PRODUCTS & PROCESSES
Two-layer powder coating protects generators
Cutting-edge generators secure power supply
People rely on light and power from HIMOINSA gas and diesel generators when a public grid is not available . A superior powder coating finish ensures years of reliability – even under the most difficult climatic conditions .
The Company
Modern diesel and gas generators secure the energy supply on the open sea , in Antarctic research stations or at major events and often make the power supply of residences and industrial areas in distant regions possible . For this purpose , the Spanish manufacturer HIMOINSA manufacturers its gas generators , diesel generators , and light towers to withstand many years of use under the most difficult climatic conditions and up to the highest corrosivity category C5I-H . Around 60,000 generators are produced worldwide every year . Ten subsidiaries and 130 distribution partners are available for interested and existing HIMOINSA customers around the world for sales support and customer service . Powder coating equipment from Nordson plays a key role in its manufacturing process .
The Challenge
The silencer canopies are critical to ensure a durable protection for the sensitive interior of the generators themselves . Their resistance is determined and classified by means of salt spray tests . “ Spraying the canopies with salty water simulates the aggressive conditions that many of our devices have to withstand over a long period of time when used in a climate with high humidity and a high salt content ,” explains Manuel Ingles , Global Head of Procurement . “ To pass the requirements set in the highest corrosivity category C5I-H , for example , a silencer canopy has to withstand 1,440 hours of extreme exposure to salt spray . This is equivalent to 15 years of use in such an environment . And to maximize the resistance of our silencer canopies , we focus on two aspects : the quality of our steel and the quality of our coatings .”
" When we are changing between our six main colours , it only takes about ten minutes for the line to be back in production . This makes coating very flexible and even small batch sizes economical ," says Manuel Ingles with satisfaction .
The Solution
With this goal in mind , HIMOINSA installed a new powder coating system from Nordson in 2018 , initially in San Javier , Murcia , Spain . The highlight : After the metal canopies have been pretreated , they pass through two independent coating processes in succession .
In the first coating process , a primer is applied using the conventional Venturi process before the finish is applied using Nordson dense phase technology .
“ What may sound simple now was actually the biggest challenge of this project ,” says Manuel Ingles . “ Both coating processes had to be coordinated in such a way that at the end of an economically and ecologically sensible process , a durable and highly satisfying surface finish was available in the correct coating thickness – and repeatable an unlimited number of times ,” he says , summarizing the goal of numerous calculations and tests from the initial phase of the system .
State-of-the-art ColorMax3 powder coating booths from Nordson are used for both coating applications in San Javier .
As soon as the conveyor moves a workpiece into the primer booth , eight Encore ® LT automatic powder guns start the coating
In a first coating step , a primer is applied using the conventional Venturi process before the finish is applied using Nordson dense phase technology .
process . Six of them are mounted vertically on a reciprocator , one each fixed at the top and bottom of the powder application zone . For the rare cases of rework , a ninth , manual powder gun is available .
In the second ColorMax ® booth , powder application is performed by eleven Encore ® HD automatic powder guns using dense
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62 MAY 2021 read online : www . surfaceworld . com