Production fit for the future – support for Airbus from Dürr and Stohrer
07/12/2007
Stuttgart, July 12, 2007 – In 2008 new legislation comes into effect relating to accidents involving hazardous materials. In order to ensure proper compliance Airbus, assisted by Dürr and Stohrer, is switching to chromate free production at its Nordenham factory.
The REACH Directive - REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals – is the name of the new accident prevention legislation under which it will be necessary as from 2008 to obtain individual permits for the use of hazardous materials. Project partners Dürr Factory Assembly Systems (FAS) and Stohrer Surface AG, the company that supplied the original Airbus plant in 1996, will carry out the necessary modifications to wet chemical processes to allow for chromate free production at Nordenham and thus ensure that Airbus complies with the new rules.
Project ACF (Airbus Chromate Free) was set up at Airbus to examine the pretreatment forming part of the painting process for plane sections and components. When the project is completed the chromic acid anodizing (CAA) process in general use today will have been replaced by the environmentally compatible tartaric/sulfuric acid anodizing process (TSA).
Here are a few of the facts relating to modernization of this anodizing plant: Dürr will supply five steel tanks for the immersion of complete skin sections for Airbus models. These tanks are each 11.5 x 2 x 3.7 meters in size. An oven of similar dimensions will also be supplied together with two storage tanks for process media. In addition to a DC power supply system, process equipment including chillers for process baths and a drainage system for the tanks, is also part of the Dürr FAS scope of supply. Stohrer will be responsible for installation of the plant control system, including control panel and associated vision system, and also take charge of project management.
The plant will be put to work as early as autumn 2007 in good time before the new REACH Directive takes effect. It will be the first large plant in Germany to operate with this new TSA technology.
The Dürr Group is one of the world's leading suppliers of products, systems, and services for automobile manufacturing. Its range of products and services covers important stages of vehicle production. As a systems supplier, Dürr plans and builds complete paint shops and final assembly facilities. Dürr also delivers cleaning and filtration systems for the manufacture of engine and transmission components as well as diagnostic and balancing systems for vehicle components. Around 90% of Group sales relate to business with automobile manufacturers and their suppliers. The machinery, chemical, pharmaceutical, coating and aviation industries are also major customers of Dürr.
Stohrer Surface AG is a company involved mainly in the field of galvanizing and has gained a reputation as a supplier of high quality plants. It targets customers in the aviation and automotive industries, where innovative technologies with the potential to handle future demands are often sought. In this connection the company co-operates with International Plating Technologies (IPT), a Stohrer shareholder. Stohrer became involved in tartaric sulfuric acid anodizing at an early stage and has performed planning exercises for plant and equipment associated with the process.
Stohrer Surface AG
Karsten Eugen Beihl
Phone: +49 (0)7150 2091-11
Fax: +49 (0)7150 2091-66
E-mail: k.beihl(at)stohrer.de
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Dürr Systems GmbH
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