PRINTING

Helios Quartz products are widely used in Paper & Printing Industry as they cover all the most complex needs in terms of drying solutions. Below some of the most common fields of application.

PAPER INDUSTRY

In the production of paper, a mixture of fibers and water is sprayed uniformly on a net mesh conveyor belt. The usage of IR emitters combined with traditional vapor heated rollers is suggested in order to optimize the process by facilitating the uniformity of the moisture level required thus avoiding large variations in the humidity of the product. Systems equipped with IR lamps require the necessary security measures such as protective quartz plates and controls that take into account the combustion temperature of paper. The IR lamps are widely used also in almost all the following steps of the various types of paper processing.

PRINTING INDUSTRY

The heating by the Infrared Quartz emitters allows the ink to penetrate into the paper more quickly; the optimization of the absorption level depends on the type of paper used. The choice of IR Medium Wave emitters is based on the principle of correlation between the wavelength emitted by the Infrared source with the infrared absorption curve properties of the water-based or solvent- based inks; the use of IR Short Wave emitters requires the presence of a good cooling system and it is recommended when it is necessary to heat up the paper without significantly removing the residual moisture present in the paper and avoiding the occurrence of shrinkage problems.

Infrared technology can be used with almost all conventional printing inks (water based and solvent base), since the infrared radiations reduces significantly the viscosity of the inks and facilitates a quick fixing on the paper.

The usage of IR emitters takes great quality advantages in printing processes and it is mainly valued for almost all multi-color machines/applications, except those designed for UV curing, for which, of course, it is required the UV technology.

Ultraviolet rays cures UV paints, UV varnishes and UV adhesives within seconds. The UV compounds, in contrast with the conventional coatings, are almost solvent-free, therefore the use of this technology eliminates the problem of formation of gas sacks and consequently it eliminates the danger of explosion during the drying process. The choice of the correct emission spectrum of the UV radiation combined with a good quality of the UV compounds is very important in the printing process, since it must be ensured that a sufficient number of photons should react correctly in order to obtain a proper drying of all the coating material. The printing machines equipped with ultraviolet rays, usually smaller than those which adopt the

Infrared technology, have a great production speed and consequently some energy saving advantages. In any case, both for IR and UV technology, a good printing process has to ensure the complete drying of the inks before printing sheets are overlapped, cut, folded or glued.