Specialized Coating Services
Traditional Application Methods
CCS provides all traditional and standard forms of paint, coating and lining applications:
- brush and roll
- air assisted power rollers
- conventional spray pump
- low pressure high volume spray application
Beyond the traditional application systems CCS offers specialized delivery systems which provides the customer and CCS with the ability to specify the highest performance coatings available from today’s suppliers.
Plural Component Coatings
Plural component coatings are designed to enable rapid curing to minimize downtime of the equipment, especially important in immersion services. In addition, the elimination of most VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) in high solids content coatings enables their use without having to shut down operations due to hazardous atmospheres. In order to have the ability to apply the full range of multi ratio coating chemistries, CCS acquired a Grayco Extreme Pump with computer tracking and performance monitoring capability.
Certified Coating Specialists (CCS) presently owns three configurations of plural component pumps to ensure we have the right pump for the range of plural technology coating systems available today.
- Epoxies
- Urethanes
- Ureas
- Fire Retardants
- Insulations
Performance Based on Industry Trends
Environmental Impact
Within the coatings industry there is a trend toward continuing to lower solvent emissions levels. In the U.S. the trend is to reduce VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) with reactive-cure products. Two-component materials have the capability of achieving VOC levels of 2.3 to 2.8 lb/gal. In Europe there is a growing trend toward water-based technology, and a wide range of plural-component coatings are available to meet this need.
With three basic product platforms available, reactive-cure coating solutions provide a substantial amount of performance flexibility. Many are capable of wet-on-wet application allowing the product to move straight from priming to painting with no cure time required.
Reactive-Cure Technology Options
Epoxy Technology: Epoxies consist of an epoxy resin with tough corrosion protection that can be sprayed wet-on-wet with a urethane or non-isocyanate (NISO) topcoat. They typically are used in primer applications and provide robust chemical resistance.
Urethane Technology: Urethanes can be used as a topcoat in direct-to-metal applications but most often are used over a primer for improved corrosion protection. At the upper end of the spectrum, they can provide a high-end quality finish comparable to the coatings used in the automotive industry, with exceptional weathering characteristics and strong chemical resistance.
NISO Technology: NISO coatings can be used either as a topcoat or a direct-to-metal primer application with comparable performance capabilities to urethane technology, yet they don’t contain isocyanides like urethane. They provide durable weathering characteristics, solid chemical resistance and a high-quality finish. With a significantly longer pot life than urethanes, they minimize material waste. This coating tends to cost more than other reactive-cure options.
With three basic product platforms available, reactive-cure coating solutions provide a substantial amount of performance flexibility. Many are capable of wet-on-wet application allowing the product to move straight from priming to painting with no cure time required.
Application Considerations
Mixing and Applying: Materials can be hand-mixed, but this process typically creates more material waste. It’s difficult to determine exactly how much coating will be required, and the pot life has to be longer ( typically three to four hours) to allow adequate time to mix, prepare, apply and clean up. Any product not used within the pot life has to be disposed of, creating additional costs. An electronic proportioning system can eliminate a significant amount of labor, energy and waste from your painting process. In essence, there is no pot life because the material is mixed near the spray gun when it’s needed.
Cure Time: Two-part coatings typically cure faster than single-component materials and at lower temperatures than baking products, so they spend a shorter time in the oven or air drying (see Figure 1). They don’t have to be fully cured when removed from the drying area, so less energy is required to get top performance. When using a wet-on-wet application, one step of the curing cycle can be eliminated by going straight from the primer coat to topcoat. And if you use electronic proportioning, you can formulate the coating to cure in as little as 30 minutes.
Coverage: Reactive-cure coatings typically are applied using air spray, high-volume low-pressure (HVLP), air assisted airless or airless technology, depending on the type of finish required. With a high-performance coating operators may only need to apply one pass rather than multiple applications, saving time and labor costs.
Certification & Quality Control
In order to be an applicator for the majority of extreme performance coatings the contractor generally must be certified by the supplier to ensure proper deployment of their product. High performance coatings can be very difficult to apply and over the years CCS has learned that each product has its own challenges. . Through certification these challenges are identified and methods to address them presented.
CCS never starts a plural component application without a technical representative on site to assist in ensuring the delivery system and application methodology function in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendations.
CCS develops, in co-operation with the manufacturer, industry specifications, and the customer’s independent coating inspector and a quality control plan intended to ensure that each step of the coating system is properly executed and in compliance with the manufacturer’s specifications.
Metalizing
Metalizing is a commonly used generic term used to describe multiple processes, all of which fall into an industry known as thermal spray. Thermal spray includes the following processes: HVOF, Plasma, Detonation Gun, Flame and Arc Spray, and different forms of each of them. Thermal spray is a means of using material in a powder or wire form, energizing it, and then introducing a compressed gas to propel it on to a work piece or part to form a coating.
Process Overview
Thermal spray coating involves the use of a torch to heat a material, in powder or wire form, to a molten or near-molten state, and the use of a gas to propel the material to the target substrate creating a completely new surface. The coating material may be a single element, alloy, or compound with unique physical properties that are, in most cases, achievable only through the thermal spray process.
The coatings are usually metallic, ceramic, carbides, or a combination of these materials to meet a range of physical criteria.
Metalizing guns are used to blast small particles of melted metal on to a roughened surface. The technology is suitable for rust – protection of huge objects (bridge constructions, high – voltage masts etc.). The metalizing technology can be used for corrosion protection, as well as, wear resistance, non-slip coating, etc.
Why Apply Thermal Sprayed Coatings?
Primarily because they last longer than any other coating system today.
Zinc, Zn/Al, and Aluminum metal coatings are anodic to steel. Galvanizing and Thermal Sprayed Coatings protect steel exactly the same way. They provide a protective anodic layer over the steel. Since the coatings are anodic they will sacrifice themselves to absorb the corrosion that nature intended for the steel. Thermal spraying coatings differ slightly from galvanizing as they produce a more porous and more pure coating. Whereas, galvanizing tends to absorb iron into the coating. There is no iron in the Thermal sprayed coating. Additionally, the porous Thermal sprayed coating readily accepts sealer coatings. The sealer will penetrate the coating, minimize exposure, and slow down the dissolution process caused during the galvanic corrosion protection of steel. The net result is that the Thermal sprayed coating life is extended way beyond that expected for galvanizing, and the amount of zinc exposed for dissolution is controlled by the sealer to allow for more than 50 years of corrosion protection to steel. Aluminum or zinc aluminum alloys also provide galvanic protection to steel. These materials can provide longer life protection in a very aggressive corrosion environment. The dissolution of these materials are less than pure zinc. However, in the more aggressive anodic couple, they provide ample protection to steel.
