On June 22, Painting New Vision released "Still struggling after more than 20 years, where is the road for water-based wood coatings ?" "The article received widespread attention from people in the industry and sparked heated discussions.
What is the current development situation of water-based wood coatings? If it really does not meet expectations, then what is slowing down the rapid development of water-based wood coatings?
As we all know, it has been 26 years since the first barrel of water-based wood coatings from Germany Dufang knocked on the door of China in 1996. Water-based wood coatings have entered the Chinese market.
As a water-based wood coating for young people in the Mood for Love, its market share has increased from the initial 2% to 3% to about 12% today.
Is there any result? The results are obvious to all, but they are far from satisfactory.
On the "difficult" development path of China's water-based wood coatings, the most criticized issue is cost.
"The domestic popularity of water-based coatings is not as good as that of traditional solvent-based coatings , and the high cost and complicated construction have become a stumbling block." This is the stereotype that most people have about water-based wood coatings.
It is understood that the most important problem hindering many furniture factory owners from accepting water-based coatings is that they believe that the cost of transitioning to water-based wood coatings is very high.
"Converting traditional solvent-based products to water-based ones requires a comprehensive transformation in R&D, production equipment, personnel, etc. It will cost hundreds of thousands, right?" A furniture factory asked us such a question.
Recently, the Guangdong Center of "China Coatings" had an in-depth conversation with Zhu Yan'an, the expert committee of the China Coatings Industry Association, and found that the cost of changing furniture coatings from oil to water is not as high as we thought.
Zhu Yanan said that for large-scale regular furniture factories, the investment cost of equipment for applying water-based wood coatings is actually not much different from the cost investment of traditional solvent-based coatings.
For example, when we make solvent-based coatings, we need spray booths, drying rooms, dust-free rooms, air supply systems and other equipment. But these equipment can also be used to make water-based wood coatings, such as spray gun, and oil pump.
"The biggest difference in equipment requirements between water-based coatings and solvent-based coatings is that the environment for drying water-based coatings has higher requirements." Zhu Yanan told us the key.
According to him, due to the large latent heat of evaporation of water in water-based paints, the drying of water-based paints will be affected by temperature, humidity and wind speed.
If the water-based paint dries very slowly under high temperature, high humidity or low temperature conditions, it will increase the potential risk of film formation. Therefore, water-based equipment requires a dehumidifier to meet the drying environment of the water-based paint.
However, the requirement for dry environment is not a prerogative of water-based coatings.
"In fact, solvent-based paints also have temperature requirements for drying. For example, if the temperature is too low in winter, it must be heated, and if the temperature is too high in summer, it must be cooled. The same is true for water-based paints, that is, an additional drying room must be added. It’s just dehumidification equipment, there is no other equipment that needs to be added,” Zhu Yanan said.
It is understood that a dehumidifier only costs two to three thousand yuan, and the more expensive one is only three to four thousand yuan. "In a furniture factory's 20 to 30 square meters drying room, a dehumidifier is enough, and it will not affect the construction of water-based coatings."
Zhu Yan'an also added that in addition to the investment in conventional construction equipment for solvent-based coatings In addition, usually furniture factories must have VOC management equipment. Such a set of equipment can cost as little as 500,000, and as many as one million or more. In addition to the high one-time investment, its equipment operation costs are also extremely high, and it will also be subject to environmental protection and security inspections, so the cost is not low.
In terms of post-construction processing, Zhu Yanan said that water-based coatings currently do not require investment in equipment. Except for dehumidification equipment and sometimes heating equipment, other investments are almost zero.
Therefore, the current performance and overall cost of water-based wood coatings are almost the same as, or even better than, solvent-based coatings. "Whether it is the investment in the middle or later stages, the investment in water-based coatings is far lower than that of solvent-based coatings."
" If water-based wood coatings want to be scaled up quickly, the most important thing is actually the concept of the furniture factory owner. Is he willing? I am willing to use water-based wood coatings ," Zhu Yanan said bluntly.
The reason why many furniture factory owners are reluctant to use water-based wood coatings on large areas is that they are accustomed to using oil-based coatings before. They are like conservative old people who are unwilling to try new things because they find it troublesome.
In January this year, the State Council issued the "Comprehensive Work Plan for Energy Saving and Emission Reduction during the 14th Five-Year Plan". The Plan proposed that by 2025, the proportion of solvent-based industrial coatings and inks used would be reduced by 20 percentage points and 10 percentage points respectively. Solvent-based adhesives Usage reduced by 20%.
This means that in the next five years, the market application share of water-based, powder, and high-solid industrial coatings in my country will increase significantly by 20 percentage points. This proportion is very large. It can be said that water-based coatings will be a popular development in the coating industry in the future. direction.
There are national policies to accelerate the water-based and green transformation of the coatings industry. The industry itself must also actively respond to the policies to help the upstream and downstream industry and employees change their prejudices against water-based coatings. After all, the cost of water-based transformation is not high and the prospects are broad. What’s the point? Can't try it? Whether the water is shallow or deep, you will only know if you jump into the water.
I believe that the "15th China International Water-based Wood Coatings Development Seminar and Green Wood Coatings Painting Technology" will be held in Shunde, Guangdong from July 27 to 29. Forum", the insights of big names and experts from all sides will help more upstream and downstream industries and practitioners change their prejudices about water-based coatings and accelerate the transformation of water-based coatings.
html From July 27th to 29th, let’s go to the site to witness it!
