Hardev Grewal
CEO Plasmatreat PTNA & US - Hayward, CA
As anyone who’s ever tried to clean oil paint off brushes knows, it’s not an easy task – that paint is tenacious!
Paint removal from grates and jigs is a particular challenge in industrial automotive applications, given the volumes involved. Oftentimes, the production lines must be completely halted for multi-cycle, high-water-pressure cleaning of grates, which is both time- and energy-intensive.
The alternative, high-temperature carbonization cleaning, is generally done off-site – leading to lots of production downtime – and can damage the grates’ zinc coating.
But we’ve been working in conjunction with our colleagues at Fraunhofer IFAM to develop a plasma-based solution to this problem, and we’re pleased to let you know that we’ve done it.
PermaCLEANPLAS® coating is a permanent paint release coating that facilitates the removal of overspray that occurs in high-volume paint coating industries (such as automotive):
- Reduces time and energy needed for paint removal; 500 bar vs. 2500 bar water pressure needed
- Thorough cleaning in a single cycle
- Appropriate for complex geometries
- Zinc coating of grate is not damaged, as it can be with high-temp carbonization cleaning
- Resistant between pH = 2-12
- Environmentally friendly, quiet technology
- Solvent resistant
- Colorless, transparent
- Stable up to 300° C
- Cleaning can be performed inside the factory, which means no contamination and less production downtime
- Coating remains functional after 1000+ cleaning cycles
PermaCLEANPLAS® is applied via a low-pressure, cold-coating plasma deposition process to clean, rust-free surfaces. It can be used for both aqueous paint coatings and powder coatings (if cured), and on various substrates, including hot-dipped or galvanized steel, stainless steel, aluminum, plastics, and powder-coated components.
It’s a very effective process, one that is already being used by major automotive manufacturers (including Mercedes-Benz) in Germany and the rest of Europe. We’re looking forward to rolling it out to U.S. auto manufacturers soon.
If you’d like more info about the process, please contact my California-based colleague, Khoren Sahagian, at (650) 596-1606, x2233.
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