Automotive coatings and the processes used to coat automobile surfaces exemplify the avant-garde of technologies that are capable of producing durable surfaces, exceeding customers’ expectations of appearance, maximizing efficiency, and meeting environmental regulations. These accomplishments are rooted in 100 years of experience, trial-and-error approaches, technique and technology advancements, and theoretical assessments. Because of advancements directed at understanding the how, why, when, and where of automobile coatings, the progress in controlling droplets and their deposition attributes, and the development of new technologies and paint chemistries, a comprehensive and up-to-date review of automobile coatings and coating technologies was considered to be of value to industrial practitioners and researchers. Overall, the critical performance factors driving the development and use of advanced automotive coatings and coating technologies are (a) aesthetic characteristics; (b) corrosion protection; (c) mass production; (d) cost and environmental requirements; and (e) appearance and durability. Although the relative importance of each of these factors is debatable, the perfection of any one at the expense of another would be unacceptable. Hence, new developments in automotive coatings are described and discussed in the following review, and then related to improvements in production technologies and paints. Modern automotive coating procedures are also discussed in detail. Finally, an extrapolation into the future of automotive coating is offered with a view of the developments and technologies needed for an increasingly efficient and more sustainable coatings industry.

Solvent-based post combustion CO₂ capture is a promising technology for industrial application. Gas-liquid interfaces and interactions in the packed bed are considered one of the key factors affecting the overall CO₂ absorption rate. Understanding the hydrodynamic characterizations within packed beds is essential to identify the appropriate enhanced mass transfer technique. However, multiphase counter-current flows in the structured packing typically used in these processes are complicated to visualize and optimize experimentally. In this paper, we aim to develop a comprehensive 3D multiphase, counter-current flow model to study the liquid/gas behavior on the surface of structured packing. The output from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) clearly visualized the hydrodynamic characterizations, such as the liquid distributions, wettability, and film thicknesses, in the confined packed bed. When the liquid We (Weber number) was greater than 2.21, the channel flow became insignificant and flow streams became more disorganized with more droplets at larger sizes. The portion of dead zones is decreased at higher liquid We, but it cannot be completely eliminated. Average film thickness was about 0.6–0.7 mm, however, its height varied significantly.

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