Coating a ship’s steel hull

Lagomarsino Anielli selects Graco XPs-hf Plural-Component Sprayers to do the job.

Founded in 1946 and based in the Italian port city of Genoa, the Lagomarsino Anielli company specializes in sandblasting, painting, maintenance and ship repairs. Clients range from small shipowners to the major Italian shipyards. The company works on new vessels as well as on ships being renovated, taking responsibility for all surface treatment processes, from the initial sandblasting to the final coating.

“We are increasingly involved in jobs where quick application methods are required by shipowners and paint manufacturers,” says Adriano Bertoldo, Ufficio Tecnico of Lagomarsino Anielli. “The rapid evolution in the paint industry requires us to continually improve our specific skills and update the range of spray equipment we use, from 1k airless units to the most high-performance 2k airless proportioners.”

Another trend that Lagomarsino Anielli is observing is the need to optimize the total consumption of coatings to reduce costs. “This is an important variable that is checked by paint manufacturers and inspectors at all levels during the whole application,” he adds.

Specifics of the job

For this job, each XPs-hf was equipped with 45 meters of high-quality hose with a water jacket heated system to deliver the two fluids to the mix manifold. Heated water is a safe and effective way to maintain temperature between primary heaters and a remote mix manifold. Graco’s water-heated hoses are specifically designed for use with plural component high-pressure airless equipment. Made from lightweight nylon, they are robust and easy to cut to length. The A/B hose ends are color coded to prevent cross-overs and incorrect connections. Their pressure ratings of 5000 and 7250 psi (345 and 500 bar) match the sprayer pressure ratings.

Because of the high flow involved, a gun splitter was added after the mix manifold so that two operators could spray from each XPs-hf at the same time. Another useful feature of the splitter is that it provides independent flushing of each gun while the other gun remains in use. The 2k coating was sprayed with Graco’s XTR7 airless spray guns. These new guns offer a self-locking needle design for unmatched ease of breaking down for cleaning or rebuilds. They were fitted with XHD RAC tips which are designed to provide exceptional life, pattern and finish.

The two Graco XPs-hf Plural-Component Sprayers enabled four operators to spray simultaneously at a constant fluid pressure of 200 bars and a constant temperature of 45˚C. This enabled Lagomarsino to meet the project deadline and satisfy the shipowner, as well as the inspector from Nippon Paint.
 

More information

If you are interested in using the Graco XPs-hf Plural-Component Sprayer, fill in the contact form below or contact Mr. Davide Senizza from Approvvigionamenti Industriali at info@apinet.it, who would be delighted to discuss your specific requirements or setup a product demonstration.