New facility set to be environmentally friendly Published Jan. 30, 2006 By Lanorris Askew 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFMCNS) -- A new aircraft paint and depaint facility under construction here is designed to be environmentally friendly and cost efficient. Before a shovel ever hit the ground Environmental Management personnel ensured the project was safe from an Environmental Safety and Occupational Health (ESOH) perspective. The goal for the new facility was to make environmental improvements over old processes, according to Richard Slife of the 402nd Maintenance Wing quality and process improvement office. Air Force Materiel Command calls this Weapon System Pollution Prevention. The $72 million project will provide a covered, environmentally controlled area for maintenance workers to strip paint from aircraft bodies and repaint them. However, the building's shell is just the beginning. One of the upgrades being made from the previous facility includes using a dry media blast process instead of chemical strippers. This process uses plastic pellets that are blown against the aircraft to peel the paint away. Those pellets can be recycled, and the dry paint residue is easier to dispose of than wet paint and hazardous chemicals. "Based on 2004 emission data..., we can expect about a 12-ton annual reduction in Volatile Organic Compounds... due to the new depaint facility utilizing dry media as a depaint method instead of chemical strippers," said Mark Summers, Air Quality engineer. Another example of savings is the introduction of re-circulated air. "This process provides energy savings and a better flow of air across the aircraft surface giving you a better quality paint job," said Mr. Summers. "In addition, it reduces exposure levels for employees because of improvement in ventilation." Another innovation is a process called plural component proportioning - or mixing paint in the line. Plural component proportioning systems are self-contained epoxy paint proportioning and mixing systems that properly mix a more precise production of paint than hand mixing. And, they generate less waste. The new facility is also changing from the currently used high-volume, low-pressure paint system to the Air Assisted Airless paint guns system. According to Environmental Management personnel, the Air Assisted Airless system uses hydraulic pressure to pump paint through a small hole on the tip of the paint gun. As the paint moves through, it disperses into a fan of paint droplets that move at a lower velocity than high-volume, low pressure systems. A small amount of air is then injected into the fan of paint causing the fan to disperse into smaller droplets that are evenly distributed throughout the fan. The transfer efficiency of an Air Assisted Airless system averages about 95 percent when coating large surfaces and about 85 percent when coating small surfaces. Jerry Thovson, 778th Civil Engineer Squadron mechanical engineer and base project manager for the facility, said there is more than just an environmental impact. Although the figures for the depaint hangar haven't been factored, numbers show a first-cost savings of about $4.5 million due to only needing 1,500 tons of cooling versus 5,000 tons needed before. "We're also looking at an annual energy savings of around $800,000 per year," he said. "Those numbers consider not only the proportional savings from the smaller equipment, but also the ability to control humidity without wasting energy on reheat." Mr. Thovson added that maintenance savings are estimated at $150,000 per year. "This number considers the lesser amount of equipment to maintain," he said. "But some of that is offset by requiring more diligent maintenance due to the air recirculation aspects of the system."