Abstract

In an automobile manufacturing plant, painting is the most critical process. To protect vehicle bodies from corrosion,
special priming and painting processes are used. The conditioned environment is the key to decide the finishing
quality. The motivation of the paper is to prove that the proper conditioning of the environment is not only improve
the finishing quality but offers energy saving opportunity as well. The objective of the project was to prove that
conditioning the spray booth in automobile plants will also reduce energy consumption. This was achieved by
introducing a closed loop feedback control system. The control system was to monitor the spray booth condition,
continuously and correct the Humidifier system accordingly. Energy consumption was monitored and measured
before and after the system implementation. A reduction of 30% in energy consumption was achieved and along with
a 20% cut down in paint repair work. A well monitored closed loop spray booth to maintain a conditioned
environment offers a saving in terms of better quality product and energy saving.