D?rr, the mechanical and plant engineering group from is building the prototype of the Green Paint Shop for BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd (BBA) in Shenyang, China. All of the technological innovations that D?rr has to offer in terms of environmentally friendly, sustainable automotive painting will be used in this paint shop.

The customer has clear visions for its paint shop in Shenyang: the goal is to create nothing short of the world's most environmentally friendly plant. The general contractor D?rr, with its diverse approaches to resource-saving painting, is the ideal partner for this.

RoDip M rotational dip coating is used in the PT/ED area. The rotational movement of the car bodies thus allows inclined sections at the entrance and exit of the dip tank to be eliminated. This fact leads not only to a significant savings of space, but also to a reduced consumption of energy and chemicals due to smaller bath volumes.

Other technical features that highlight this "green" attribute are the fully automatic IPP (Integrated Paint Process), which eliminates the need for primer and thus a drying phase as well. The spray booths are equipped with EcoDryScrubber technology, the innovative dry separation method from D?rr, which requires no water or chemicals. In this way air recirculation allows a 60% savings in energy. The saturated binding material - a hazardous waste in conventional processes - can be re-used without any further treatment. D?rr's dry separation systems are already in use or under construction in 40 paint lines on four continents.

Paint will be applied with 32 type EcoRP E033 and EcoRP L133 painting robots from D?rr. These are equipped with the latest generation of atomizer, the EcoBell3, which is characterized by its significantly higher atomizer performance. Due to the EcoBell3's compact design, both exterior and interior painting can be done with the same rotating atomizer. In conjunction with the EcoLCC colour changer, the EcoBell3 offers a highly efficient and compact, but also easy, application system for all applications. This leads to minimal paint loss during colour changes and this process is considerably shortened.

A further measure for protecting the environment, the use of heat wheels for heat recovery from supply and exhaust air. Even the waste heat from the dryers is recovered through a waste heat boiler. The exhaust air stream from the clear coat booth is purified over and above the regulatory requirements before leaving the facility. Through the use of membrane technology in the pretreatment, electro dipping and waste water system, both water consumption and the amount of waste water are reduced.

The specific energy consumption that BMW reaches with this new paint shop sets new standards worldwide, as less than 500 kilowatt hours of energy are needed per painted car body. This is only a third of what was common just ten years ago. At the same time much emphasis is placed on having a worker-friendly work environment: ergonomic working conditions are just as standard as ease of communication and maintenance. That BMW's quality standards will in this way be guaranteed goes without saying.

D?rr holds leading positions in the world market in its areas of operation. It generates a good 80% of its sales in business with the automotive industry. It furthermore supplies the aircraft, machinery, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries with innovative production and environmental technologies.

(Andreas Stedtfeld, D?rr India Private Limited, Tel: 0-44-43931601. Fax: 91-44-243230622. Email: andreas.stedtfeld@durrindia.com)