Inherent to a roller coating process when using 100% UV lacquers, the curing stages are subject to conditions regarding time and the amount of photoinitiators present in the lacquer. Today’s increasingly difficult procurement issues and the rising costs of photoinitiators is something we can ignore with an appropriate innovation that will depend far less on these ingredients. Besides, the presence if photoinitiators in the lacquer has a side effect which gives a yellowish colour to the cured lacquer. Even worse, these ingredients are harmful to the environment, so the less we use a photoinitiator, the less we spend and the less we pollute.
Inert atmosphere for UV curing
The way to get around being dependent on photoinitiators is to accomplish the curing process in an oven which is deprived of oxygen. Our latest innovation does exactly this. The UV-I inert curing oven is designed to cure using far fewer photoinitiators. Curing performance is even improved, the yellow effect is reduced and companies are no longer dependent on costly supplies of a substance which is harmful to the environment. Sustainable technology positively impacting lacquer costs, curing quality and the environment.
What happens if you maintain the quantity of photoinitiators in such an oven?
This will not lead to lower lacquer costs, but the fact you will be curing the product inside an inert atmosphere, the entire curing process is speeded up, so your productivity will increase and operating costs will decrease. Moreover, there is no benefit for the environment when there is no reduction in the consumption of photoinitiators.
How does it work?
Using nitrogen to create an inert atmosphere is not a new technology. Already used in our excimer matting ovens, we have adapted the technique to a new UV oven. Consumption is relatively low and implementation is simple and has many benefits, not least the reduction between 40 and 70% of photoinitiatiors.
