Thursday 17 April 2014

Paint Manufacturing – How is it Done?

Paint is used everyday, and has many different purposes including; flame protection, water sealing and sanitation. Different types of paint are used for each of these. Four key components are used to make paint.

What is Paint made from?

These pigments define the colour and finish that the paint gives.

The different pigments are divided into two different groups:

The Prime Pigments: These include whites (made from Titanium Oxide) and colours including Green, Yellow and Red Chrome Oxides.

The Extender Pigments: This set of pigments includes compounds including Calcium Carbonate, Talc, Mica, and Barium Sulphates amongst others. Resin: The Resin is the binder that holds all the compounds used in the paint together due to the cohesive properties, as well as helping with adhesion to the surface that the paint is applied to.

Most paints use an acrylic emulsion polymer to bind it. Cheaper paints generally use PVA to formulate paint with a lower base material cost.

Polysiloxane and Urethane are used withing paint to help to provide a protective coating.

Solvent: The solvent can be organic (mineral) or water based, which then acts as a carrier for the pigment and resin, this helps with the application and distribution of the paint.

Additives: By using additives properties can be given to the paint, including; resistance to mould and scuffing, quicker drying times and make the paint itself easier to handle during application.

Manufacturing the Paint

Accurate amounts of each ingredient need to be added to make sure that the paint works as it should.

The colour that you want, the finish and the amount of paint that you want to use all need to be taken into account. Precise floor scales are used to measure very large quantities accurately as these measurements need to be extremely accurate. The pigments used in paint manufacture tend to stick together cohesively, which makes the colour patchy and uneven.

The resin helps gve a smooth colour to the paint as it breaks down the clumps of colour. After the paint manufacturing process the additives added then prevent any further separation. As well as using resins and additives manufacturing companies use high speed mixers to ensure complete mixing of the paint. For more stubborn mix clumps, other methods may need to be used:

Ball Mills stop the clumping of pigments within smaller batches.
 The rolling and tumbling motion of the porcelain balls breaks up the pigment.
 • Bead Mills as for larger batches of paint, and work similarly to the ball mills. The beads are made out of 3mm diameter beads made of zirconium dioxide, this mixing occurs at a higher speed with a more rapid output.
 • Bar Mills are for highly viscous paint, which occurs by forcing the paint between metal bars and a roller through a tiny gap.

http://www.paint-manufacturer.co.uk/contactus.html

paint manufacturer