Drying Time Chart

Q. I am an industrial engineer for a plant located in the northwestern United States, where temperature and humidity vary widely. I have been tasked to determine manufacturing costs for painting operations. I have a handle on painting costs for products going through the baking oven. We apply air drying paints to products that are too large to put through our baking oven. How can I determine my paint processing time for these products? Are there any standard tables of drying times based on temperature and humidity? S. J.

A. The answer is no. Such a table is difficult to compile because there are more variables in paint drying than you mentioned. These variables include the intrinsic curing time of each paint resin, evaporation rate of each solvent and the air flow over painted products. This is further complicated by the fact that many paints are formulated using blends of resins and solvents. Paint film thickness is also a variable

However, there are standard data tables of evaporation rates for various solvents, which are used by paint chemists to control flow, drying times and film build. I had one in my office. I believe it was published by the Federation of Societies for Coating Technology. This would not be useful for your purposes. On the other hand, drying time information for specific paints is available from paint suppliers in sufficient detail that may allow you to compile your table.