Printers looking to boost their press productivity are instead turning to ancillary products – devices that sit on the press monitoring and correcting consumables use, sheet travel, ambient conditions inside the units, and more. A raft of these devices appropriate to a particular press and its work mix can not only help the press turn out higher-quality work, but can also save on waste and maintenance costs – and so add significantly to the machine’s profitability.
Technotrans’ new Softflow dampening filtration system is such a device. Like all dampening filtration systems, Softflow works by filtering contamination from the dampening fluid, and recirculating a cleaned, freshened flow to the dampening roller. It sounds simple, and in general principle, it is, but the need for filtration in the dampening train is poorly understood, according to Technotrans operations director Peter Benton. “Printers don’t always understand that by controlling the variables on the press you can boost print quality tremendously. Softflow is relatively inexpensive anyway, but it also has a positive return on investment so it will pay for itself in quite a short time.”
More contaminants
On its journey around the print unit, dampening solution picks up contamination from the paper, from the ink and even from the air in the factory. Levels of contamination are increasing as environmentally conscious printers are reducing their use of alcohol. IPA (isopropyl alcohol) helps to hold contaminants in solution, and as alcohol levels reduce, contamination is having a greater effect on the press and its work. And as presses get faster, and printers work them for longer hours to maximise their return on investment, the average press is picking up higher and higher levels of contamination. All-in-all, Benton says, it’s time for printers to realise that they need to clean up their dampening acts. “Press technology and market conditions combine at the moment to give us a situation in which there’s never been a greater need to look at filtration on a press. The vast majority of sheetfed printers in this country could benefit from a filtration system.”
Launched at Ipex last year, the Softflow system is a simple addition to Technotrans’s Beta dampening units, intended for use on B1 presses. Softflow is basically a big two-layer cushion, or more properly, a mat. The first layer is made of an open mesh that catches larger contaminant particles, and the second layer is made up of increasingly finer meshes to a depth of 20mm that catch smaller and smaller particles. The mat’s design is a fine balance between what Benton calls a “sensible” level of filtration on the one hand, against maintenance period and cost on the other. “It would be very easy to make a filter that took absolutely everything out, but you’d be changing it every few days,” he says.
Thorough cleaning
The mat is suspended on brackets inside the dampening system’s main circulation tank, where it filters both fluid returning from the print units and a partial level of fluid from the main circulation tank – ensuring that the fluid is entirely cleaned during a given operating period, even if the press is not printing. Once it has passed through the filter mat, the cleansed fluid returns to the main circulation tank ready to be sent out again.
The Softflow system is deliberately priced low, at £540 fully installed on a Technotrans dampening system. “Everybody should have one,” Benton says. “And we knew that if we set it at a sensible price and sensible consumable costs, people would do it.” The only consumable cost is the mats themselves, which vary in cost according to how many are purchased at one time – the average is £20 per mat.
The system comes with a pressure sensor and its own control screen. In the case of blockages, the system picks up the increased pressure and puts an alert onto its control screen, so the operator can clear the blockage (usually by changing the mat). It’s possible to link Softflow with the press’ control system, so that blockages and mat changes are notified at the control desk – but this is only possible with a system fitted to a new press, rather than retrofitted to an existing press.
Most sheetfed offset presses have some form of dampening filtration already – often an OEM or rebadge of Technotrans’ systems – but adding Softflow gives the dampening solution an extended lifecycle, taking it from a fortnight to three months. Which is where Benton’s business case lies.
“For optimum housekeeping, printers should be draining down and disposing of their dampening solution on a weekly or certainly a fortnightly basis,” claims Benton.
Optimum use
For a six-colour press, that’s around 80 to 120 litres of fluid per cycle, says Benton. “Because it contains ink and some alcohol and possibly some solvent as well, it’s classed as hazardous waste, so there’s a cost to disposal of around 12p a litre. Plus you then have to replace the solution, and there’s a cost to that too – say at £2 a litre, running at 6% in a 100 litre tank, that comes out at £12. So you’re looking at something like £25 every fortnight, or £650 a year, and that’s just the direct costs – not taking into account the cost of press downtime, plus the staff costs of carrying out the drain-down and replenishment.” If you use Softflow, adds Benton, the life of the dampening solution is extended by up to three months, so you only need to go through the whole performance four or five times a year. Even including the cost of the necessary change of filter mat every three months, the use of Softflow could reduce the costs of unfiltered dampening by up to 75%.
The benefits don’t stop with simple cost-savings, though, as Benton is keen to stress. “There’s a benefit to the whole press system in having clean dampening solution circulating, and a benefit to the whole factory because of it. For instance, the risk of overflowing dampening pans is minimal, because the most common cause of overflow, ie, built-up contamination, is eliminated. And you get to spend a lot less time on cleaning and maintenance, which is a direct saving.” And improving dampening solution quality can play a large part in improving print quality, which can itself mean that the press runs faster, and more productively. “People don’t understand that if they run in quite dirty conditions, which tends to be the norm, it impacts on print quality.
They end up thinking it’s the press, and that they need to reinvest. But this is a good way of hanging onto a machine and getting the most out of it – just tweaking it to run better,” Benton says.
Softflow can be fitted to a Technotrans dampening system on any size of sheetfed press, but Benton says that he expects the owners of B1 presses to benefit most from it. The Alpha series of dampening systems, designed for B2 and B3 format presses, comes with Softflow fitted as standard. Technotrans is currently in the process of negotiating with the main suppliers of B1 sheetfed presses in the UK to fit Softflow as standard to their existing dampening systems. “It’s so low-cost, it should be a no-brainer on new presses,” Benton says.
SPECIFICATIONS
Average length of filter life two to three months
Can it be retrofitted? yes
Can it be fitted to dampening systems other than Technotrans? no
Price £540 for fully fitted system/£20 per replacement mat
Contact Technotrans 01206 224200 www.technotrans.co.uk
THE ALTERNATIVES
Baldwin Longlifefiltration LCM
Baldwin’s LCM system uses the a cross-flow filtration principle based around ceramic elements that filter out large and fine contamination, including residual ink, paper waste, organic impurities and detergents. As the filters are made of ceramic, there are no consumable costs.
Average length of filter life not applicable
Can it be retrofitted? yes
Can it be fitted to dampening systems other than Baldwin? yes
Price not supplied
Contact Baldwin UK 01202 739030 www.baldwintech.com
Hydro-Dynamic Products Envirofilter
Hydro-Dynamic Products announced its Envirofilter midway through last year, together with some ROI figures not dissimilar to Technotrans’. Factoring in downtime and environmental fees, together with replacement costs, the Envirofilter claims to save £300 per drain-down and pays for itself within four months.
Average length of filter life three months
Can it be retrofitted? yes
Price not supplied
Contact Hydro-Dynamic Products 01273 464881 www.hdp.co.uk
Technotrans Softflow
As sheetfed offset presses have become faster over the past decade, the general consensus is that the technology has reached peak productivity levels: there are no big speed increases to come.
