UV inks / Low VOC inks

[meddington]

We've been having more conversations with clients as of late on "green" printing and requests for information on the inks we use. I'm wondering if ink gurus could give their opinions on the true impact of UV inks versus veg based inks. "No VOCs with UV inks" really sticks in their head, but surely there are other factors...increased energy usage to cure and reduce heat, increase carbon footprint or energy usage to manufacture the ink, increased press maintenance costs...that work to reduce the "no voc" benefit over low VOC veg inks? Anyone care to comment?

 

[jlind]

Mike:
Just a few thoughts to start the discussion, since I might be off base, and the more I'm wrong, the more we will both learn. I don't work with UV every day. We are a conventional oil based operation with three ink sets, coated, uncoated, and plastic. I am a chemist, and figure that the inks we use for plastic are high solids drying oils, like linseed oil or tung oil.

What I THINK I know about UV inks, well, yeah, they are 100% solids since it all becomes part of the final film after cure. Therefore, no VOC's. The thinning solvents, like acrylates and styrene and a host of other monomers and oligomers, are petroleum by-products, made from that barrel of oil and follows the trend of the gas pumps, and can even get scarce when the world economy is running at a 2006 pace. They cost the printer about 30% more per pound than oil based ink. The initial press installation costs multiple units of 5 zeroes to be UV capable. The electric meters fly at a dizzying pace, when the lamps are on, altho this could be WIND POWER and therefore more expensive. The inks have a shorter shelf life, since the free radical curing reaction can just start all of a sudden. This may be an issue of the past. The inks are harder to handle by the press operators, and the photoinitiators can be pretty toxic. This may be a thing of the past, I hope.

Just my humble thoughts about the subject. Can't be beat for printing on plastic, but then again, we print on plastic all the time without UV. I think you don't need to worry as much about primers and top coats with UV plastic printing.

John Lind
Cranberry Township, PA
724-776-4718

 

[Alois Senefelder]

re - UV Inks

re - UV Inks

Hello gentlemen, A pdf is available from - Cytec.com via download center / technical papers - entitled -- " Ink Performance Properties of UV, Conventional and Hybrid Sheetfed Inks"

Regards, Alois

 

[dimitri]

Not a chemist or ink expert, but working with UV and hybrid presses.
If your customers ask you for lower or no VOCs, then UV inks do that. However, they are most likely to have higher energy costs due to the UV lamps. Do you need to convert the prints in any manner? The fact that they come out as plastic when they polymerize, makes further processing so much easier (no drying time involved). The UV ink technology has come long ways though, and the runnability/printability of the inks is good.

The real problem is on the chemicals used to clean them. If you are using no VOCs in the chemicals as well, you'll have a tough time cleaning the press up, and you'll need stop and clean the press sooner than if you were using conventional inks. Cleaning back-cylinders is one of many tough examples.

 

[meddington]

Thanks for all the good feedback. Other than the "no VOCs" statement, I'm not finding much information that would indicate any real advantage for UV inks over low voc veg-based inks from an environmental "marketing" standpoint (in fact, it appears quite the opposite), though it looks like there are clear advantageous over high voc petroleum based inks, as well as runnability advantages.

Anyone aware of any comparative studies on the environmental impact of UV versus veg-based inks? Surely some ink company has made the comparison?

 

[mattf]

not sure if this would be helpful:

PANORAMA SOY INK - Interview Excutive Panorama Soy Ink Co.,Ltd.

Found this in a google search from a company called Panorama Soy Ink. Interview with the founder and such about soy inks.