Equipment development will also contribute to the future advancement of powder coatings. Powder utilization rates of 95% or higher are common. This compares with a 30-80% utilization rate for most other spray coating processes. Advances in infrared and ultraviolet curing technologies are allowing increased production speed in powder coating facilities. IR ovens can sometimes cure a part in as little as 30 secs, and UV curing can be accomplished in a matter of seconds.
Color and surface texture variety is almost limitless with new powder coating formulations. Properly designed powder systems can now change colors in minutes. High production powder systems apply over 20 different colors, with several color changes per day.
Coil coating applications for powder are also being developed. Coil coating is the process of coating one or both sides of flat metal sheets or strips on a continuous production line. Most powder coating facilities are laid-out in a vertical configuration. However, newly designed horizontal powder coating booths are enabling powder to compete more effectively in the extrusion and pultrusion finishing markets.
Radically different methods of application are also likely to open future markets. In-mold powder coating processes have been developed in which the powder coating material is sprayed onto a heated mold cavity before the molding cycle begins. During the molding operation, the powder coating chemically bonds to the molding compound and produces a product with a coating that is chip and impact proof. Processes have been developed for applying thermoplastic powder in the field, provided that the substrate is clean and can be preheated properly. Bridge support columns and steel sidewalks have been coated successfully. Also, pipe joints that are originally coated in the factory but must be welded in the field can be recoated with powder, thereby providing a continuous, corrosion resistant coating.
The impressive list of developments that are listed above do not solve all of the possible shortcomings associated with powder coating. Table 5 lists several material development challenges that remain for the powder coating industry. Solutions to these challenges would further open new finishing areas to powder coating economics.
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