China. In order to expand its production capacity, changan Ford car plant will install two Dürr paint plants with two "top coat" lines for its facilities located in Chongqing and Hangshou.
At the painting plant in Chongqing, Changan Ford will use a process known as "3-Wet high solid", from wet to wet painting, without the need to use an oven between the different painting stages. At the Hangzhou plant, Ford is introducing a new water-based 3wet process due to new environmental regulations in China.
The use of heat recuperators in the exhaust air of the furnaces also saves energy. Changan Ford uses the exhaust heat of the furnaces to heat the feed air of the paint booth.
An additional energy-saving measure for Ford is the use of air recirculation in the automatic areas of the paint booths.
The plants are intended for the production of Ford's C or D models and will begin operations in September 2014 and January 2015. After commissioning, in Chongqing, 68 vehicles per hour will be painted, and 60 in Hangzhou. Both paint plants will operate in two shifts.
