The bold investment in an e coating facility at EQC is nearing completion. The plant is now entering its commissioing phase and expected to be fully operational by mid November.

E coat is a process widely used in industrial applications particularly in the automotive sector because of it offers excellent corrosion protection and a consistent film thickness.

This process is also know as Electrophoretic Deposition, EPD, KTL coating, ed coating or Electrocoating.

The EQC process is a cathodic electrodeposition type which is most often used in automotive components.

Getting the colour that you want in a powder coating is increasingly possible. At Euro Quality Coatings we work hard to find or match the powder coating colours that our customers want us to use on their products. If you require RAL, BS and NCS colour systems or colours matched against pre-coated metalwork (such as Corus Colorcoat Prisma) we will do our best to source the shade that you need.

Katie Smithson from Akzo Nobels colour and design team explains how they match colours in powder for their customers:

Colour is created by adding combinations of chemical pigments (that mimic the world’s natural colour pigments) to the base formulation at the start of the powder manufacturing process. A computer works out the combinations and concentrations of different pigments needed to produce specific colours. It can predict colours to a high degree of accuracy over a wide range. If we are matching a new colour we can choose the nearest approximation and then fine tune.

Frequently colours are made for customers, often working from samples the customer has sent in. These can vary from liquid paint to coloured paper and even to bits of a bicycle.

Some colours take longer to match; very strong colours like yellows and reds are difficult because the pigments are organic and break down under UV light. The team has to find a way of achieving the colour without losing performance characteristics such as durability and temperature resistance. Special effect paints such as metallic or sparkly are also tricky. As they are not solid colours, the appearance can change depending on what angle you are looking from. It’s definitely challenging.

Article adapted from Akzo Nobel powder coatings Review ‘10

Due to sustained and increasing demand from our existing customer base we have decided to operate an additional shift starting from 1st March 2010.

This will result in shorter lead times and greater flexibility for customers.

To facilitate this, we identified the Green Dragon Environmental Standard as the most appropriate for the business and implementation began in 2004. The advantage of the green dragon standard in comparison to ISO 14001 was that we could gain accreditation in stages (levels 1 to 5) and when you have reached level 5 you have achieved a standard equivalent to ISO 14001.

Green Dragon Environmental Standard

By 2005 we had achieved accreditation to Level 4, followed by Level 5 in 2006 which has been successfully retained in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Initiatives identified were the creation and the implementation of dedicated environmental objectives to be targeted and measured year on year. These included a reduction in CO² emission, consideration of reducing hazardous chemical use on site, thus reducing hazardous waste for disposal, continual monitoring and, where possible, reduction in consumption of fuel, water and waste going to landfill, along with an improvement in environmental awareness and activities with employees.

Energy and Water usage

Cardboard bale for recycling

Through energy saving initiatives such as delayed start up times and reduced cycle times for ovens and process tanks, EQC have reduced CO² emissions by almost 10% from 2007 to 2008 with an overall reduction of more than 20% since 2005.

As a powder coater, the largest waste stream is waste powder generated by the spray process. This is currently generating in excess of 15 tonnes per annum, which is disposed of, through a licensed waste carrier, to landfill costing almost £3,000 per year. In line with the company’s objectives to reduce waste to landfill wherever possible, EQC has sourced a recycle opportunity for waste powder which will reduce this waste to landfill by 100% and will reduce disposal costs by approximately 50%.