Atlantic Coatings, Xiom form JV.

Atlantic Coatings recently formed a joint venture with Xiom Systems to provide mobile polymer powder coating services to the marine industry throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Chuck Bell, president of Atlantic Coatings began his architectural and decorative powder coating operation serving the Mid-Atlantic region in 2006. Strategically located in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay on Kent Island, Bell says his company now plans to focus most of its offerings on the marine industry with its new partnership with Xiom Systems.

Xiom of West Babylon, NY, has developed both a mobile application system and special polymer formulations specific to recreational and commercial marine applications.

"What we are most excited about is the polymer formulation for antifouling," said Bell. "The antifouling formulation has tested to be incredibly effective at keeping growth off the hull bottom, while also being very sensitive to the environment."

Instead of a liquid paint, the polymer formulation is a powder that is applied thermally to the bottom of a vessel. The system can be used to apply the anti-fouling coating to metal, fiberglass and wood hulls as well as metal and composite running gear such as props and rudders.

Bell said he's in the "BETA" stage right now and has one unit ready to be mobilized. The process doesn't require oven curing, which makes it a unique powder coating. The anti-fouling coating is solvent-free and features controlled, minimal leaching. A report from the Florida Institute of Technology said anti-fouling properties should last five years.

"The anti-fouling product uses a capillary leach where the cuprous oxide particle is actually bound to the polymer, so when it's applied what you have is a microscopic latticework," said Bell. "In the testing that's been done, it's been proven that this product has a very slow leach rate. After six months of immersion, the active ingredient, cuprous oxide, showed negligible leaching, from 51.8% cuprous oxide to 51.5%.