Manufacturing processes

Paint manufacturing: In general, paint manufacturing involves weighing of dry pigments,

mixing and feeding through hoppers or chutes into mills where they are dispersed in an
appropriate resin vehicle. The milled pigment is transferred to a mixer where thinners, drying
agents, etc., may be added to adjust consistency, viscosity, colour and drying time. When mixing
is complete, the paint is filtered through filter cloth and packed into containers.

Varnish manufacturing: Varnish is an unpigmented resinous surface coating. In traditional

varnish manufacture an open kettle is set over a fire in which copal or other natural gum is
heated and dissolved in hot oil. Other ingredients such as driers are added and after cooling the
varnish is thinned out to a workable consistency with solvent. It is then clarified by gravity
settling, straining or centrifugation. Modern manufacture takes place in jacketed enclosed
Kettles.

Lacquer manufacturing: Lacqures are coatings that dry only by evaporation. The pigments are
first dispersed in ball mills with plasticizers and then natural or synthetic resins are added.
Solvents are added to achieve required consistency. This may be doneeither by cold churning or
by gentle warming and mixing.

Distemper manufacturing: Powdered raw materials together with additives go to pug mill in
which soft water is used. Other raw materials are emulsified with stand oil prior to entering the
pug mixer. Further grinding may be done before packing.

Manufacture of resins and emulsions: Other items of interest in paint manufacture are
resins and emulsions for the manufacture of which various chemicals/substances are
reacted at controlled temperatures in special reactors.

Synthetic resins of alkyd type are manufactured by chemical reactions of polyol, oil and polyacid
in presence of catalyst and certain additives in thermic fluid heated reaction vessel. The reaction
is monitored by checking temperature, viscosity, acid value and percent solids. Time required for
reaction varies from 18 hrs to 48 hrs. This is followed by thinning in blender with solvents to the
desired percentage solids and filtration take place in a plate type pressure filter and after
filtration the product is pumped into storage tanks. The above mentioned process is shown in
schematic given below.

Bituminous paint: Bituminous paint is manufactured in synthetic resin plants. The process
followed is almost identical to that of resin manufacturing process. The bitumen (generally
maxphalt grade of tar is used) is melted in a closed, jacketted kettle. Heating is done indirectly
by circulating thermic fluid around the kettle, at a temperature of 150- 180oC. Bitumen is melted
in the kettle for two hours. During heating process, fumes are given out which are passed
through a water scrubber. This water is let out in to the drains from where it is finally collected
and treated in the effluent treatment plant. Melted bitumen is then thinned down to required
consistency by mineral turpentine, filtered and cooled. For production of 6000 lit/month,
wastewater generated is approximately 1000 lit/month. Bituminous paint is used as
anticorrosive coating for water tanks, underground pipes, etc. Coal tar enamel is composed of
specially processed coal tar pitch combined with inert mineral filler. The enamel does not
contain asphalt of either petroleum or natural base.

Steps involved in formulation/production of paints

The steps involved in production of various types of paints include:
I. Preassembly and premix
II. Pigment grinding/milling
III. Product finishing/blending
IV. Product filling/packaging
Some of the equipment used to accomplish these manufacturing steps include roller mills; ball
and pebble mills; attritors; sand, bead, and shot mills; horizontal media mills; and high-speed
disk dispersers. A generalized process flow diagram is shown in Figure 3-10. The production of
solvent-based paint begins by mixing resins, dry pigment and pigment extenders in a high
speed mixer. During this operation, solvents and plasticizers are also added. Following the
mixing operation, the batch is frequently transferred to a mill for additional grinding and mixing.
This kind of mill is dependent on the pigment types being handled, so that no particular/single
style is universal. Next, the paint base or concentrate is transferred to an agitated tank where
tints, thinner (usually a volatile naphtha or blend of solvents) and balance resin are added. Up
on reaching proper consistency, the paint is filtered to remove any non-dispersed pigment and
transferred to a loading hopper. From the hopper, the paint is poured into cans, labeled, packed,
and moved to storage.
The water-based paint process is very similar to the solvent-based process. The major
difference is the substitution of water for solvent and the sequencing of material additions.
Preparation of water-based paint begins by blending water, ammonia, and a dispersant together
in a mixer. To this mixture, dry pigment and pigment extenders are added. After mixing, the
material is ground in a mill and then transferred to an agitated mix tank. Four additions of
materials occur in this tank. First, resin and plasticizers are added to the mixture; second, a
preservative and an antifoaming agent are added; third, a polyvinyl acetate emulsion is added;
and fourth, water is added as a thinner. Following this mixing operation, handling of paint is
similar to that for solvent-based paints. At many facilities, mixing and grinding operations may
be bypassed with all the dispersion operations occurring in a single high-speed mixer.