A commercial paint booth environment requires the perfect balance of temperature and humidity levels. With excesses in these factors, the application and curing processes may result a poor quality paint job. The perfect balance of these factors depends on the business’s location geographically, the type of paint. Moreover, it also depends on the control units used to regulate these factors. To control these factors better, this article will discuss the importance of paint booth humidification systems.
The Paint Booth Environment
According to an article on the GFS Booth Blog, called: “Paint Booth Temperature Settings – A Practical Guide”:
“A paint booth must be a minimum of 55 degrees for any automotive paint with a catalyst to dry. All automotive paint companies base the time it takes to flash, cure, recoat, etc. on 70 degrees and 50% RH (relative humidity).”
The size of the booth, location of the shop regionally, and temperature while spraying – all have to be regulated at these levels, depending on the type of paint and application. For paint booths to produce the optimal environment – chillers, heaters, vapor barriers, insulation, and humidification systems are essential.
A Study in Malaysia
The complexity of producing this optimal paint booth environment, it’s not always so easy. For example, in another article found on GFS Booth Blog, called: “Handling Heat and Humidity in a Paint Booth – A Q&A from the GFS Facebook Page,” we learn of an extreme example of a person in Malaysia who was trying to deal with high temperatures with high humidity levels.
Listen to the complex answer they received:
“Standard design practice would be to condense the moisture out of the air by sub-cooling with a chiller and then reheating the air with indirect heat to the desired operating temperature and relative humidity set-point. This practice would be done only with the use of an insulated booth with a vapor barrier in the environment of Malaysia.”
See, the problem with Malaysia (or other high humidity locations) is:
“Cooling the air would cause for other conditions such as condensation on the booth walls or a high relative humidity in the booth since the air is being cooled down to the saturation temperatures in the summer time.”
Obviously, regulating and controlling the optimal humidity and temperature levels in a paint booth environment is a complex process. This may be an extreme example, yet there are many variables in humidity and temperatures in the U.S. So, it may require the same type of solutions. The question then becomes – is there a better way?
Focus on the Humidification System
Heating or cooling the paint booth environment is a simple enough process, yet the problem is the fluctuating moisture levels that result. That means, there needs to be a more effective humidification system in place. At the same time which can regulate the moisture levels without condensation or wetting occurring. Furthermore, it would be optimal if the humidification system could have a slight cooling effect, which would reduce the need for chillers and help balance the heating system.
The good news for paint booths is Smart Fog’s commercial and industrial humidifiers are perfectly suitable for paint booth applications. The Smart Fog® technology is an innovative breakthrough in commercial humidification systems. Moreover, it is usable in our direct space, mobile or in-duct humidification systems.
Conclusion
Regulating the humidity and temperature levels in commercial paint booth environments shouldn’t be as complicated as it used to be. Cooling the air and then reheating the air again, to reduce moisture levels, isn’t necessary with a Smart Fog humidifier. These innovative humidifiers produce 4.2-micron droplets (smallest in industry) through a: safe, low-cost, low maintenance, no wetting, non-chemical decorrelation process.
Many commercial environments have a vital need for controlling excessive moisture levels, yet none more than commercial paint booths. Their need for precise temperature, humidity levels, and quality results make Smart Fog commercial humidifiers the perfect solution. If you want to learn more, please contact us today.
