A fan driven Airknife Drying System from ACI has been adopted by Jaguar Cars in its drive to reduce noise levels in the Paint Area Plant at Castle Bromwich where an existing compressed air drying system was proving too noisy and costly.
Effective drying of the car bodies during Jaguar’s special four coat wet flat paint process is critical to ensure good paint adhesion. So Jaguar approached ACI to see if the company could offer a solution based upon its extensive experience in component drying within the automotive industry.
ACI proposed a system comprising three belt driven compact blowers housed in compact acoustic enclosures that could be mounted alongside the production line.
Two free standing support frames straddle the line to support ACI’s highly efficient Airknives and high penetration flexible plus the air feed ducting. All of the Airknives, nozzles and support frame are constructed from stainless steel and can be adjusted to ensure maximum efficiency.
“The ACI Airknife system has exceeded expectations by reducing noise levels by 50% whilst cutting running costs by approximately 90%,” according to John Naughton, Jaguar Car’s Paint Area Manager.
