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finding areas to reduce energy costs are limited to make-up air requirements for the spray booth and reduced cure oven exhaust. However, in most cases the cure oven has to operate at a higher tem- p e r a t u r e t o c u r e p o w d e r t h a n t o cure/dry liquid, often offsetting poten- tial cost savings from reduced oven ex- haust requirements. Of course, elimi- nating heated booth make-up air sys- tems can save significant money, but if you currently operate with an open window or door for your make-up sup- ply, there is no cost savings here either. Without significantly changing the method of applying the coating (i.e. using automation), finding areas to re- duce manpower can also be difficult, es- pecially if you plan on reusing the pow- der overspray without a fast color change booth system. In this case, you may actually use more manpower than liquid, since color change without the fast change systems can take signifi- cantly longer than performing a color change with liquid paint. Reducing product paint defects is al- most guaranteed when you convert to powder coating. All you have to do is de- termine what the value is of this reduced defect rate. Powder systems also require significantly less maintenance than liq- uid systems and their spare parts are fre- quently cheaper as well. The only area where powder coating parts are more ex- pensive than liquid parts is the booth fil- ters. The good news is that powder filters often last more than a year, so you will be changing them less often and will ulti- mately use fewer filters. Finally, disposal costs, another often overlooked mainte- nance cost, is significantly cheaper with powder because most waste is classified as landfill material. Performing a detailed operational cost comparison analysis will identify the areas where your cost savings are and es- tablish their value. There are a variety of tools available on the internet for just this purpose, including our Cost Gauge Pro Combo software available on our website at www.powdercc.com. • Improved finish properties: Most powder formulas have improved me- chanical and corrosion properties com- pared to liquid coatings. Performing a side-by-side comparison of all the per- 34 POWDER COATING, October 2016 Tips on converting an old liquid process into a new powder coating system Nick Liberto, P.E. Powder Coating Consultants, div. of Ninan, Inc. H ow do you convert from liquid to powder coating in the most eco- nomical way? Simple—you use as much of your existing finishing equip- ment as possible to minimize the capital investment. In this article, we will ex- amine and evaluate the conversion of an existing liquid paint process to powder coating in small, easy-to-swallow bites. What are your goals for converting to powder? Start with an open and honest discus- sion of what you expect to achieve with your conversion to powder coating. All other discussions and equipment evalu- ations should originate from this starting point, and solutions need to be mea- sured to these objectives to ensure a suc- cessful conversion project. There are a variety of reasons that stimulate a con- version from liquid coatings to powder coatings, but the most common are eco- nomics/cost savings, improved finish properties, new customer demand/re- quirements, environmental concerns, operating efficiency improvements, and replacing existing worn-out equipment (spray equipment and booth). Here are some definitions and discus- sions that correspond with these con- version goals while trying to use almost all of your existing system components: • Economics/cost savings: The hard reality is that if your primary goal to convert to powder coating is based upon economics, you have limited op- portunities to save using your existing equipment. The primary areas where possible cost savings occur are material savings (powder versus liquid paint ma- terial costs), energy savings, manpower reduction, reduced product defects, and lower maintenance costs. Material savings can be significant if you currently purchase an expensive liq- uid coating and reducing solvent. How- ever, if your liquid coating is fairly priced, this area for savings may be lim- ited. Considering that most of your ex- isting liquid equipment is still going to be used to support a powder process, Guest Column Nick's Niche