Panda’s next generation Smart booth is equipped with the iPanda digital control system.
Major spray booth manufacturers have been competing to develop a better product to meet new environmentally friendly criteria as well as to reduce the spiralling running costs of a booth with energy efficiency innovations.
The newly developed designs generally use programmable logic controls (PLCs) and variable frequency drives (VFDs) for efficient control of electrical or gas consumption. All of these innovations drive up spray booth manufacturing costs.
Panda Finishing Solutions' director Govinda Hu says he has been closely following these international trends. “With my background as an aeronautical engineer, I have conducted in-depth electrical and structural studies as well as travelling extensively overseas in search of better solutions,” Hu says.
The result of this research is Panda's flagship product – the iPanda Smart booth for the Australian and New Zealand markets. “Innovative and cost effective are just the right words to describe the new iPanda Smart booth,” he says.
Panda says that the integration of fans (intake, exhaust and auxiliary) and combustion system (direct or indirect burner or infrared heating unit) into an iSystem allows everything to be easily controlled by an intuitive touchscreen interface.
Painters can use the screen to choose between three programs – solvent, waterborne, or custom. Each of these programs can be set to run at the faster performance cycle, conventional or energy-saving economy mode.
The PLCs and VSDs will control the fans and burners as required. The cabin pressure is automatically balanced and adjusted and a two-channel redundancy control, just like the fly-by-wire systems on an aircraft, guarantees fail-safe operation.
Panda’s axillary airflow drying system (AADS) introduces supplementary air flow via high velocity nozzles. This air supply is filtered and heated to the same degree as the conventional booth airflow, and only operates during flash off and curing cycles.
Hu says the AADS generates a combination of disruptive air movement and increases air temperature. This disruptive airflow breaks up the wet insulation layer at the panel surface allowing the water to evaporate faster. The AADS ensures a more efficient cure cycle (which can be up to 30 per cent quicker) as it uses more of the heat available to bring the panels up to temperature, which in turn allows for a shorter bake cycle, he says. The control system can record total spray and bake durations over a pre-programmed period, assisting shop owners to monitor energy consumption and productivity.
The iPanda control system can be retrofitted to certain booths and is designed to comply with the AS/NZS 4114 standard.
Hu says Panda has a unique advantage as a supplier through its direct link to one of world’s largest spray booth manufacturing facilities in Asia, which allows it to source its product cost-effectively and pass on these savings to customers.
More information from Panda Finishing Solutions. NSW/WA Tel: 02 8003 7608, QLD/NT Tel: 07 3102 4484, VIC/SA/TAS Tel: 03 9018 5038 or web: www.pandaspraybooth.com.au