Consumables
Water-based décor printing on plastic films now energy-efficient and CO2 emission-free
Monday 22. January 2024 - Thanks to the newly developed aLITE (advanced Light Initiated Thermal Emission) technology from adphos, the energy-efficient and completely CO2-free production of water-based decorations on PVC films is now possible.
After just two weeks of commissioning, a commercial production line is now available to a leading international décor printing company.
The aLITE drying solution combines high-power photonic energy input with temperature-controlled impingement air to achieve local vapor absorption with defined moisture removal. For the first time, this enables quasi-spontaneous drying (within subseconds) with high register accuracy (virtually unmeasurable) on temperature-sensitive film materials (e.g. PVC). With all this, production quality is maintained even during dynamic start-up and shut-down of the 5-colors gravure printing system.
The aLITE-based décor printing system offers a convincing alternative for producing the wide range of décors available on the market. Thanks to the AI-based, automated dryer performance controller aDC (advanced Dryer Control), the system works even more effectively and is also fully automated.
A further advantage of the new aLITE drying solution is, that it requires only a fraction of the drying length compared to today´s standard convection dryers. The aLITE system only requires 1 meter of drying length (compared to the 6-8 meters required for hot air dryers) at a production speed of up to 200 m/min.
aLITE is the solution with the lowest operating costs on the market today, with low investment requirements as a result of possible machine savings coupled with reduced building expenses and infrastructure requirements.
The retrofitting of existing décor gravure printing systems with aLITE is also possible at short notice with typical amortization time of < 18 to a maximum of 24 months. The use of aLITE technology in décor printing complements the well-known wide range of application options in various surface coating processes.