Finishing - July-August 2022

10 NEWS www.finishingmagazine.co.uk
Held in June, QUALICOAT UK & Ireland’s conference at the Building
Centre in London, ‘Future Proofing Facades’, has been hailed a
success by all who attended.
The event was professionally
organised and run by
QUALICOAT UK & Ireland with
the support of the Department
of Marketing. The event
concentrated on aluminium in
construction as a sustainable
fenestration material and, in
particular, how powder coating
has advanced over the last few
years to meet specifiers
expectations.
First speaker, Ivo Vermeeren,
President of QUALICOAT,
based in Zurich, offered an
overview of how the Association
has grown into a global
architectural specification for
powder coating, resulting in a
worldwide,
Following Ivo’s introduction,
delegates were treated to a
masterclass in architectural
aluminium specification by first
keynote speaker, Michael Stacey
from the Bartlett School of
Architecture, University College
London.
Fire resistance of building
envelopes over 11m in height
has become a crucial over the
last few years following the
Grenfell Tower disaster. Naveen
Sandhu, Specification Manager
of AkzoNobel Powder Coatings,
explained how correctly applied
powder coatings comply with an
EN 13501-1 classification of A2-
s1,d0 is permissible under Part
B Regulations for buildings over
18m (11m in Scotland).
Chris Mansfield of Tomburn
explained the update to BS EN
12206.1 2021 and what
changes had been made since
its previous iteration released in
2004, this will be offered in a
future editorial from
QUALICOAT.
Jan Lukaszewski, Secretary of
QUALICOAT UK & Ireland,
gave the delegates an overview
of aluminium’s impressive
characteristics. From aspects
such as superb corrosion
resistance, light weight and
virtually infinite recyclability, no
wonder that we cannot meet
the demand for aluminium by
recycling alone. Aluminium is
perfect for use in construction
where the material has its
highest recycling rate where, on
average, 96% of aluminium is
recycled on building
deconstruction.
QUALICOAT UK & Ireland
were honoured to have former
President of the Royal Institute
of British Architects, Maxwell
Hutchinson, as the second
keynote speaker at the
conference. At 73 years old,
Maxwell offered a view of
responsibilities in building
construction and design. a
Dr Jose Manuel Mota, of the
Spanish Association of
Aluminium and Surface
Treatment. Jose introduced to
the conference the thinking
behind the new QUALICOAT
3.0 specification which relates to
the quality of extruded
aluminium that is used in
architectural powder coated
fenestration, namely alloys 6060
and 6063.
To explain the importance of
the aluminium pretreatment
process prior to powder coating,
Senior Global Product manager,
Oliver Katschmareck of
Chemetall Limited offered
delegates compelling reason
why to acid etch aluminium
profiles by removing 1gm/m2
of the aluminium surface prior
to the application of a protective
conversion layer.
Inspections of QUALICOAT
licence holders is key to
maintaining consistent quality
within the QUALICOAT
Specification. Michael Muller
who is Managing Director of
IFO GmbH, QUALICOAT UK &
Ireland’s independent test
house, explained to delegates
what happens during an
unannounced inspection.
To close the day’s conference,
Philipp Ambruch, Director of
Rudolf Ambruch
Fassadeenpflege GmbH, a
GRM member, offered an
introduction to the cleaning and
restoration of powder coated
facades. He emphasised that
regular, minimum cleaning will
extend the useful life of all
architectural coatings. Without
regular cleaning it is possible to
restore a weathered facade, but
this will be more expensive than
introducing a regular facade
cleaning regime.
Chair, Angus Mackle closed
the days proceedings by
thanking the speakers and the
delegates who had given up
their day to learn more about
‘Future Proofing Facades’.
Delegates were invited to to
stay on within the meeting
venue to network with speakers
and members of the
Association.
Air
overhaul
A manufacturer of military aircraft
required cleaning equipment for
overhauling components during
routine maintenance. After
spending considerable time
selecting suitable vendors, the
military aircraft manufacturer
chose Layton Technologies.
Because military aircraft require
scheduled maintenance at
locations all over the world,
including in some extremely
harsh climates, routine precision
cleaning must be carried out
using flammable solvents together
with ultrasonic agitation and heatsoaking
of various components.
The preferred batch cleaning
system had to be robust, easy to
maintain and have an extended
warranty. As the military aircraft
operate in countries with hot
climates, the solvent had to be
chilled at temperatures below the
flash point using cooling coils. A
safety cut-out had to be in
continual use should the fluid or
ambient temperature rise above
40 deg C.
Layton Technologies designed
and manufactured a 3-stage inline
system that successfully met
all the customer’s criteria:
• The system includes chilled
plates and an external chiller unit
to ensure that the temperature
requirements are always
observed.
• The tanks are heavily
insulated to keep temperatures at
the required level with minimal
power consumption.
• Each tank features in-line
particle filtration and ultrasonic
agitation to provide excellent and
repeatable cleaning of the
components.
• Two of the tanks are heated
to 85 deg C and, in combination
with the flammable fluid tank, can
remove limescale and carbon
from the parts.
• All tanks include fluid level
detectors with automated fill and
drain capabilities.
• A machine-mounted control
panel displays and controls
process times, temperatures and
fluid levels. Should any pre-set
parameters be exceeded, the
control panel displays a warning
to alert operators.
Finishing – July/August 2022