7 TANK PROCESS - METAL PRE TREATMENT The process has to be generally in accordance with IS :3618 -1966, SPE I!

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The process of treating the metallic surface prior to powder coating is commonly known as the 7 Tank Process.(though the Terminology is not used in the IS)
'etal Pre-treat,ent prior to powder coating is essential step to ens-re proper coating per.or,ance+ 'etal Pre /treat,ent prior to powder coating is o. two types+ a0 'echanical s-r.ace Preparation+ b0 he,ical s-r.ace Preparation+ !or powder coating ,ost co,,only -sed s-r.ace preparation ,ethod is &E'I ") P%E-T%E"T'E$T+ +Need

for Pre-treatment

The per.or,ance o. powder coating on a ,etallic s-r.ace ,ainly depends on Proper Pre-treat,ent o. the s-bstrate+ Proper pre-treat,ent is an essential .actor beca-se o. the .ollowing ad1antages 10 Pre-treat,ent process pro1ides a clear, -ni.or,, oil-grease .ree s-r.ace+ 20 Pro1ides good adhesion o. .il, 30 It .or,s an inert layer which inhibits the corrosion o. the paint .il, 2+S-r.ace Preparation 3+(e-r-sting Processors 3+"cti1ation 4+ on1ersion coatings .or a0 'ild steel 6+Tro-ble Shooting

General Pre-treatment Process sequence:

The 5 tan6 process has the .ollowing 5 stages+ 10(e-greasing Process 207ater-%inse 30(e-r-sting

307ater rinse 40"cti1ation 60 on1ersion oating 507ater rinse (e-greasing Process: he,ical de-greasing ,ethods -sed in any partic-lar application is closely related to the nat-re o. the s-r.ace being cleaned and the a,o-nt and type o. conta,ination+ The 1ario-s che,ical degreasing processes applicable to 'ild steel, *al1anised Steel 8 al-,in-, s-bstrates, are as .ollows: 1) PROCESS1- Al al! Clean!n": "l6ali cleaners en9oy s-perior position in the Pre-treat,ent ind-stry d-e to .ollowing ad1antages+ They operate at roo, te,p+ :ath stability is higher co,pared to all other degreasing processes, low .oa,ing tendency+ Si,ple bath control+ ostly plant installation is not always re;-ired+ &igh capacity to absorb oil+ T#ese cleaners are $ase% on stron" al al!es suc# as So%!um #&%ro'!%e( So%!um s!l!cates( ot#er )!lters an% $u!l%ers suc# as so%a as# etc( sur)actants an% a%%!t!*es+ T#e ,arts to $e cleane% are !mmerse% !n t#!s $at# at a recommen%e% tem,erature an% t!me+ Strong al6aline cleaners are a1oided in case o. 'anganese phosphate process as they can ca-se in.erior ;-ality coating+ Strong al6aline cleaners are also not s-itable .or non-.erro-s s-bstrate s-ch as <inc, al-,in-,, :rass, opper, *lass,*al1anised Steel, beca-se all these ,etals readily get attac6ed by strong al6alies+ -) TANK -- .ater-R!nse /e-rust!n": orrosion is co,,on pheno,enon .or ,etals+ Iron or steel when e=posed to h-,id at,osphere the corrosion process is initiated res-lting in r-st .or,ation+ %-st is the o=ide o. iron which is loosely adhered to the s-bstrate and hence it is 1ery dangero-s i. o1ercoated by any s-r.ace coating+ %-st is readily sol-ble in acids s-ch as &ydrochloric acid, S-lph-ric acid, Phosphoric acid and hence it can be re,o1ed by acid cleaning+