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If
your business includes production line painting processes
with Ransburg, Nordson, Behr, Sames, Graco or equivalent
equipment and you require the highest productivity,
quality, and economy, North American
Paint Applications can
support you at any level to improve your process to
achieve the very best performance that your existing system can
deliver. |
PIGGABLE
PAINT SUPPLY AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS
Piggable
paint systems incorporate a means of forcing a foam plug (the pig)
through a piping network to recover maximum residual paint.
All system hardware including piping, valves, and fittings must
facilitate this. In addition, there must be a means of
inserting the pig into the system, propelling the pig, and
removing it. Although specialized products such a pig
launchers and catchers are available, they are not necessary for
efficient system design and operation.
Advantages
The
recovery of residual paint in the supply and distribution system
for later use holds potentially substantial economic and
environmental benefit. The extent of this potential depends
upon the internal volume of the network, the cost of paint and
disposal, and the frequency which the system must be purged.
North
American Paint Application piggable systems are, by a large
margin, the most efficient available. Complete color change
times are less than 5 minutes and require minimal labor.
After the paint is reclaimed, our purging process minimizes both
time and material to flush and evacuate the system. Loading
paint is fast and easy. This level of efficiency not only
decreases the cost of operations, the speed and flexibility allow
for fewer paint supply and distribution systems needed to support
the production paint process.
Disadvantages
All
components of piggable systems must pass a pig. In most
cases, this requires a new paint supply and distribution
system. In the paint kitchen, inserting and removing the pig
can be a little messy. This method does not reclaim residual
material inside pumps, filters, surge suppressors and other
necessary system components through which the pig cannot pass.
Installation
of tubing requires the use of sanitary fittings that will pass a
pig. All fitting must align perfectly with the tubing and
orbital welds must be inspected and reamed for burrs. 90 degree and other bends must be gradual. During
fabrication and installation, great care must be taken not to
deform or collapse the internal cross-sectional geometry of the
tube.
Maintenance
of piggable systems is extremely troublesome. Repairing and
replacing system components can necessitate that large sections of
the system are disassembled. And when a pig gets stuck, it
can be a daunting task both to find and remove it before solvent
exposure renders it tacky, potentially fouling other system
components. Meanwhile, the paint supply system is
inoperable.
Efficient
Flexible Color Paint Supply and Distribution
The
North American Paint Application Company is the world leader in
the design of efficient paint supply and distribution systems
requiring the flexibility for multiple colors. Although we
can design and supply piggable systems, it has been our experience
that there are superior and far more cost effective alternative methods for reclaiming residual
paint. These highly efficient flexible color systems can
eliminate all the above disadvantages. Existing
pipe networks do not need replaced. Neither foam plugs or
other foreign material is forced into the pipe network. And
because residual paint can be largely reclaimed from the pump,
from the filters, and from all system components, less paint
may be wasted.
This
process utilizes compressed air to push paint from the
system. Because little manual intervention is required, the
whole process of reclaiming the paint, purging the lines, and
loading the next color can be largely automated. Regardless,
manual or automated systems require less labor than piggable
systems without the mess of opening pipe full of paint to insert
and remove a
plug.
Efficient
Paint Supply System Flushing and Loading
One
of the primary purposes of piggable or flexible color systems is
to allow for the supply of multiple colors or materials that share
share the same pipe network. Thorough and efficient flushing
of these systems is very important to prevent cross color
contamination, minimize operational costs, and maintain high
productivity.
To
achieve this, all components of the system should have streamlined
internal geometries, free from cavities, crevices and other areas
where paint can accumulate and solidify, or is otherwise not
cleanable. This includes pumps, filtration, surge suppression,
and regulation. Unnecessary restrictions must be eliminated.
Because
these networks can have substantial size and length, straight
solvent purging can require both significant amounts of material
and time, and still be ineffective. The mechanism by which we purge these lines
does not utilize straight solvent purging. We utilize a
turbulent mix of air and solvent for fast and powerful scrubbing
action. It is the
most efficient and cost effective method of purging available and uses a fraction of
the material in a fraction of the time when compared to straight
solvent purging. It requires minimal labor and can be
completely automated.
Loading
paint efficiently can have a significant impact on material usage
and quality. First, the system should be designed with
minimum internal volume. This minimizes the amount of paint
required for loading. Second, after purging is complete all
residual purging solvents should be removed from the system.
This allows paint to be loaded without without waste and without
thinning.
Designing
special color systems for efficient flushing and loading is an
extremely important factor in achieving the highest level of
performance from your paint application system.
System
Evaluation
In
almost all instances, air reclamation is superior to pigging with
regard to operational costs and efficiency. In existing
systems, the cost of modifications required to reclaim paint is
significantly less with air reclamation. Capital costs for
new systems are also substantially lower with air reclamation.
We will gladly discuss
with your business the benefit of efficient paint reclamation and purging of
flexible color systems. Efficient and effective implementation
of these systems require a special knowledge paint
processes. We
can recommend modifications to existing systems or design new
installation. We can provide designs for your use or we can
offer turn-key services. We promote a paint
system audit for a
comprehensive assessment of paint system operational efficiency.
This
audit can focus on efficient methods for paint reclamation but
often identifies other areas where significant efficiency can be
realized.
This
service offers enormous potential value to North American
businesses and their communities. We also recognize that a
healthy, efficient paint shop is good for your business and ours,
and therefore make every effort to keep audit costs low.
If
you value such an audit, contact
us. For even small paint shops, payback for
our audits are generally measured in hours or days. While on
site, we can also document as-built system installation and
provide for a very reasonable fee, quick turn-a-round on as-built
pneumatic, affluent, or electrical drawings and flow schematics.
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