Industrial Spray Painting Emissions

How Air Filtration Can Help Mitigate Explosion Risk

Spray paint. A universal way to cover, color, and protect objects. Homeowners use it. Graffiti artists do, too. As do manufacturers of everyday items varying in size from small porcelain teacups to large marine vessels. And with every application, be it small or large, personal or industrial, there are safety threats that can prove deadly if careful precautionary methods are not in place.

Who Uses Spray Paint?

With limitless colors, varieties, and its ease of application, spray paint takes a labor-intensive job and simplifies it, thus saving businesses time and money. Used to enhance aesthetics, improve durability, and apply protective coatings, spray paint can be applied to virtually any dry surface. Brick, wood, glass, metal, concrete – you name it, and it can be covered because spray paint isn’t just paint. It is colored lacquer mixed with gas propellant that creates a highly versatile aerosol that can fully cover anything from a tiny plastic toy truck to a metal military tank used in battle.

Industrial Spray Painting Risks

The process of applying industrial spray paint comes with occupational risks.

During application, dusts and fumes can enter a worker’s breathing space. If inhaled, these emissions could cause nausea, confusion, respiratory distress, or worse. Most concerning, due to the possible severity of outcome, is the risk of fire or explosion.

Industrial spray paint releases significant amounts of flammable and combustible fumes and dusts that can, if ventilation and airflow are not perfectly in sync, create the potential for flash fire or explosion.

Industrial Spray Paint Applications

Manufacturers across the globe rely on spray paint to build or enhance their products. Industries such as:

Aerospace
Automotive
Construction
Electronics
Heavy Machinery
Marine and Shipbuilding
Military and Defense
Woodworking

Depending on the application, products require different methods of coverage. For example, powder coating is used when dry paint needs to be applied, and vacuum coating is employed when water-based paint needs thin layers. These are just two examples of industrial spray-painting methods used in an industrial setting. Regardless of the method used, there are air quality concerns to consider in order to keep workers safe.

What’s In Spray Paint?

Unlike the spray paints used in domestic settings, industrial spray paints are engineered for protection and performance in challenging circumstances (storms at sea, extreme heat or cold) and contain high-performance ingredients beyond pigmentation.

Additives such as anti-settling agents, fungicides, dispersants, and silicones may be used to enhance paint properties or prevent mold and bacterial growth.

Binder resins hold together color particles and provide a durable bond. Examples include Bisphenol-A (combustible dust and a significant dust explosion hazard), 1-Chloro-2,3-epoxypropane (highly flammable liquid), and Phenol (a combustible solid/liquid).

Propellants like butane and dimethyl ether (highly flammable) – in some cases, hydrofluorocarbons (HFSs) – are used to create pressure inside the paint applicator.

Solvents such as acetone, methanol, and toluene (highly flammable) are used to keep the resins fluid so they can be sprayed.

How To Mitigate Fire/Explosion Risk

While industrial spray paint contains ingredients that present an occupational risk to workers, the threat of fire or explosion is low if proper precautions are taken.

Most manufacturing plants, including those that apply industrial spray paints to their products, already employ safe work practices such as using dedicated spray booths and providing adequate ventilation and airflow management. Many go one step further and install air filtration systems to capture emissions at their source.

At AIR Systems, Inc. we serve our customers by providing indoor air quality management solutions in addition to our stellar air-cleaning products, including our new Explosion-Proof Fume Extractor systems. Contact us today for a free air quality assessment with one of our skilled and experienced clean air specialists.