NADURA, Riscia R.

2010-04221

Technical review: Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc

For the first plant visit under ChE 190, the class visited Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines,
Inc which is located in Dasmariñas City, Cavite and is under the paint and coatings industry. The
chemical plant, which started as packer of paint and lacquer thinners, started producing Nation
House Paints in 1958. The company’s products are Boysen Paints, Nation House Paints, Dutch Boy,
Mc Gill and Konstruct. However, in the plant that we visited, which is a newly commissioned facility,
the products are solely white solvent-based paints.

Raw materials and products

The raw materials used by the plant are pigments, binders, solvent, and additives. These are
either locally-manufactured or imported. Some of the raw materials needed by the plant are
produced by their neighbor company. Pigments contribute color, opacity, and gloss to the paint.
These are usually in the form of granular solids or powder. In Boysen's plant in Cavite that we
visited, TiO2 is used as white pigment since it has high brightness, high refractive index and is
considered to be the “perfect white.” Aside from TiO2, extenders, which are special type of
pigments, are also added to thicken the paint, support the paint's structure, and increase the
volume of the paint. Extenders used in the plant are talc and CaCO3. On the other hand, binders,
which are usually polymers, form a protective matrix and hold the pigment particles in place.
Binders are also responsible for the good adhesion of the coating to the surface. Two binders are
used in the plant: alkyd polymers and acrylic polymers. The main difference between the two is the
type of solvent in which they will be dissolved. Solvents, or thinners, are used to dissolve the binder,
adjust the viscosity of the paint, and carrier for non-volatile organic compounds. For alkyd
polymers, the solvent used is oil while for acrylic resins, it is water. Lastly, additives, which are
added in small amounts, can give the paint improved finish and flow properties, modified surface
tension, and other significant effects. Some of the additives used in the plant are catalysts,
emulsifiers, and stabilizers.

Paint production in the plant

Paint production is a straightforward batch operation which involves mixing of raw
materials. A key factor in paint production, which determines the consistency of the paints
produced, is strict adherence to the specific recipe requirements for each type of paint. Thus, a fully
integrated manufacturing facility with Rockwell automation system is seen in the plant. One
process engineer is assigned in the production control room to ensure proper amounts of raw
materials are added, suitable operating conditions such as temperature are present, and the
equipments are performing correctly. Formulations, or recipes, for paint production, depend on the
specific application requirements such as hiding power, color, viscosity, pH, gloss, density,
percentage of solids, and weather resistance.

The raw materials in liquid form are stored in a tank farm area outside. These are pumped
to the 3rd floor of the building and into the premix tank. The 4th floor of the building contains the
additive and silo area where 2 different hoppers, with a 100-kilogram capacity each, are present:
one for alkyd and another for acrylic. Different kinds of additives are added in small amounts to get
the desired characteristics of the final product. Raw materials in solid form such as TiO 2 are
manually charged. Dust collectors are present to ensure that there is no risk for the health and
safety of the personnel as well as the environment. Valves and flow meters are present to control
the flow rate of each raw material. The paint production steps are done from the 4 th floor of the
building to the 1st floor to ensure that the system is economical by using gravity as transport.

Raw materials in both forms (solid and liquid) go to the premix tank, located on the 3 rd floor
of the building. In this step, the raw materials undergo four steps for the proper dispersion of
pigments. These four steps include wetting, grinding, stabilizing and de-flocculation. Wetting is the
first step in the dispersion process where the air surrounding the pigments is substituted by the
solution. This step only occurs when the surface tension of the solvent is significantly lower than
the surface energy of the solid particles and thus, a wetting agent is required to lower the surface
tension of the liquid. The second step of the dispersion process is grinding where the pigment
agglomerates are broken up. However, once dispersed, the particles still have a tendency to re-
agglomerate which will affect different characteristics of the final product negatively. Thus,
stabilization is important to keep the particles separated. To do this, appropriate surfactants are
added. De-flocculation is pretty much the same as the grinding step wherein pigment particles repel
each other. This dispersion of pigments occurs in a high-speed premix tank which is agitated at 900
rpm (max) for 3-4 hours. In this tank, a scraper is used to remove materials that adhered to the
walls of the tank. Caw's blade is used to ensure optimization of shearing and to bring back the
pigments to their original size. For TiO2, the particle size should be 0.22 microns. Before, conical
tanks with vibrators are used for the premix step. However, vibrators cause too much noise
pollution so cylindrical tanks with scrapers are used instead. Also, an important parameter in this
step is temperature. The temperature inside the premix tank should not exceed 60°C. Flash point
and ignition points are also considered.

After the premix tank, the mixture goes to a letdown tank on the 2nd floor which is agitated
at low speed (120 rpm) for 1 hour. In this step, the paint mixture is diluted with the proper amount
of solvent based on the formulation desired. Tints and solvents are added to meet the desired
properties of the paint. However, solid raw materials should not be added in the letdown tank
because there is no more dispersion in this stage. The letdown tanks in the plant that we visited
have a capacity of 7500 gallons and 3000 gallons. After this step, the liquid paint goes through filter
pots to filter out contaminants such as solids from the packaging of raw materials. Then, the final
product goes through a surge tank and is transferred to the filling and packing area in the 1 st floor
of the building. Filling and packing of cans, buckets or drums are done manually by workers. This is
because the company found out that the manual system of filling, packing, and labeling are much
faster than the automatic process. Also, the plant facility located in Cavite should give jobs to the
residents as dictated by their local government unit. Storing of the finished and labeled products is
also done manually. The storage area for the products is also located on the 1st floor of the building.
Here, 1170 pallets make up the finished good racks where the FIFO (first in, first out) system is
followed.

Operations of the plant

The plant's operating schedule depends on whether it is peak or lean season. During the
peak season, the plant produces 23,000 gallons per day and has an operating schedule of 6 am to 6
pm from Monday to Saturday. On the other hand, during the lean season, which is usually on
months where the rainy season falls, production is only at 18,000 gallons per day and the plant
operates for five days a week. The maintenance schedule of the plant is not fixed; rather it is
dictated by equipments or by computer reports via controls.

Health, Safety, Environment, and Quality

According to Ms. Jennelyn Cua, the plant's Environment, Health, Safety and Security
engineer, Boysen boasts of its closed production system and zero waste management system. The
closed production system ensures minimal dust dispersal since the area for solid raw material-
handling is surrounded by plastic film cover. Dust collectors are also present on the same floor. On
the other hand, the plant's zero waste management system ensures minimal waste by utilizing each
raw material used. Even contaminated solvents and raw materials go back to the process in small
amounts to guarantee that no raw material will be wasted. The fully automated system of the plant
also helps ensure that no mishandling of the raw materials occurs. Maintenance of silos, tanks, and
totes are done using pressure washers and sprinklers with solvents as cleaning fluid. The resulting
mixture then goes to storage for rundown and may then be reused in the production of paint. Aside
from complete utilization of raw materials, containers of raw materials such as totes are sold off to
gain profit off of them. Rice for the workers is then bought using this profit. As for other solid
wastes, these are sent to third-party treatment facilities.

To ensure high quality and consistency of the final products, small portion of each batch
goes to the Quality Control (QC) laboratory of the plant which is located on the 2nd floor of the
building. Here, the samples are checked for viscosity, density, drying time, fineness of grind,
contrast ratio, and hiding power. Hiding power is done subjectively whereas spectrophotometers
are used to determine contrast ratio. For batches that didn’t meet the required specifications, it
goes through the production again. A storage room for two-year samples of paint produced is also
present in the QC lab for events when customer complaints are present.

As for management systems, they are in place, however, the plant has not undergone
certification yet. The plant is currently targeting to be Responsible Care Management System-
certified which focuses on the chemical industry's desire to improve health, safety, and
environmental performance. Under this management system, seven codes of management practices
are present including Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER), Health and Safety,
Pollution Prevention, Process Safety, Distribution, Security and Product Stewardship. CAER focuses
on informing the community near the facility, the operations done in the plant and the possible
effects of these to the community member's health and safety as well as the environment. Product
stewardship, on the other hand, focuses on managing the risks and improving the performance of
the final product during its entire life cycle. Distribution refers to the proper transport of the final
products to the customers.

Engineers in the plant

Chemical engineers in the plant are assigned in quality control, process engineering and
HSE department. As stated previously, there is only one process engineer for the whole plant. The
process engineer’s task is to ensure that paint production follows the right steps, operates at the
desired conditions, and performs efficiently. The role of the process engineer in the plant is
important since each batch of paint produced cost millions of pesos. Thus, each parameter must be
checked constantly. Fortunately, the plant is fully automated. Thus, all checks and controls are done
via computers.

Chemical engineers in the quality control ensure that the final products going out of the
plant are up to par with the previously released batches to ensure that customer complaint will not
happen. On the other hand, the chemical engineers assigned in the HSE department must ensure
that the health and safety of the employees, as well as the environment, are prioritized.

In the plant, chemical engineers are females since based on several studies; males have a
higher tendency to be color blind. Since color is important in paint production and it is determined
subjectively, female chemical engineers are preferred by the company.

Comments on the event

In my opinion, I liked the choice of plant to visit since I haven’t been to a paint production
plant facility before. Though I know that only mixing is done in this industry, it is fascinating to see
how such a simple process can become complicated with the addition of automation, pipes and
valves, pumps and other factors. It is also my first time hearing about the four steps for proper
dispersion of pigments and how important it is to paint production. Ms. Cua was also good in
explaining how things work inside the plant. She also answered most of our questions properly
which helped us understand and appreciate the production of paint more.

As for the schedule and itinerary, there is not much to complain about. However, it would
have been better if the group in-charge knew the exact location of the plant so as to avoid the delay
in arriving. Overall, the visit to Boysen’s plant was informative.