Method of determining emissions from powder coatings

A method for reducing residue formation caused by vapor-producing materials during curing of powder coating compositions by minimizing the quantity of a vapor-producing materials that is required in the initial curable powder coating composition, comprising the steps of:

• a. preparing a plurality of curable powder coating compositions with varying quantities of a vapor-producing materials and applying each of said compositions to a separate base;
• b. placing each coated base in a separate extraction chamber;
• c. placing each separate extraction chamber in a curing oven;
• d. heating said coated base in its respective extraction chamber, in said curing oven to curing temperature to cure said coating, and simultaneously flowing a stream of air through said respective extraction chamber to capture volatile emissions from said vapor-producing materials in said air stream during said curing process;
• e. simultaneously flowing said respective stream of air out of said curing oven and chilling said stream to condense said volatile emissions from each of said compositions to a collectable form;
• f. determining the quantity of said emitted product from each of said compositions;
• and
• g. comparing the quantity of emitted product from each of said compositions that produce a satisfactorily cured coating, to determine the composition that produced the least emissions.