Gen5 Aircraft Paint Booths

Hanger/Insert

If hanger space is available, Aircraft Paint Booth Inserts may be the perfect solution for your refinishing operations. Paint booth inserts are placed inside the hanger and are completely self-supporting, requiring only that the user bring in utilities and connect to the insert.

GFS’ aircraft paint booth inserts are typically purpose built for the kind of aircraft to be painted. Our in-house design and engineering team consists of electrical engineers, software developers, structural engineers, airflow specialists and systems designers. This experienced team will work with you to design and build the best paint booth for your needs. GFS has installed insert aircraft paint booths all over the country and the world.

Hybrid/Integrated

In some instances, such as new building construction, it is better to integrate the paint booth with the building elements. This has the effect of reducing the capital cost, as the structure for the booth to be self-supporting is not required. With a Hybrid Aircraft Paint Booth, the structure of the hanger holds up the booth ceiling and the building sidewalls can be integrated into the booth design to economize on material.

Our staff of electrical engineers, software developers, structural engineers, airflow specialists, systems designers and project managers will work with the building architect(s) to integrate our paint booth design goals with the building design goals.

GFS is a leader in this style of aircraft paint booths, and has the experience to recommend many different paint booth options to meet your requirements.

Gen5 Aircraft Paint Booths
Airflow

The two main aircraft booth styles are crossdraft and downdraft. Air flows through each booth differently, and each style has its own advantages.

Crossdraft

Making up about 75% of all aircraft paint booths, crossdraft booths are the most common style for aerospace finishing operations. With air flowing from the nose to the tail of the plane, it seems natural for aircraft painters and provides excellent quality finishes. Control of overspray is optimum. Critical tail painting and numbering schemes behave well with crossdraft airflow since the tail is very close to the exhaust filters.

GFS’ crossdraft aircraft paint booths are conformal-shaped, a GFS-signature. This design reduces the amount of airflow required for paint booth operation, thus providing energy savings. Conformal-shaped crossdraft booths also allow for closer placement of lights for better lighting of under-wing and under-fuselage areas.

Cost-Effective

Crossdraft booths cost less than downdraft booths, as they don’t require a pit to be installed in the concrete floor. They can be easily installed into an existing hanger (i.e. insert booth).

Flexible

If painting several different sizes of planes is required, the crossdraft design is the most effective. Crossdraft booths can accommodate any plane that can fit in the hanger.

Versatile

Crossdraft paint booths have been used for more than just painting. They have been used for stripping, washing and prepping of aircraft, in addition to painting.

Easy Maintenance

Filter changing is easier in crossdraft booths as all filter stages are located in one location.

Downdraft

Generally regarded as the best airflow style, downdraft aircraft paint booths are a sign of a truly world class finish. There’s an advantage of allowing gravity to pull the overspray to a pit in the floor. Lighting and airflow is exceptional in a downdraft booth. Downdraft aircraft booths are designed for a specific plane, and airflow is optimal when all planes that are painted inside of one are of the same shape and size. The most cost-effective way to install a downdraft booth is to design it into the building from the start (i.e. integrated booth).

GFS has pioneered the use of conformal paint booths. In this design, the air is introduced at a higher velocity in the spraying zone than in the non-spraying areas of the paint booth. This provides excellent painting performance, while minimizing the amount of air and energy required for the process.

Downdraft booths are not recommended with water cleanup systems due to the possible damage to filters in the floor. Downdraft booths are particularly useful where a flow-through process design is required.

Gen5 Aircraft Paint Booths
Filtration

3-Stage Filtration

Aerospace National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) requires the use of high efficiency filters to remove 95% of particles over 2 micron in size under certain conditions. The use of a 3-stage filtration system is mandatory and the filters must be in accordance with EPA Method 319. GFS uses a filtration system that provides 99% removal of most paint spray aerosols. This exceeds the requirements of both of these environmental protection agencies. 

The third stage filtration system consists of roll media, a MEPT panel filter and a 6-pocket bag filter.

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4-Stage Filtration (with Carbon Absorption)

With the use of special performance coatings, such as CARC coatings, capturing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) becomes even more critical. An economical way of capturing VOCs is through carbon absorption. GFS offers carbon beds and filters that remove up to 96% of VOCs from the airstream. These carbon beds absorb hydrocarbons from the air and capture them on the surface of the activated carbon. By adding carbon beds and filters, the filtration system becomes a 4-stage process.

NESHAP considers carbon filtration an acceptable means of controlling designation. GFS has earned the “Best Available Control Technology” for our implementation of carbon based cell filters.

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Crossdraft vs. Downdraft

In GFS’ crossdraft aircraft paint booths, filtration is easily accessible from inside the paint booth. All three or four stages of filters are located at the rear filter wall and are removed to the paint booth side.

In downdraft models, the first stage of filtration is located under the floor. It is easy to maintain by use of filter carriages that allow removal and replacement from just one end of the underfloor grating. The side filter houses, containing the remaining stages of filtration, are easily replaced and inspected.

Gen5 Aircraft Paint Booths
Lighting

As with all of our booths, GFS' aircraft paint booths feature superior lighting. Ceiling and wall lights are strategically placed to provide a luminous environment for the painter to apply the finishing touches. GFS will work with you to design the most energy-efficient lighting setup for your paint booth, without sacrificing quality.

The type of lights that we use in our booths depends on the size and type of booth. All lights included in our finishing environments are manufactured in-house in our Osseo facility, offering us complete quality control.

Low-energy consumers, T-8 fluorescent fixtures are used in the majority of our paint booths designs. Some booths, especially larger ones, utilize T5-HO tubes. T5-HO lights give off much more light than a plain T-5 light. Although they use more power than T-8 lights, less fixtures are needed because they give off more light. For high-bay facilities above 35 ft., HID lights are used.

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T-5 Light Fixtures	T-8 Light Fixtures

Gen5 Aircraft Paint Booths

Temperature and Humidity Control

Aircraft paints, especially CARC coatings, can be very demanding of the application conditions. Modern paints are best applied in a narrow temperature range. Some paints prefer a moist or humid environment for application and for curing. The effect of these requirements is to design temperature and humidity control into the replacement air systems of the paint booths.

GFS is a leader at designing the most modern environments with specialized equipment and controls. These systems often have mechanical or evaporative cooling and steam or evaporative humidity generators.

Control of the temperature and dehumidification generally requires mechanical refrigeration. This is usually by chilled water or air-cooled condensing unit. This is heavy industrial equipment and means a careful design of the system as well as the structural loads to be imposed on the building.

Control of humidity means the addition of water, in vapor form, to the incoming airstream of the paint booth. This type of equipment must be designed especially for the layout of the paint booth. Consideration of the loads imposed on the structure is paramount.

GFS has done more of these high-tech mechanical systems for paint booths than any other supplier. We can also work with your architect to incorporate these systems into his design for even more economy.

Gen5 Aircraft Paint Booths

Recirculation

In today’s aerospace finishing industry where energy is a significant concern, air conditioning and exhaust recirculation systems are becoming common. Instead of the traditional 100% exhaust, exhaust recirculation systems are often cost effective. Energy costs for this type of system are one fifth of the costs for a full exhaust system. Capital costs are also greatly reduced.

Factors such as fire safety and personnel health must be considered before using an exhaust recirculation booth. The addition of monitors, controls and alarms must be added to the booth so that painters are aware of the current conditions of the booth.

GFS has installed many recirculation systems, and is an industry leader in this required technology. Generally recirculation rates are 80% circulated and 20% fresh air, however recirculation rates of up to 60/40 and as low as 90/10 have been accomplished. The major factors on determining the recirculation rate are climate conditions and personnel safety, and the ability to heat and cool the space.

Gen5 Aircraft Paint Booths
Doors

Doors are a critical element of paint booth design and many options are available to suit the layout of an installation.

These include:
• Bottom-rolling filter doors
• Plenum filter doors
• Solid bottom rolling doors
• Multi-fold doors

Plenum Filter Doors

Plenum Filter Doors allow for fully controlled airflow into the booth. They are only used on crossdraft booths that are forced draft booths. The air is double or triple filtered to provide the ultimate in cleanliness and freedom from dust and lint. The only way that dirt can enter the booth is for painters to carry it in.
The use of an air-ride suspension on the door drive system is unique and provides the most forgiving ride for this style of door over uneven terrain. The design keeps a low center of gravity to allow for precise control of the door positioning and low inertial wobble. It also provides a wide steady base to resist moments from wind loads typical near open spaces like runways.

Gen5 Aircraft Paint Booths

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