Water-borne paints in DAF’s chassis paint shop

DAF Trucks in Eindhoven has switched to the use of water-borne paints for painting the chassis of the CF and XF series. Water-borne paints are far less harmful to the environment. Conventional paints use solvents which contribute to the formation of smog and ozone in the atmosphere.

In 1990 DAF decided to switch to water-borne paints for the chassis in order to meet future environmental legislation. The company made a conscious choice to tackle the pollution at source rather than fighting the consequences.

In 1994, the company built a completely new chassis paint shop. Since 1997 chassis have been experimentally painted using water-borne paint. The vehicles concerned were used by customers under normal operating conditions and they were regularly checked for corrosion and paint durability. The water-borne paints had to meet the same quality standards as the ‘solvent’ paints. The results of these practical tests were so positive that the switchover to water-borne paints has now been made.

The switchover to water-borne paints meant every aspect of the painting process had to be adapted. The degreasing of the chassis, the drying process which required more time and higher temperatures, the spraying equipment and the paint, all had to be adapted. Incidentally, the chassis paint shop at DAF is the only one that permits tilting of the chassis during the paint spraying. This enables the operator easy access to all nooks and crannies of the chassis. It also reduces waste of paint and gives optimum quality.

Theuse of water-borne paints in chassis painting forms only a part of DAF’s policy to reduce the emission of hydrocarbons. Since 1997, the chassis side members have been dip-painted using electro-coating. That made a difference of 3.4 kilogrammes of hydrocarbons per truck. The axles and engines have been painted with water-borne paint since 2000 and 2001 respectively. This gives a reduction in the emission of hydrocarbons of 2.5 kilogrammes per axle as well as per engine. Now that water-borne paint is also being used on the chassis, the total reduction in the emission of hydrocarbons amounts to 12.4 kilogrammes per vehicle. With production volumes of 110 per day, the difference is about 327 tonnes of hydrocarbons per year.