Vegra has launched a new range of anti-corrosion fountain solutions, which it claims could protect presses against oxidisation well beyond their lifespan.
Vegra claims that its new concentrated generation of solutions can be used with a 70% lower dosage than non-concentrated solutions. The firm also claims that tests performed by the independent body Fogra show that the solutions protect against press corrosion for anything up to 90 years, compared to around 18 months for conventional solutions.
The company developed the range working closely with MAN Roland and Heidelberg. President of Vegra, Albert Uhlemayr said that the fountain solutions would be cheaper to use, as well as reduce the amount of alcohol in the dampening process, and therefore cause less harm to the environment. He said he believed that Vegra were meeting a more environmentally conscious need within the printing industry. The Europeans are reaching a point where they are becoming increasingly aware of the environment, were looking to stop adding chemicals unnecessarily.
Uhlemayr said that the new solutions contained less water but still maintained stability. He said, Normal concentrations have roughly 50% water, we have 15% but still keep the organic compounds stable.
Vegra has produced different concentrated solutions for use in newspaper, web offset and sheet fed offset printing. Fogras technical data states that Vegra Blue 3301 Zi solution will protect against cylinder deterioration for 80 years with 0.002mm lost in mass per year, compared to a lifespan of 15 months and an estimated loss of 0.234mm per year for solutions without corrosive protection.