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. <strong>Finishing</strong> – <strong>July</strong>/<strong>August</strong> <strong>2022</strong>
RELIABLE RESULTS FOR MULTI-COLOR COATINGS. 2K Smart Mixing & dosing unit • Consistent mixing ratios • Homogeneous coating results • High process reliability wagner-group.com Contact Wagner Spraytech (UK) Ltd a Member of WAGNER GROUP Telephone: 01327 368410 enquiries@wagner-group.com
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