More than 200 companies have signed up for PaintExpo, an international trade fair that will put up the world’s most comprehensive industrial coating technologies on show at the Karlsruhe exhibition centre in Germany.

Market leaders from virtually every sector, including first-time participants from the coating industry like BASF Coatings, Relius Coatings and Tiger Coatings will take part in the third fair in its series, to be held from April 13 to April 16, 2010.

Every aspect of wet painting, powder coating and coil coating will be showcased with the portfolio for industrial coating technology comprising systems and applications technology, coatings, transport systems, automation solutions and paint robots, consumables and services for the organic coating process, ranging from pre-treatment through to final inspection, said a statement.

Integrated Concept II is one solution that ensures reduced investment and operating costs, particularly in the automotive sector, leading to material savings, improved productivity, energy and eco-balance, it said.

Another approach towards restricting material consumption lies in intelligent coating logistics with flexible coating supply systems. For instance, the pigging system technology enables unused coatings to be recovered from the pipe, or specific quantities of coating to be conveyed to the application system, said the statement.

In the area of coating powders, manufacturers are developing solutions that harden at lower temperatures. There are already systems that harden at between 120° C and 130° C. Besides improving energy efficiency, the system also increases productivity. In addition, plastic materials and composites can be powder coated at these low temperatures, which still had to be wet painted till very recently.

In new methods to recover overspray, innovative electrostatic separator systems not only achieve much higher levels of separation, they also considerably reduce the water and energy consumption, said the statement.

Potential savings can further be exploited through increased automation. The use of paint robots, therefore, results in greater reproducibility of the coating result, a reduction in waste and better overall quality. New developments in paint robots and software that will be presented at the expo can be programmed quickly and easily, ensuring that the investment pays off, even for parts that are changed frequently, it said. – TradeArabia News Service