Junair Spraybooths Install a New Paint Finishing Facility for GEA Searle

GEA Searle is a market leader in the air-side heat exchanger and air conditioning industries.

Junair Spraybooths in collaboration with Gema UK have installed a state of the art new powder coating paint line for GEA Searle in Fareham, UK. Ryan Davis, GEA Searle comments “After researching a number of vendors we decided to award Junair Spraybooths the contract; this decision was made based on the advanced technical knowledge Junair demonstrated, and having visited a number of installations their attention to detail, high quality manufacture and progressive technology was clear to see.”

Richard Hawkins, General Manager Gema UK commented, “The Gema Magic booth system provides the latest in powder coating technology, enabling rapid colour change with minimal power losses coupled with the highest application efficiency for the lowest coated product cost.”

A New Efficient Process Line

The aim of the project was to provide a ‘world class’ manufacturing facility incorporating leading edge technology to provide the most efficient and highest quality paint facility with an emphasis on reliability, consistency and low energy usage.  All of this whilst incorporating a clean, aesthetic appearance.

Products up to 4m in length are transported through the paint finishing process with anoverhead single line powered conveyor, supplied as a ‘clean line’ inverted option to reduce contamination onto products, and the system includes a continuous saw tooth beam which allows great flexibility of hanger placement. All products are manually loaded and un-loaded onto the conveyor in a lower section of track for improved ergonomics.

Wash

Products pass through a sophisticated three-stage fully stainless steel pre-treatment system. Products enter through a ventilated vestibule before a zirconium phosphate cleaner / coater operating at 50^oc for 120 seconds. This stage includes automatic oil separation, and liquid filtering.  Products then drain and move to stage 2 and 3 of the process which are towns water rinses lasting 30 second, with a cascading counter flow to maintain cleanliness. After the final rinse excess water is removed with a self-generating air knife.  The pre-treatment has a fully welded construction with access doors, lighting and safe maintenance access.  All the pipework is readily accessible, with quick release nozzle tips, and quick release pipework.

Dry   

Products are transported through a dry off oven constructed using 100mm insulated panels filled with high density insulation and an extremely efficient panel joint.  The oven operates at a variable temperature between 100-160^oc.  A high air movement in the oven allows the lowest possible operating temperatures.

Coating

A double skin plastic booth allows fully automatic coating using Gema Optiflex spray guns mounted on electronic reciprocators for smooth movement.  A light barrier linked to the system automatically adjusts stroke length and gun positions to maintain optimum transfer efficiency.  Recovery via a mono cyclone back to the Gema powder centre includes the revolutionary Opti speeder to maintain optimum powder condition and which minimizes waste on colour change. The system allows colour change in around 10 minutes.

Cure 1 

Products pass through a gas catalytic infra-red pre gel oven for 2 minutes. This process is designed to heat the products to 200 ^oc in order to melt the power paint on the products.  This maintains cleanliness in the main cure oven, and minimises contamination.

Cure 2    

After the pre-gel oven the products enter a conventional air circulating cure oven for full cure.  The size of the oven was calculated for maximum efficiency based on the pre-gel oven reducing the ramp time.

State of the Art Powder Coating Equipment and Paint Finishing Facility

The process line is controlled with a central PLC system with a 12” operator HMI panel, located at the load area. This provides the operator controls, 7 day timer for automatic plant start-up and also advanced engineer features such as parameter set up and alarms. The control system also includes automatic start / stop for pre-treatment pumps, pre-gel oven and air knife, linked to both conveyor movement and light beams detecting product.  A break-time feature allows dry off and cure oven temperature reduction for additional energy saving. The pre-gel oven output is fully adjustable to allow various settings to suit differing products.

Speaking about the installation, Ryan Davis adds “We are extremely impressed with the finished result. We now have a highly efficient, high quality paint finishing process. From the start to finish of the project Junair Spraybooths were extremely knowledgeable, professional and have exceeded our expectations. They project managed the whole installation with regular communication.”

Angus Trenholme, Technical Director, Junair Spraybooths comments “Our design team worked very hard and were able to lean upon their vast experience to come up with a design that maximised the available space, whilst maintaining the leading edge technology utilised within the facility”

Contacting Junair Spraybooths

You can find out more about Junair Spraybooths powder coating equipment and paint finishing facility installation online or you can contact the Junair team direct on +44(0)1706 363555.

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