrates have been explored with the main focus on MDF board where a one-coat application of powder coating is a considerable labour saving. An epoxy based powder coating could also be applied as the primer layer followed by a wet paint top coat. Epoxy powder primers are also easy to sand. Polyester powders are better suited for texture finishes which are favoured for shelving. Radiation curing of low bake powders is preferred to conventional oven curing since heat is mainly directed to the powder film and not to heating the substrate. This technique can reduce curing times to five to eight minutes. Coating of a wide range of synthetic substrates is now possible by means of a new method for reducing nonconductivity at the workpiece. Infrared/UV curable powder coatings offer many advantages for application to heat sensitive substrates, but the main applications using UV curable powder coatings at the present time are on metal substrates. The advantages are well documented but the disadvantages are the high capital investment in equipment, thicknesses are a maximum of 100 microns, there is a limited colour range, and 3D shapes are difficult to cure. Thin film powder coatings offer a lower application cost since they can be applied at 25 microns which is comparable to wet paint applications. Conventional powder coatings need a film thickness in the range of 50 microns to achieve good cover and flow. At film thicknesses of 25 microns, raw FEBRUARY
2002
2-6
Powder Coating in Europe Highly weather resistant powder coating systems The contribution of additives to powder coating performance Coloured and silver metallic powder coatings INDUSTRY
NEWS
6-7
The art of innovation: DPC exhibited advanced technologies at PCE MARKETS
7-a
French conference on powder paints includes market figures NEW PRODUCTS
a
Color effects and total ease of processing for powder coatings: HELICONE HC . effect pigments
POWDER
COATINGS
POWDER
Although the Conference organizers at PCE 2002 have had two years to arrange the programme it was disappointing to discover that the bound copies of the conference papers often omitted a written account of the paper, either in German or English, or in some cases both. The main culprits were the German speakers, and even a key note presentation by Dr Mauss of BASF was not printed in either language. Most conference organizers insist that any paper must be written and presented well in advance of its presentation, or the paper is not accepted. It seems that the German organizers were inclined to be tolerant at this event, particularly in respect to their fellow countrymen. Again, the advanced publicity informed potential delegates that all presentations would be in German and English, and even a special programme was planned for a French speaking audience, which did not materialize. The main culprits who either presented a paper in a single language or not at all, were multinational companies with adequate facilities for presentation in both languages. Many overseas delegates were unable to sit through the earlier papers which were largely presented in German, with no text to follow COATINGS
POWDER
and no simultaneous translation facilities. If this valuable event is not to be doomed to failure then a radical policy review is needed. The biennial meeting should be held in different European locations to justify the description “Powder Coating Europe”. Presentations may be made in the language of the speaker, but it must be supported by a text in English, which for all its faults and lack of appreciation by the French and Germans, is still the most commonly understood language amongst European technologists engaged in the powder coating industry, thanks largely to the widespread influence of the Americans who exert a powerful presence in European industry. Despite these criticisms which also reflect the views of many other delegates, the contents of the papers that could be abstracted provided some interesting new aspects of powder coating market potentials, formulating methods, manufacturing, pretreatment and application. The first paper reviewed was an overall assessment of the current European powder coatings market, which still continues to thrive in the face of major industrial downturns during the past year. Growth is forecast for powder coatings while the liquid
COATINGS
POWDER
COATINGS
paint markets at best remain stable. Future growth for powder coatings in Europe will depend on new outlets that are presently being developed with the aid of new technologies. The paper by Stefan Leb offers a broader approach to the benefits of using the more expensive super durable powder coatings, by comparing the real cost savings that can be achieved during routine maintenance over a ten year period. Additives can significantly improve the performance of powder coatings and the latest developments by Ciba Specialty Chemicals, in this field, describe materials to improve powder application qualities and film performance. Finally, the concept of partially bonded metallic pigments seems to offer a versatile alternative to existing methods of incorporating metallic pigments into powder coatings. The annual reports of the major chemicals and coatings companies do not make good reading for the shareholders, with cost cutting and rationalization being undertaken as interim measures. While many non-core activities are suffering closures or disposal, there is a realization that powder coating is a growth industry that is worth supporting and promoting in these difficult times. When the economy improves, powder coatings will be at the forefront of recovery. Sid Harris
Powder Coating in Europe The first paper in the opening session of the PCE 2002 Conference, was presented by Robert Strouhal, the Chairman of the CEPE Powder Coating Group. Many hitherto buoyant areas of the global economy have recently seen setbacks which at best reflect negative growth, but the 2
speaker was confident that the powder coatings market can still look forward to positive development in the future. Powder coatings have gained wide industrial acceptance over recent years and now account for roughly 10% of the industrial coatings market. Annual growth varies from 5 to 15% depending on the region. Liquid coating sales remain stable, but show almost no growth. Charts were shown which confirmed the world powder production figures for 2000 and figures for European powder coatings production in each of the major countries were quoted. Paradoxically, these figures differed considerably but the paper emphasized that they came from different sources. Although, the figures quoted differed by about 10% on average, they still revealed that Italy was the major producer, followed by Germany, with Britain, France and Spain, a considerable way behind. Growth in European powder coatings will, in the near future, depend upon breakthroughs into new market areas. The new opportunities include: MDF for kitchen cabinets, ready-to-assemble furniture or off ice furniture; plastics; preassembled components with temperature sensitive parts; dense materials with tremendous heat sink characteristics; coil coating lines; thin film powder coatings for office furniture; and acrylic powder coatings for the automotive industry. Trends within the industry covered the following topics: Low bake powder coatings based on epoxy systems can be cured as low as 110°C. This is the same temperature range for polyester systems but the flow behaviour of polyesters is much lower due to significant melt viscosity differences. The increased reactivity at these low temperatures is brought about by the use of catalysts, but there is a delicate balance between
reactivity and viscosity of the system which limits the cure speed and cure times, with stoving times of between 15 and 25 minutes in conventional ovens. Although the cure temperatures are low, the shelf life of these products is around three months at 30°C. New substrates have been explored with the main focus on MDF board where a one-coat application of powder coating is a considerable labour saving. An epoxy based powder coating could also be applied as the primer layer followed by a wet paint top coat. Epoxy powder primers are also easy to sand. Polyester powders are better suited for texture finishes which are favoured for shelving. Radiation curing of low bake powders is preferred to conventional oven curing since heat is mainly directed to the powder film and not to heating the substrate. This technique can reduce curing times to five to eight minutes. Coating of a wide range of synthetic substrates is now possible by means of a new method for reducing nonconductivity at the workpiece. Infrared/UV curable powder coatings offer many advantages for application to heat sensitive substrates, but the main applications using UV curable powder coatings at the present time are on metal substrates. The advantages are well documented but the disadvantages are the high capital investment in equipment, thicknesses are a maximum of 100 microns, there is a limited colour range, and 3D shapes are difficult to cure. Thin film powder coatings offer a lower application cost since they can be applied at 25 microns which is comparable to wet paint applications. Conventional powder coatings need a film thickness in the range of 50 microns to achieve good cover and flow. At film thicknesses of 25 microns, raw FEBRUARY
2002