The plant engineering company Dürr is building a resource-saving Eco+Paintshop for BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. (BBA) in Dadong in China. The paint shop will feature a wide range of the technological innovations for sustainable automotive painting.

Pretreatment and electrocoating are implemented by means of the rotary dip painting system called Ecopaint RoDip M. Making use of the rotation movement of the car bodies, this technology allows for designing a dip tank without inlet or outlet slopes, which results in a significantly smaller footprint and a reduced consumption of energy, water and chemicals by reason of the smaller bath volume.

The fully automated IPP (Integrated Paint Process) eliminates the need for both a primer and a drying phase. The spray booths are equipped with EcoDryScrubber technology that binds the overspray without water and chemicals. Using large-scale air recirculation, energy savings of up to 60% are possible.

36 EcoRP E033 and EcoRP L133 paint robots will paint the car bodies in Dadong. They are equipped with the EcoBell3, which gives significantly higher atomizer performance. With a compact design, the atomizers of the EcoBell3 family are suited for exterior and interior painting. Combined with the linear color changer EcoLCC, the EcoBell3 is an extremely efficient, compact, and easy-to-operate application system for all types of use. It reduces the paint loss during color change to a minimum and greatly accelerates the color change process.

Eight robots of type EcoRS are used for automatic seam sealing with 3D applicators. Four of them are equipped with highly precise tandem piston dosing units for sealing the seams from above. 

The use of heat wheels for recovering heat from supply and exhaust air is another feature that protects the environment. The waste heat from the ovens is also recovered via waste heat boilers. The exhaust airflow from the clear coat booth is purified before exiting the system. Membrane technology in pretreatment, electrocoating, and a wastewater treatment plant help to reduce the water consumption and thus the volume of wastewater.

Dürr's layout philosophy, aimed at reducing the space requirement, is part of the Eco+Paintshop. It is based on simple, low-cost factory building without intermediate levels. Multi-functional body stores support this concept in the form of high bay storage systems for optimal material flow.

The specific energy consumption thatBMW will be able to realize at the Dadong site sets high standards all over the world. Per painted car body, less than 500 kilowatt hours of energy are used. This is a mere third of what used to be the standard only 10 years ago. At the same time, much emphasis is placed on turning the shop floor into a worker-friendly environment. Ergonomic working conditions as well as ease of communication and maintenance are ensured as standards. The Eco+Paintshop in Dadong is the third major painting project for BMW Brilliance in China. Previously, Dürr implemented a sustainable paint shop in the Shenyang factory and its expansion stage for the joint venture.