H.V.L.P.'s History As a
Recognized Technology In The U.S.A.
The U.S. industrial finishing industry has undergone a
significant change in coatings application technology over the last 22 years.
In large measure, the pressure of environmental regulations initiated this
change.
Through Can-Am's customer base in California in 1986 the
South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) who is responsible for the
Metro Los Angeles, California area, was introduced to a relatively unknown
atomizing technology known as High Volume, Low Pressure (H.V.L.P.). To their
credit SCAQMD recognized the potential reduction in VOC emissions associated
with introducing H.V.L.P. technology to the thousands of spray painting
operations under their jurisdiction.
Based on testing done with turbine powered HVLP systems
during the mid-eighties, SCAQMD determined that turbine powered H.V.L.P.
systems were capable of reliably operating with transfer efficiencies averaging
greater than the 65%. In an effort to assist their constituency to conform to
their regulations, SCAQMD has listed selected finishing technologies. The
definition of H.V.L.P. as written SCAQMD's regulations reads as follows:
"High-Volume, Low-Pressure (H.V.L.P.) Spray is a coating application
system which is operated at air pressure of between 0.1 and 10 psi."
The anticipated opportunity to rapidly convert a
significant portion of the finishing industry from high pressure, conventional
spray equipment to H.V.L.P. attracted a number of new suppliers, including most
of the historic suppliers of finishing equipment. Most of these companies are
promoting H.V.L.P. equipment powered by high-pressure compressed air, instead
of low-pressure turbines. They claim two advantages over turbine powered
H.V.L.P. systems: 1) significantly lower acquisition costs and 2) the
elimination of turbines.
Today, we find one industrial grade, turbine powered, H.V.L.P.
system is competing with compressed air powered H.V.L.P. systems even though the turbine
system's initial cost is much higher. Hereinafter we will evaluate these technologies
and discover why the more initially expensive turbine system is by far the most economical.
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