FXSTD – Alternative Energy Center

By: Rangga Cipta Diputra
The conventional paints for vehicles proved more dangerous because it contains many ingredients that are always environmentally destructive. For this reason, the technologies in this field continue to be developed for the creation of environmentally friendly products that has quality no less than conventional paint.

Recently, the development of technologies that relates with paint is growing very fast. In fact, the latest technology brings paint with waterborne technology. This product contains more elements of water including for the dilution purposes instead of toxic compounds such as paint thinner in it that can cause the damage to environment.

Waterborne technology can be described as a simple process; water can replace liquid paint thinner for the benefit of mixing, painting, and evaporation. This is very beneficial because the substance that contained in a thinner is a form of environmental damaging compounds.

However, it does not mean waterborne did not use paint thinner in the entire production process.  But the concentration and the amount of use is reduced if it compared with the use of paint thinner in conventional products.

Therefore, the combination of paint that contains water with a high solid system is the mixture of several chemical compounds that contained in the paint can reduce the amount of toxic solvents which is used. The new system is also very environmentally friendly including the coating process, coat base, and also coat.

Paint that contains more water must be heated in a temperature between 5 to 30 degrees Celsius. Even for a better result required the heating process until the temperature 20 degrees Celsius. The process is slightly more complicated than the use of conventional paint.

Recently, this system has been developing a method of painting with oven, and can eliminate some obstacles. For example, to mix paint in the oven you must be carefully before painting. Moreover, it can also be used infrared method, so that the paint which is diluted with water definitely can be dried with ease.

This product formulated to be friendly with water. Therefore, pigment-binding process is one of examples that can be performed easily. This process can be imagined as mixing paint for the purposes of drawing water. But the end of result is almost exactly same as oil paint, which more powerful and easily to coat the shiny metal. Because of it is easily soluble in water, the other chemical solvent needed in the process of painting as a whole can be very small, about 10 percent compared to the use of conventional paint.

On the basis of painting process with conventional products required 85 percent of toxic solvents. But, by using this new type of paint, the other chemical solvents compounds that required only ten percent.

The advantage of using waterborne is not only reducing the environmental problem in the process of refinishing, but also balancing ecological and economic systems. This new material is safer to be used every day, and also can greatly reduce the investment of new equipment, because the using of material is less than conventional paint.

Automotive manufacturer Audi in Germany has also made research to refine these findings. The development includes the process of water dissolving directly mixed in the circulation at a special container when sprayed. This also includes the using of the latest ultra filter system.

The process is the water from the paint collected in 250,000-liter tank before cleaning the pollutants and other toxic chemicals. After that the water is recycled into the painting circuit. In other words, to fill the water circuit, also required the water. It means that the whole process of painting is not only guaranteed of environmentally friendly, but also very economical, because the water can be recycled.

The process is able to reduce more than 70 percent of the energy for the purposes of tinting on the entire of the cars body in the series of production car in the factory. That means it will save at least 2900 tons of oil for heating purposes in the process of painting in the factory of Audi per year.

If discussing about this new paint technology, of course it must be linked with the painting process of vehicle in the factory. The result is the progress of the environmental protection and the efforts to suppress the production cost can be obtained by using waterborne. Meanwhile, for the business or the painting services, the level of information about efficiency is not obtained yet.