Aqueous Coating Defects

Barrier Coating Frustration
Presented by:
Tony Lyons
Director of Research
Most Aqueous Coating Defects Can Be Traced
to the Following Root Causes:

„ Raw material quality

„ Entrained air
„ Poor coating rheology and improper water retention control
„ Base paper defects and quality
„ Inadequate operator training
„ Poorly maintained equipment
„ Mismatch of equipment for the application
„ Coating make down errors
 Barrier Coating Frustration

„ Customer has adopted a new technology for moisture

barrier coating that gave excellent results in the laboratory
„ 5 g/M2/day under tropical conditions with rod draw downs
„ On their 500 M/min rod coater they were able to achieve
the target coat weight and surface coverage, but got
disappointing results when the moisture barrier property
was tested
„ 35 g/M2/day under tropical conditions
„ The coat weights and the formulation were double checked
and everything was at it should be
„ What might be wrong?
 ≈ Defect Classification:

~ Roll and Web

Terminology
• Web Defects - Coating
• Ref. Number WD-62

COATING PITS
DEFECT DESCRIPTION

Coating Pits - Defined as microscopic holes in the coating. Appearance can be enhanced by a
Croda Red stain.

SYNONYMS

Also known as: Pinholes, Pits- Coating, Holes (Microscopic)-Coating

ILLUSTRATION

SEM image of coating pits at low magnification. Courtesy of Imerys.

Optical micrograph of a coating pit. Note how rounded the edges of the pit are.
 ≈ Defect Classification:

~ Roll and Web

Terminology
• Web Defects - Coating
• Ref. Number WD-62

COATING PITS
CAUSES OF COATING PITS

1. Micro air bubbles in the coating.

2. Fiber crossings that didn't wet out.

REMEDIES OF COATING PITS

1. Install air separation system (deaerator).

2. Use a defoamer in coating formulation.

 ≈ Defect Classification:

~ Roll and Web

Terminology
• Web Defects - Coating
• Ref. Number WD-68

FOAM STREAKS
DEFECT DESCRIPTION

Foam Streaks - Defined as relatively short 6 mm (0.25") [Brown says that they can be as short as
2-3 mm] long, extremely faint marks in the coated paper surface. About 3 mm (1/8") in width,
they are usually not in a straight line but tend to wander to one side or the other. Foam Streaks
on puddle type blade coaters are caused by air bubbles on the color surface in the pan riding
against the incoming web. Bubbles may ride back and forth and/or follow the web down into
color. Foam streaks on an applicator roll/trailing blade coater will line up with the roll split
pattern.

Foam Streaks are best seen when inspected at a very low angle and with low
angle lighting. They may or may not calendar out, and they may or may not show
up in the printed surface.

SYNONYMS

Also known as:

ILLUS
TRATION

Optical micrograph of foam streak. Courtesy of Imerys.

 ≈ Defect Classification:

~ Roll and Web

Terminology
• Web Defects - Coating
• Ref. Number WD-48

FOAM STREAKS
CAUSES OF FOAM STREAKS

1. Excessive turbulence in head causing foam.

2. Inadequate defoaming. Excessive oil-based defoamer causes the defect.

3. Excessive free fall in recirculating line.

4. Air being sucked into color at pumps.

5. Pond level too low.

6. High jet flow impingement angle (jet coater).

7. Contamination such as lubricating oil leaking from coating processing equipment.

REMEDIES OF FOAM STREAKS

1. Minimize turbulence in head with appropriate baffling.

2. Check type and amount of defoamer.

3. Eliminate free falls.

4. Repair leaky pump seals on suction side.

5. Raise pond level.

6. Decrease jet impingement angle.

7. Opening the jet to backing roll application gap.

8. Reducing coater speed.

REFERENCES
1. Brown, A., and Cruthoff, B., “A Pilot Coater Trial to Investigate the Occurrence of Coating Surface Foam
Streak,” TAPPI Coating Conference Proceedings, 2002.
 Resolution

„ Customer discovered an open fall of coating from the make down tank
to the coating supply tank
„ Extend the piping to reduce the chance for air entrainment
„ It was also noticed that excessive foam was developing in the coating
make down tank
„ Contacted their coating additive supplier for a defoamer recommendation
that would not interfere with the barrier property they were after
„ Were able to achieve a marked improvement to 15 g/M2/day under
tropical conditions, but still not what they achieved in the lab
„ Customer invested in deaeration equipment to further reduce the pin
holes and now achieve about 8+\- 2 g/M2/day under tropical conditions
 Thank you
PRESENTED BY

Tony Lyons
Director of Research
IMERYS
tonylyons@imerys.com

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