Beckers Creates New EB Curing Coating Formulation

Coil coatings supplier Beckers Group has teamed up with steelmaker ArcelorMittal to develop the coil coatings industry's first commercial coating formulation for electron beam curing.

The company says these technologies can significantly reduce carbon dioxide and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. Additionally, the paint reportedly provides up to twice the surface coverage per kilogram to increase industry efficiency.

Beckers and ArcelorMittal are collaborating to implement radiation curing technology for pre-painted steel in the building and construction sector. The goal of EB curing technology is to replace solvent-based coating systems with solvent-free coatings to produce pre-painted steel for building envelopes.

In this case, conventional thermal curing is replaced by EB curing to reduce CO2 and VOC emissions, reduce energy consumption by avoiding the use of natural gas, and avoid the use of cooling water since the process takes place at room temperature.

Beckers explains that EB curing also reduces waste disposal, increases productivity and lowers VOC emissions in the finished product.

For the pilot project, a coil coating line at ArcelorMittal Construction in Contrisson, France, was converted in early 2023.

The coating formulation was specially developed by Beckers to match the performance levels and suitability of solvent-based products, while the application and curing know-how was invented by ArcelorMittal to meet high-speed strip coating requirements.

The first coils were processed into sandwich panels and installed on the test building. According to reports, the new paint technology is expected to be used in conjunction with high-speed galvanizing processes in the future.