Seres Selects Dürr for Paint Shop Installation

The high-end new energy vehicle manufacturer Seres not only focuses on intelligent electric drive technology but also on sustainable production processes. As a result, the company commissioned Dürr to equip a paint shop in its Liangjiang plant in Chongqing in southwestern China to maximize the production process for energy and resource efficiency. Nine months after receiving the contract, Dürr completed installing the paint shop and exhaust air purification technology as well as the software.

Seres electric cars have been on the market since 2018, and the company has shipped vehicles to over 70 markets since then. The paint shop in the Liangjiang plant can complete 60 jobs per hour.

“To meet the requirements of a production process that saves both resources and energy, we used especially sustainable products from plant and environmental engineering, and installed our DXQ energy management solution,” says Yu Lin, vice president of the paint and final assembly business at Dürr China.

The RoDip M mechanical rotational process is designed for conserving energy and resources during the pretreatment and cathodic electrocoating of vehicle bodies. The process saves up to six meters in length per tank compared to pendulum conveyor technology, reducing water, chemical and energy usage.

In addition to the RoDip process, Seres plans to use the EcoDry X dry separation system for overspray removal. The system relies on replaceable disposable cardboard filters, removing the need for water and chemicals. Dry separation minimizes fresh air requirements by recirculating nearly 90% of the air.

To eliminate solvents (VOCs) from exhaust air, the paint booths are equipped with a compact air pollution control system from Dürr. Exhaust air from the paint booths, which has already undergone adsorptive concentration through the recirculation process, undergoes further purification using a highly efficient VOC concentration system in combination with the downstream Oxi.X TR TAR recuperative thermal oxidizer. As a result, there is a 15% reduction in energy consumption. Additionally, exhaust air from the ovens is purified via the integrated Oxi.X TR TAR afterburning system with heat recovery and then reintroduced into the oven heating system.

Dürr’s DXQ software products play a role in improving sustainability within the Seres paint shop. DXQcontrol is employed for higher-level plant control, tracking each body’s life cycle. The DXQenergy.management tool provides a transparent overview of energy and media consumption across the entire production plant or for specific areas, like individual process lines. Dürr’s energy management solution makes it possible to quickly identify primary energy consumers at the plant level. Additionally, DXQequipment.maintenance monitors when individual components, such as pumps, valves or filters, need to be maintained.

Dürr’s plant technology is designed with a modular structure. The layout of the individual modules, from pretreatment to sealing processes to paint booths and ovens, makes production more flexible and minimizes unused space within the paint shop. In response to Seres’ request, Dürr also factored in space for a future primer line within the layout.

“We’re very happy that we were able to impress Seres with our modular equipment and fast completion time, and look forward to a long-term partnership,” Lin says.