Energy-Efficient Surface Protection for Airbus
The paint shop system will be used to coat the extra tank responsible for the high range of the Airbus A321XLR.
The paint shop currently being built as a turnkey system for the Airbus division Premium Aerotec is the largest individual project to date for Dürr, which it is undertaking for the Airbus Group. The system will be used to coat the extra tank responsible for the high range of the Airbus A321XLR. For the first time, an all-electric exhaust purification system will also be integrated into one of the paint shops at the Augsburg, Germany, site, helping to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The fuel tank integrated into the fuselage of the Airbus is the key component in transforming the former short- and medium-haul planes into the XLR (eXtra Long Range) long-haul version. Known as the rear center tank (RCT), its extended capacity of 13,000 L adds up to 8,700 km to the aircraft's range. The rear center tank is produced exclusively at the Augsburg site.
The turnkey project covers the entire process, from preparation to sealing to actual painting. The new paint shop consists of sealing, cleaning and painting booths. It also includes surface and leak testing. The requirements regarding corrosion and diffusion are high. The tank surface needs to withstand the extreme conditions on the underside of the aircraft without corroding.
To meet the high requirement for surface protection, paint booths need constant temperatures and humidity. Conditioning requires a lot of energy, especially for paints that are applied manually. The use of recirculated air is not permitted, so the booths are operated with supply and exhaust air.
“To make the process more energy efficient for Airbus, we are implementing a component-specific air ducting system that greatly reduces the amount of air required, but still satisfies the safety requirements and standards. The less air that needs to be conditioned, the lower the energy consumption,” explains Marc Furmannek, key account manager at Dürr. Additionally, energy recovery systems are used that recycle 65% of the energy contained in the exhaust air, repurposing it for conditioning the fresh air and further minimizing the energy consumption.
For sustainability reasons, Premium AEROTEC opted for an all-electric exhaust air purification system in the form of Oxi.X RV. This system uses regenerative thermal oxidation (RTO) with a flameless operating mode. Since the entire process is electrified, it can be operated with zero emissions, meaning without additional CO2 and using green electricity.
The exhaust air streams produced contain very low solvent concentrations. However, since the volume of exhaust air is high, a Sorpt.X CD is placed upstream of the Oxi.X RV to concentrate the exhaust air streams. This reduces the volume, thereby increasing the solvent concentration – by as much as 40 times the original pollutant concentration.
