Paint and Coatings Industry News

Main News Page

Hull Coating Maker Gets $183K Boost

Monday, June 27, 2011

More items for Coating Materials

A New York State R&D agency has awarded $183,000 in funding to a Saratoga Springs chemical maker that is developing a friction-reducing, eco-friendly hull coating.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has given the matching grant to Greenfield Manufacturing Inc., to help “commercialize and deploy a high-tech hull coating that can improve boat engine efficiency by reducing friction,” the company reports.

Greenfield describes HullSpeed as a low-friction, hydrophobic coating chemistry.

The coating would be designed for both industrial and commercial applications, the company says.

HullSpeed

HullSpeed High Performance Coatings, a division of Greenfield, produces eco-friendly alternatives to current marine paints and coatings that can be environmentally harmful. Greenfield was established in 1998 as an industrial chemical manufacturing facility. The company matched NYSERDA’s investment.

HullSpeed High Performance Coatings is currently involved in an EPA study in San Diego Harbor to determine the effectiveness of alternative, environmentally friendly marine paints and coatings. The company is also involved in a perpetual growth study in Punta Gorda, FL, and in many other test and development sites.

Greenfield describes HullSpeed as a “low-friction hydrophobic coating chemistry.” The coatings are “a family of proprietary waterborne epoxy/silicone copolymers designed for performance and industrial applications,” the company says.

The company’s coatings have been in development since 2003 with applications in the performance, commercial and recreational marine markets. With regulation tightening on heavy-metal bottom paints and coatings, HullSpeed High Performance Coatings is hoping to be a prominent entity in the marine coatings industry and create more jobs for New York State.

“HullSpeed is an excellent example of one kind of manufacturing company that NYSERDA is interested in supporting – a firm that is exploring new ways to gain energy efficiency,” said Francis J. Murray Jr., President and CEO of NYSERDA. “NYSERDA is proud to help HullSpeed bring its unique, energy-saving product to market.”

More information:  http://www.hullspeed.us