Alro Group scales up production capacity in e-mobility surface treatments with new KTL Line

E-mobility is really taking off. At the end of last year 16.5 million EVs were cruising our planet’s roads and growth continues today. In the first quarter of 2022 approximately 2 million electric and hybrid vehicles were sold, a 75% increase compared to Q1 2021.

Alro Group maintained a particular focus on the EV business. An innovative coating technology for battery casings was an element enabling the group to meet more stringent safety regulations in the e-mobility industry. Alro’s patented Fire Protection Coating has made battery casings fireproof up to temperatures of 1800°C. Exceeding current GTR20 requirements, this lengthens the window passengers can safely exit the vehicle.

From its European site, Alro already services a variety of automotive customers for projects including the Audi E-tron and the Volvo XC40 Recharge. With the new line, Alro aims to expand its market share to new customers.

“Due to the significant growth among our present customers we needed to double our capacity to futureproof our activities for new customers. That is why last year we decided to install a second KTL line at the Asitec site”, says Dirk Broekhoven, Sales & Projects Director at Alro Group. The new line has been operational since June and has effectively doubled the group’s capacity.

The expansion has also created additional jobs.

“An innovative technology always operates under human supervision, so we always need specific profiles to monitor the automatic KTL line,” says Broekhoven.

“In the years to come we will need significant capacity to process battery parts,” says Carl Bruynseels, Technical Director at Alro Group. “We have chosen to anticipate this problem by creating additional capacity to be able to realize more projects in the future."

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During the cataphoresis or KTL coating process, electricity is used to apply an organic paint layer in a 90,000-litre cataphoretic immersion bath. The paint is attracted by the electron exchange and subsequently bonded to the part, creating an even and sealed anticorrosive coating.

The operating principles of the new line are identical to the existing KTL line, in terms of preconditioning and the coating process proper. Aspects of the new state-of-the-art installation have been optimized. The new line has a wider conveyor system and ovens, allowing for the coating of large and heavy parts. It’s also possible to apply a thicker KTL coat, more specifically up to 35μm (compared to the usual 20μm). Alro can set layer thickness to suit its needs. The company can meet the strictest requirements in terms of corrosion prevention on sharp edges. The new KTL line has given the firm’s overall flexibility a tremendous boost!

For the construction and installation of its new KTL line Alro benefited from the experience of its excellent in-house engineering team.

“We brought in outside experts for certain aspects such as water treatment but the automation know-how and the engineering skills necessary to build complex installations of this nature are available in-house, enabling us to minimize the cost,” explains Broekhoven. “This expertise is also useful for customer projects because we can use our own services to develop a bespoke process for every single customer, thereby unburdening them completely.”

© Alro Group | https://www.alro-group.com/

The power & free system allows easy order picking of the parts on the paint racks and enables Alro to adopt a very customer-oriented approach.

“We are equipped to capitalize on any opportunity that presents itself and offer all our customers the optimum solution,” says Broekhoven.