Manufacturing and Production

Paint and Coatings Manufacturing

Paint is judged on how it goes on and how long it lasts, and both are decided by pigment dispersion, which is the one step in manufacture that cannot be corrected afterwards. This course concentrates there. Delegates work through the four components, binder, pigment, solvent and additives, and what each contributes to the film. Binder chemistry is covered across alkyd, acrylic, epoxy and polyurethane systems with their service properties. Pigment and extender selection follow, including opacity, colour strength and cost. Dispersion is treated in detail: wetting, grinding, the mill types used and the fineness of grind that determines gloss and stability. Let down and viscosity adjustment are covered. Colour matching is addressed, including tinting systems and measurement. Testing follows across viscosity, density, opacity, adhesion, drying time and accelerated weathering. Solvent handling and flammable area requirements are covered. The course closes on batch reproducibility, on settling and on investigating a field failure.