Drying, Curing & UV
Greener, cheaper, better R
You can only achieve these advantages if you also use an UV LED optimised printing ink, according to this report from Resino Ink.
ESUCAT inks from Resino are well known for food safety, adhesion to plastics, boiling and sterilization resistances.
For the last few years, Resino has worked on a LED optimised version of the RESUCAT UV flexo inks and is now ready to launch the low odor UV LED curing ink, RESUCAT 210-29 series.
GREENER
First of all, UV LED provides environmental advantages, as UV LED is mercury free. It is very important that the industry focuses on the environmental aspects and moving to a mercury- free economy reduces emissions to air, the impact on land and water, as well as damages towards people’s health.
Choosing UV LED also contributes to eliminating emission of ozone. Traditional lamps emit ozone, which smells and is not healthy for people nor the planet because ozone at ground level is air pollutant. Therefore, eliminating ozone will improve the air and the working environment.
The UN has established the Minamata Convention on Mercury which is a global treaty aimed to phase out mercury to protect people and the environment from the damaging effects of mercury. Among other things, the Minamata Convention on Mercury phases out and reduces the use of mercury in several products and processes, bans new mercury mines, phases out existing mercury mines and controls measures on the impact on the environment (air, land, and water).
This means that companies need to find solutions to phase out mercury in products and processes.
The traditional UV lamp is also made of mercury, whereas the UV LED lamp is free of mercury.
Using a UV LED system, the outside UV LED segments can be turned off to cure a smaller area. For example, if the arch lamp is 400 mm wide, it will heat and light up at 400 mm when turned on. Many printers print on meat casings which are 65 or 100 m wide. Thus, only part of the lamp emission is actively exposing the substrate. This gives you the opportunity to optimize energy consumption with UV LED lamps, as you can turn the light off in the areas where exposure is not needed.
Choosing LED lamps will be good for the company’s economy and the environment.
CHEAPER
Using UV LED systems, you will experience a very fast cure response. This is more cost efficient, as you can print at a higher speed, thus increasing the productivity.
The lifetime of UV LED lamps is more than 20,000-60,000 hours. Therefore, you can use the UV LED lamp for up to three years.
Mercury arc lamps have shutters and reflectors which require attention and maintenance to assure performance and consistency. UV LED lamps do not have shutters and reflectors, thus this maintenance is avoided, thereby more cost efficient.
BETTER
A UV LED system does not generate as much heat. Therefore, films, shrink sleeves and other delicate materials can be processed without heat damage.
There is a very high energy directed to the specific area. Mercury arc lamps have a poor uniformity, especially in the edges, which you do not experience with UV LED lamps. UV LED is highly effective, as it also allows the ink to dry faster. The UV LED system also provides more predictable and controllable curing which creates stability for the customer. In this way, the customer can also achieve more constant quality. UV LED lamps are at full intensity immediately when turned on, whereas Mercury lamps need time for warming up and cooling down. Using UV LED gives increased press productivity because you do not have to wait for lamps to be ready.
In case of printing too soon with mercury lamp curing, you may experience poor drying on press, generating waste. This is reduced by using UV LED.
As mentioned, UV LED does not emit ozone which is unhealthy for people and the environment. Furthermore, ozone also has an unpleasant chemical odour which will be avoided when choosing UV LED systems.
Overall, UV LED and RESUCAT 210-29 series provide excellent advantages for printers, as LED is better for people and the environment, cost effective and produces low odor print of same or higher quality.
WHY IS A DIFFERENT INK VARIANT NEEDED? Traditional mercury arc lamps spread the output intensity over a wide spectrum of wavelengths, whereas UV LED lamp output is concentrated around a narrow spectrum.
For this reason, it is necessary to adjust the inks, so the curing activity fit exactly to the lamp output wavelength.
This adjustment is particularly difficult for pigmented systems, where also the pigment must be selected to have the lowest absorption at the specific wavelength.
Therefore, if all the advantages of UV LED system shall be available, there is a need for cooperation between lamp producers, printing companies and ink suppliers.
We are happy to assist in your process around UV LED and how it can be implemented by your business.
Xwww.resino.dk
24
May 2022
www.convertermag.com
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