Environmentally Efficient Down the Line
De Dietrich Thermique uses Henkel’s modern nanotechnolocy for pre-treatment.
BY TIM WRIGHT
EDITOR
Nanotechnology offers metalworking business- es great potential for more efficient and envi- ronmently friendlier pre-treatment processes.
New nanoceramic conversion treatments like
Henkel’s Bonderite NT score highly over traditional
processes through leaner process management, lower
energy costs and considerably reduced maintenance
effort.
The current global ecological situation calls for the
responsible and intelligent use of the available resources.
The demand for and use of environmentally benign man-
For corrosion protection, De Dietrich utilizes nanotechnology for
coating its heating systems. Henkel’s Bonderite NT is applied
here by spraying.
ufacturing technologies have therefore rocketed in the
last few years. One example is De Dietrich Thermique
based in Mertzwiller in Alsace, France. As one of the
leading manufacturers of heating systems in Europe, the
company produces over 200,000 heating boilers and hot
water storage units at the site per year—about 80 percent of these are coated. In 2009, the company switched
from the conventional iron phosphating metal pre-treatment method to nanoceramic conversion protection with
Bonderite NT.
“After the old production facility was totally destroyed
in a fire, one of Europe’s most advanced coating lines has
now been built here. True to our company philosophy, a
top design priority was the use of environmentally
benign process technologies, without compromising on
quality,” said Pascal Kern, technical manager at De
Dietrich. The company’s high quality aspirations are
obvious from a glance at its list of references. Be it at
Hungary’s National Museum in Budapest, the luxury
Ermitage hotel in Geneva or the IMKB stock exchange in
Istanbul, heating systems from De Dietrich are in operation all over the world. Its famous post horn logo dating
back to 1778 is considered the oldest in the industry.
In its quest for an alternative, environmentally sound
pre-treatment process, the company finally opted for
Henkel and its Bonderite NT surface treatment to
replace traditional iron phosphating before the application of the paint finish. On the metal surface, the novel
process generates a nanoceramic conversion layer that
gives long-term protection from corrosion creep and
improves paint adhesion. What makes it special is that
its formulation contains no toxic heavy metals such as
chromium and nickel, and no eutrophication-inducing
phosphates or organic compounds. As neither toxic heavy
metals nor phosphates have to be disposed of, the process
has a high sustainability profile from the ecological point
of view. However, it also brings major benefits to the pre-treatment process in terms of quality and economy.
Meanwhile, Bonderite NT has been in successful use at
De Dietrich for a year and has demonstrated its suitabil-ity for the task at the site. Supplied as finished parts, up
to 3,000 iron housings have to be prepared for powder
coating every day. Mr. Kern estimates that costs would be
