UK: Fast Drying Coat to Speed Up Offshore Wind Tower Production

May 29, 2013

International coatings manufacturer Hempel announced the launch of HEMPADUR 47300, a new NORSOK-approved epoxy mid-coat that can reduce drying times for offshore wind tower manufacturers by up to 25 per cent and help drive down production costs.

Specially formulated for offshore wind towers, HEMPADUR 47300 is a new low-solvent epoxy mid-coat that offers vastly improved curing times for manufacturers. The coating can be handled just four hours after application at 20°C, compared to an average of five hours for standard equivalent coatings.

According to Anders Voldsgaard Clausen, Group Power Generation Segment Manager at Hempel, the new product enables manufacturers to reduce production line bottlenecks and increase line speeds – which could lead to significant cost reductions.

“The offshore wind energy industry is looking to lower costs in every part of the value chain, including productivity in the tower manufacturing stage,” he explains. “The curing time of HEMPADUR 47300 means manufacturers can achieve a faster production flow. As a result, they can coat more towers each shift and use less energy to dry the towers – which will help drive down the cost of each unit.”

HEMPADUR 47300 is approved and certified according to NORSOK M-501, system 1. It can be applied with airless spray and has a volatile organic compound content of just 190 grams per litre, which means very little VOC is released during application.

“As well as enabling wind tower producers to handle tower parts quickly, HEMPADUR 47300 will also help reduce emissions from their operations, which is an important consideration for many producers in this industry,” Clausen says.

HEMPADUR 47300 at a glance:

Epoxy mid-coat specially designed for offshore wind towers
4-hour curing time at 20°C (compared to an average of 5 hours for standard equivalent coatings)
Approved according to NORSOK M-501, system 1
Low-solvent (190 g/l)

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Press release, May 29, 2013; Image: herema