FOCUS ON COIL PROCESSING
“ The continuous coil-coating process offers significantly lower environmental emissions than batch or post-painting processes, enabling manufacturers to operate flexibly and efficiently.”
Image: Street.
FORM AND FUNCTION
Coated coil can be slit for narrow widths, cut to required lengths, bent, profiled or deep drawn without damaging the organic coating. The coil-coating process itself offers a range of economic and environmental benefits.
Coil-handling crane( uncoated coils in foreground).
Coated coils.
The coil-coating process.
Image: Dana Steel. Image: Brillux Industrial Coatings.
The coil coating process, which is used to produce prepainted metal, is continuously evolving to produce better products of higher quality, faster and with lower environmental impact. Coil coating is a reel-fed continuous process for painting metal which is then used to make a finished part. In one continuous reel-to-reel process, a metal coil of material is unwound, cleaned, primed and then coated with up to two layers of paint on each side, before being thermally cured and then rewound.
“ The process allows for different colours and patterns to be applied to each side of the sheet. In addition, a strippable plastic film layer can be added for extra surface protection. Once coated, the coil is then further processed to give users the material in the dimensions and formats that they require,” outlined coilcoating specialist, Cooper Coated Coil.
“ The consistency and accuracy of the coilcoating process generates excellent corrosionresistance properties compared to other painting methods. This is due to the highly controlled cleaning, pre-treatment, coating application and curing stages within the process. These controls are virtually impossible to attain with other painting processes. Dealing with a‘ flat sheet’ allows the material to be thoroughly cleaned prior to the paint being applied. Coating in this way provides excellent control of paint film weights, which can be measured in microns,” it added.
The coil-coating process
“ Using pre-painted metals enables businesses to focus on their core competencies and operate with greater flexibility and efficiency, compared to postpaint processes. Companies can anticipate future cost savings on both metal and coating expenses. Additionally, capital costs can be avoided by reducing the square footage dedicated to post-paint operations. Optimised inventory management and better supply chain utilisation further enhance cost efficiency,” commented coil-coating supplier, AZZ.
Coated coil can be slit for narrow widths, cut to required lengths, bent, profiled or deepdrawn without damaging the organic coating. It can be processed into any number of shapes, depending upon the end use. The coil coating process itself offers a range of economic and environmental benefits. It is a closed-loop process so the release of harmful elements is eradicated. All solvents / organic compounds are captured and treated before emission.
The process provides coating application efficiency of over 90 %, which is significantly higher than other application techniques. Pre-painted metals can also be fully recycled, providing further environmental advantages.
40 | ismr. net | ISMR December 2025 / January 2026