Seeking A Sprayable Powder Coating Technology

• A material
• A product or a technology

A SpecialChem Client is seeking a sprayable powder coating technology to act as a food barrier that will be applied on Metal substrate.

It must be suitable for mechanical bending and drawing during the manufacturing process, must be resistant to temperature, a range of PH and oily/fatty environments and must comply with appropriate legislation directing the use of packaging for food products.

The SpecialChem Client is currently using liquid coatings applied on their metal substrates. The resulting barrier layer lacks chemical resistance and flexibility during post manufacturing treatment. Powder coating promise to be better on these aspects, and they are looking at partners willing to co-develop a successful technology with them, or directly selling their solution.

The selected solution could replace existing material of approximately 100,000 kg per year.

The powder coating material must:

• Be suitable for application to both coated and uncoated aluminum, electrolytic chromium coated steel (ECCS) and tin-plated steel components typically used for metal can packaging.
• Comply with all relevant food contact regulations in the EU, EU member states, USA and Asia including China, both in terms of composition and migration.
  • The material must not be subject to classification as CMR 1A, 1B or 2.
• The protective layer must fully (chemically and physically) isolate content from metal substrate and should be less than 15 micron’s thick.
• It must not lead to any deterioration of the organoleptic quality of processed food or beverage.
• The protective layer must be dry/stable within existing process times (see below) or be implementable with an alternate curing process that uses less energy than current methods.
• The lining material must be able to be evenly applied with no bulk defects, surface defects or thinning.
• The applied coating should sustain post-application bending (e.g. metal flanges in the can/end seal) through 180 degrees, body diameter reduction during necking-in processes of up to 25% and wall beading operations.

Beading process specifications are:

• Pitch 3.8-5.0mm,
• Depth +/- 0.19-0.25mm about centerline,
• Local bead deformation ~2.5%.

Finished coatings should be evenly applied with no visible surface defects such as orange peel or wetting related phenomena.

Process conditions that the coating must survive are given in the following table:

Packaged products:

• Liquid: Carbonated (or non-carbonated) soft drinks, beers and processed beverages, pH range from 2.5 to 8.0. Lining material must be suitable for aseptic, cold and hot fills, typical heat pasteurizing processes, and by processing with steam up to 121°C for 60 minutes. The lining material must be suitable for a range of can internal pressures.
• Food: Solid, semi-solid or liquid food currently in DWI containers, pH ranging from 3.0 – 7.0
• Aerosol: Liquid, semi-solid or gels, pH range from 2.5 to 8.0. The powder coating material must survive the Aseptic sterilization processes with peroxide at a temperature of 80C for 20 minutes and contact with solvents.

• An advanced formulation, compatible with existing sprays coating and curing processes.
• A fully developed solution, new material and associated application and curing processes.
• 360 powder coating processes, (electrostatic, tribostatic, new/others).

• Solutions that don’t sustain high speed manufacturing processes.
• Electrochemistry based coating systems.
• Liquid applied coating materials are out of scope.
• Concept materials at early stages of development cycle.
• All materials intended for beverage and food containers must be food contact approved for use in Europe/USA.

The SpecialChem Client prefer the material to be ready for use as supplied; i.e., no additives required at point of application.

• Proven Concepts
• Ready-to-use solutions
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• Buying