ENABLE

Environmentally Acceptable Pretreatment System for Painting Multi Metals

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'With increasing demands from customers and public authorities on using environmentally acceptable processes there is a great need for SMEs within the metal surface painting industry to change pre treatment process. Today’s pre treatment system, zinc phosphating, is a chemical process with high consumption of water and energy and with use of potentially toxic chemicals like nickel and zinc. The need to substitute zinc phosphating is also related to pretreatment of light weight material e.g. aluminum and magnesium. These substrates cause sludge formation and quality problems. New environmentally acceptable pre treatment processes based on non dangerous chemicals, free from heavy metals, causing no sludge formation, and requiring less process control have been developed during the last 10 years. The project addresses the problem to replace the “standard” pre-treatment process for out-door use, zinc phosphating with a new process. This is the only way to meet the increasing demands from customers and authorities. The magnitude of the problem can be understood by the fact that the process in use has 40 years of experience and the new processes have a completely different way of protecting the product. The SMEP will considerably improve their competitive position by being in the lead with the new silane/zirconium based processes. That is if the “process for change” will be successful regarding selection, adaption and running the process and if the dissemination will succeed. The strategic objective of the project is hand-on- knowledge to the SMEs packaged in a “Tool box for successful implementation of new pretreatment systems”. The toolbox will contain procedures for how to evaluate, adapt and implement the new pretreatment systems and how to control the new pretreatment processes. The research performed in the project will result in improved and verified test procedures; quality assured corrosion protection and process control.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Painted metals for outdoor use undergo a pre-treatment process using heavy metals and lots of energy while producing large amounts of sludge. EU-funded scientists tested green alternatives in a standardised way for meaningful conclusions.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

The pre-treatment of metal surfaces in preparation for a coating including paint is one of the most important steps in processing of metals for outdoor use. It both increases corrosion resistance and enhances the adhesion of the subsequent coating. Zinc-phosphating is a commonly used pre-treatment but it is costly and energy-intensive. Of increasing concern, it uses heavy metals and produces a considerable amount of sludge.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) working in the field of metal surface painting are under pressure to respond to consumer and legislative demands for an environmentally friendly process. However, taking new processes from lab bench to market has been challenging largely due to lack of standardised and controlled results on performance. A large consortium rose to the challenge with EU funding of the project 'Environmentally acceptable pretreatment system for painting multi metals' http://www.enablepretreatments.com ((ENABLE)) .

Researchers sought to assimilate and present realistic, verifiable and simple-to-understand information to SMEs regarding novel silane- and zirconium-based pre-treatment systems. In order to do this, they had to assess the various specifications for different substrates and increase knowledge regarding the mechanisms of corrosion protection of novel formulations. In addition, they developed accelerated corrosion testing to correlate with field tests and to expedite development.

Scientists demonstrated that the novel pre-treatment systems perform quite well on aluminium and reasonably well on galvanised metals (already coated with a layer of zinc), with mediocre performance on steel. Thus, they require further development and a thorough environmental assessment before they can be of use to a paint shop that treats a wide variety of surface materials in the same processing line.

The ENABLE project made an important contribution to the advancement of environmentally friendly and cost-effective coating technologies for painted metals. Greener alternatives to current practices are not only desired by consumers but will soon be required by legislative restrictions. The consortium provided resources previously lacking, process control experience and accelerated testing required by SMEs to begin evaluating the new pre-treatments in a standardised way to draw relevant conclusions regarding feasibility and market potential.