INNOVATIONS: PRESENT&FUTURE
Saving Energy by Recovering the Oxygen Released During Paint Application with On-Site Nitrogen Generators: The Latest Evolution of the Polifluid and Nitrotherm Spray Machines From an interview with Ottavio Milli CEO of Eurosider, Grosseto (Italy)
The latest evolution of Polifluid® (for powder coatings) and Nitrotherm Spray (for liquid coatings) equipment is a device recovering the oxygen released from nitrogen production to feed the burners of coating lines’ ovens, thus achieving significant savings in the consumption of methane gas (or diesel).
T
he air we breathe is composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases. Both liquid and powder paint application technologies traditionally use compressed air to carry the
coating product. However, for many years now, Eurosider has been designing, manufacturing, and marketing on-site generators of nitrogen and oxygen for use as paint carriers instead of compressed air. In fact, the use of nitrogen makes it possible to eliminate an otherwise uncontrollable environmental parameter: air humidity. After many years of experience with its Nitrotherm Spray generators for liquid paints, Eurosider developed a specific system for thermosetting powder coating as well, called Polifluid®.
Both of these devices concentrate the nitrogen contained in the compressed air through selective permeation with a membrane system and use it as a booster fluid in all phases of paint application. This process generates a by-product, namely oxygen, which is normally released into the air during the spraying phase. Eurosider’s latest innovation, which has already been granted an international patent, is precisely a device that recovers such oxygen to provide users with an important operational advantage. “Nitrogen is an anhydrous, stable gas that allows coaters to work at the same temperature all year round and at any time of day. This guarantees result repeatability, reduces paint consumption, improves paint penetration and film distension (as nitrogen is © Eurosider
ionised by the machine producing it), and significantly reduces the Faraday cage and picture frame effects,” explains Ottavio Milli. “With the latest evolution of our generators, we wanted to offer an additional benefit to users, this time in terms of energy savings at a time of extreme raises in gas, diesel, and electricity costs. A “hot”
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N. 78 - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022 - international PAINT&COATING magazine