Partner Focus
Transitioning to a sustainable printing environment
The DG-AUXO web-offset press series with Electron Beam curing offers an opportunity for energy savings and sustainable print production. Adelbert Schoonman, senior engineer for development at DG Press Services explains.
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n the April issue of Converter Magazine, we introduced DG press’ work and view on sustainable printing; explaining the main drivers why the DG-AUXO web-offset press series is potentially the most sustainable printing technology, and therefore the best alternative for solvent- and water-based printing technologies. In this article we highlight the sustainability advantages of the DG-AUXO web-offset press series with EB curing for packaging printing applications.
ENERGY SAVINGS
The costs of energy is increasing, forcing flexible packaging printers and converters to consider their options and investigate energy-efficient alternatives. Especially printing companies that utilize printing- and drying technologies with a high energy consumption.
VOC control technologies; like catalytic oxidizers, TOs and RTOs, have improved in energy efficiency, handling hot air without the need for additional fuel to start up or continuing the oxidation process. However, the total energy consumption is still much higher than what is
required for printing processes utilizing energy curing.
In modern solvent-based operations, drying air is heated by thermal oil in order to create an indirect heating source, enabling the optimization of the (legal) threshold for Lowest Explosion Level (LEL). That is a clever solution because optimized LEL enables the recirculation of drying air, thus reducing energy consumption and optimizing the solvent load to a RTO, hence improving autothermal afterburning. However, heating up the thermal oil and maintaining its operating temperature, requires a hot oil boiler plant. The boiler that is fed with natural gas, adds to the total costs of energy consumption. Besides the cost aspect, sustainability aspects like reduction of GHG emissions are becoming more important, making printing technologies with a lower carbon footprint favorable.
BIO BASED SOLVENTS
As long as the use of significant amounts of solvents in liquid ink is required, it is questionable whether such printing technologies can ever become sufficiently sustainable. The same applies
for bio-solvents that are being used at increasing amounts in solvent-based printing inks. Produced from renewable resources, like corn, sugar cane, or wheat, the production of bio-solvents is in competition with other agricultural land use such as food and feed production. And therefore, it encourages deforestation. The outlined situation makes it questionable whether the bio-solvent approach is truly sustainable.
RESTRICTIONS AND LEGISLATION On the European governmental level the “EU council Directive 1999/13/EC” on solvent emissions, but also Germany’s “TA-Luft”, the Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control, set out tight emission limit values for VOCs in waste gasses and maximum levels for fugitive emissions. New installations, or expansions of existing production utilizing solvent-based technology, must comply with the same strict requirements regarding max VOCs emission limits. Existing plants must administrate their solvent consumptions and emissions in order to check and prove compliance in accordance with the established goals and the prevailing regulations.
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June 2022
www.convertermag.com
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