‘Paintbarn’ Airmen improve mission, preserve environment

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Matthew Rosine
  • Air Force Print News
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFPN) --  Airmen at the paintbarn here not only are working more efficiently, they also are doing their part to help preserve the environment.

Thanks to a paint gun and equipment-cleaning system, the Airmen have reduced the amount of paint thinner contaminant waste they create by 99.991 percent. The base, which used to produce 18,000 pounds of paint thinner waste annually, now creates only 75 pounds.

“It really is a good deal for us,” said Tech. Sgt. Eric Peterson, noncommissioned officer in charge of the corrosion control section at the 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron. “It saves on the amount of thinner that we use and really saves on the amount we throw away.”

According to the Airmen who use it, the cleaning and filtration system not only is good for the environment, it is also a more valuable tool.

“I think it is actually faster than the old system,” said Senior Airman John Long-Breininger, aircraft structural maintenance journeyman. “The thinner coming out of the brush makes it a lot easier to do a top quality job. It’s a good thing. Before, I never really thought about (environmental issues). Now I am glad we can help the environment and use a pretty good machine.”

With the old system the shop used 220 gallons, or more than 1,900 pounds, of paint thinner every two months -- all of which became waste. Now they only waste about half a pound every three months.

The way the five-gallon machine works is simple.

Once recycling begins, the minimizer “cooks” the dirty thinner, separating the contaminate waste from the paint thinner. At the same time, the clean thinner is processed to ensure it is clean and stored -- ready to be used again. The “dirt” that was contaminating the paint thinner then settles in the filter and creates “hockey pucks.” The base’s environmental flight sends these pucks to a local company where they are recycled.

But paintbarn Airmen are not the only people at Luke to see such environmental success.

These machines can be found at both base transportation shops, the base auto hobby shop and the 944th Fighter Wing.

“This unit creates a huge savings for the Air Force here,” said Tom Mullen, the Allied Trades supervisor.

Allied Trades is a transportation service organization that does a wide variety of non-mechanical functions such as painting, fabrication, body work and upholstery.

“The bottom line is this thing has its own cleaning system," Mr. Mullen said. "That part creates a dramatic savings so we don’t have to keep buying five gallons of fluid monthly. In other words, it turned a monthly servicing into a three-month servicing.”

So the $180 cost is now quarterly instead of monthly.

“And the best part of all is that we always have good clean thinner to work with,” Mr. Mullen said. “That helps maintain the life of the paint guns.”