Custom Solvent Spray Station and Paint Mixing Room Overhaul

Ball Aerospace
May-November 2017

Due to proprietary information and export controls, I was unable to take any images of my project outside of Ball.

Ball Aerospace is a designer and manufacturer of spacecraft and aircraft components for national defense, civil space, and commercial space applications. Many of these applications include optical and RF components. As a finishing process for many of these parts, paint coatings are applied to control for reflective, conductive, and thermal properties of the metals used.

There were multiple functional, ergonomic, and safety issues with the paint mixing room when I arrived at Ball. The paint mixing room is a vestibule attached to the spray booth where paint is prepared and spray guns are cleaned. Given the labor intensive nature of these processes and health risks associated with the painting lab, I was tasked with assessing the needs of the mixing room and implementing changes as necessary. During the first stage of this project I investigated how the paint lab operated in its current state. Why were things done the way there were? Did they need to be done that way? What concerns did the technicians have with their equipment? How would they solve these issues? With the feedback from the technicians and process engineers, I began to brainstorm various solutions, create CAD models to show the stakeholders, and iterate based on their feedback. As we went through design iterations it became apparent that off-the-shelf solutions would not completely solve the issues in the paint lab. In particular we could not find a solution to the issues related to the solvent draining table. This is a workstation that had been used to load spray guns, dumped unused paint, and clean equipment after use.

I presented a solution to the technicians and process engineers that separated the main functions of the solvent drainage table and included modifications to the existing table. The main modification was the addition of a hood that would improve ventilation and allow for the use of a solvent spray gun. While this solution met the needs of the technicians, EHS had some concerns with building a fume hood in house. After multiple discussions and design iterations, we were able to develop a new version of the fume hood that meet the needs of the both technicians and EHS.

At the end of my summer internship with Ball, I was asked to stay on during the school year to oversee the manufacturing and implementation of the changes to the paint mixing room. This process included managing the project finances, coordinating with external contractors, and ensuring that production downtime was minimized.