Retrofits and System Upgrades
Industrial Retrofits and Coating System Upgrades
WK delivers industrial retrofits and system upgrades for surface coating and air pollution control equipment throughout its operating life. From thermal oxidation retrofit and emissions reduction to capacity expansion and energy efficiency, WK applies the same engineering prowess to upgrades as to new system delivery, including equipment not originally manufactured by WK.
WK’s retrofit capability applies to systems originally supplied by WK as well as equipment from other manufacturers, and covers both the surface technology and process and environmental sides of WK’s product portfolio.
What WK Retrofits Cover
WK’s retrofit and upgrade scope is structured around seven operational outcomes that customers typically need to address across a system’s operating life.
Component Exchange
Critical components reach the end of their service life at different rates depending on operating conditions, exhaust composition and maintenance history. WK supplies and fits replacement components for WK systems and, where technically feasible, for systems of other manufacturers.
Extension of Operating Hours
When a facility’s production schedule expands (more shifts, longer campaigns, reduced planned downtime windows) the treatment and surface coating systems may need to be assessed and modified to support the revised operating profile. WK evaluates the impact of extended hours on component wear rates, maintenance intervals, energy consumption and emissions compliance, and identifies the modifications required to sustain performance reliably across the new schedule.
Repair Work
Unplanned failures and damage identified during inspection require rapid technical response to minimize production disruption. WK provides repair services for surface coating systems including booths, ovens, dryers, work decks and paint lines and for thermal oxidation and air pollution control equipment.
Plant Expansion
Production increases, new product lines or changes to process layout can require that existing surface coating or exhaust treatment systems be physically extended (additional booth sections, expanded oven capacity, increased exhaust handling volume). WK designs and delivers plant expansions integrated with existing infrastructure, maintaining continuity of process flow, safety systems and emissions compliance across the expanded scope.
Increase of Production
Throughput improvements that go beyond plant expansion (faster cure cycles, higher volume painting capacity, reconfigured process sequences) can require changes to oven heating profiles, airflow management, VOC loading calculations and oxidizer sizing. WK’s process engineering team reviews the implications of production increases on the full system scope and specifies the modifications required to maintain both productivity and compliance targets.
Increase of Efficiency
Older thermal oxidation and surface coating systems often present opportunities to recover energy that current technology makes accessible but was not designed into the original installation. WK quantifies the energy savings case before recommending a retrofit investment, applying the same total cost of ownership analysis used in new system selection.
Reduction of Emissions
Tightening regulatory standards, changes to permitted emission limits or requirements to treat new compound classes can require that existing systems be upgraded to achieve lower stack emissions. For thermal oxidation systems, this may involve combustion chamber modifications to increase destruction efficiency, integration of downstream SCR or SNCR for NOx control, addition of upstream pre-scrubbing or replacement of legacy burners with low-NOx designs. WK assesses the current system’s performance against the new limits and specifies the minimum scope of modification required to achieve compliance.
Retrofit Economics and Lifecycle Planning
The financial case for a retrofit versus replacement depends on the specific condition of the existing system, the cost of the modification relative to a new installation and the remaining operating life that can be realized from the upgraded equipment. WK’s lifecycle cost analysis framework, the same tool applied to new technology selection, can be used to evaluate retrofit scenarios directly against replacement, producing a comparison of total cost of ownership over a defined forward period.
Retrofits of Systems Not Manufactured By WK
WK’s retrofit and upgrade services are not limited to systems originally supplied by WK. Whether the plant operates thermal oxidation or surface coating equipment from another manufacturer, WK can assess the system, identify upgrade options and perform modifications where technically viable. WK’s engineering team will confirm during the initial review whether the existing system’s design is compatible with the proposed modification scope.
Ready to discuss a retrofit or upgrade?
Contact WK to discuss your system’s current performance, the operational objective driving the upgrade, and what a retrofit assessment would involve.