Equipment for the Manufacturing of Emulsion Paints and Coatings
Company overview
Duracolor Coatings, S.L.U. is a family-owned company dedicated to the manufacture of a wide range of coatings, both water-based and solvent-based, including emulsion paints, exterior coatings, primers, enamels, varnishes and wood finishes.
With a strong industrial background dating back to the 1980s, Duracolor markets its products both in the domestic market and internationally, particularly in South America and Africa, through specialised distributors. Throughout its history, the company has continuously invested in improving its production processes to meet growing demands for quality, flexibility and capacity.
Product to be processed
Water-based emulsion paints and exterior coatings.
Project objective
Duracolor Coatings identified the need to increase the production capacity of its water-based product range (emulsion paints and exterior coatings), under a number of key technical constraints:
- Installation of the new equipment in a limited space, adjacent to the existing dispersion area, originally supplied by Oliver + Batlle in the late 1990s.
- Close coordination with the different contractors involved in the project, including:
- Manufacturer of the working platform.
- Installers of solid and liquid feeding systems.
- Dust and vapour extraction systems integrated with the Oliver + Batlle equipment.
The objective was to integrate the new manufacturing units while maintaining production continuity, optimising the use of available space and ensuring appropriate safety, ergonomics and operational efficiency.
Oliver + Batlle solution
Oliver + Batlle designed and supplied a solution fully adapted to the specific requirements of Duracolor’s plant, including the following equipment:
- Polimix DPS-8000-OR, standard power, equipped with:
- Integrated weighing system.
- Automatic discharge valves.
- Fixed cleaning lances.
- Cleaning pump unit GLP-10/S-30.
- MF-16 pumping unit with filter, for transferring the paste produced in the Polimix to the finishing tanks.
- Three TA-12000-PS finishing tanks, each equipped with:
- Weighing system.
- Automatic discharge valve.
- Fixed cleaning lances.
Dynamic load calculations for the existing structure were provided, and the final location of the Polimix and the finishing tanks within the available space was jointly agreed, arranging them in a triangular (staggered) layout in order to optimise access, traffic flow and operational accessibility.
In addition, the position and sizing of the following were also jointly defined:
- Liquid and powder feeding connections for the Polimix unit.
- Dust and vapour extraction systems for the Polimix unit.
- Liquid feeding connections and vapour extraction for the Finishing Tanks.
Process flow diagram of the supplied equipment
Results
As a result of the implemented solution, Duracolor Coatings has significantly increased the production capacity of its existing plant.
- The Polimix is used for the paste preparation stage, incorporating water, powders and additives.
- The paste is then transferred to the Finishing Tanks, where the formulation is completed by adding emulsions, water and final additives.
This production concept allows overlapping operations: while a batch is being finalised in a finishing tank, a new paste can be prepared in the Polimix. As a result, manufacturing times are optimised, overall plant productivity is improved, and the quality and homogeneity of the final product are ensured.
