Product category:
Printing Presses and Machinery (New and Used, Service and Repair)
News Release from: KBA | Subject: Rapida 105
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 November 2004
Using The Right Materials To Run Hybrid
Presses
The procedures and results of materials testing for hybrid media and emission testing of the KBA Rapida 105, press were presented at the Mayr-Melnhof Symposium in Radebeul (Germany).
The procedures and results of materials testing for hybrid media and emission testing of the KBA Rapida 105, 18,000 sheets per hour (sph) press were presented at the ninth Mayr-Melnhof Symposium at Koenig and Bauer (KJBA) in Radebeul (Germany) Amongst the audience were representatives of KBA, FOGRA and the Trade Association (BG) for Printing and Paper Processing, who heard Jurgen Veil, the head of KBA's sheetfed offset marketing, report that the commissions for emission and materials tests had already been issued to the trade association and FOGRA
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 24 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The predecessor model of the latest model of the Rapida 105 was the first sheetfed offset press to receive the internationally recognised emission-tested certificate from the trade association in 2000.
Soon afterwards, said Veil, the eco-certificate was also awarded to all the other Rapida models, conferring official confirmation that, beyond the current emission standards, the Rapida series already complied with the much stricter thresholds planned for the future.
KBA asked FOGRA to perform materials tests on hybrid consumables and media because some of the printers running hybrid production on Rapida presses were found to be using media which had the word 'hybrid' on their labels, but they were in fact scarcely distinguishable from pure UV products, said the company.
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When KBA unveiled a new Rapida 105 at Drupa, a similar press had already been put through its paces for several months at the pharmaceutical centre run by the Rob Leunis and Chapman Group (RLC).
Damage to the rollers and blankets was caused and a loss of user confidence resulted.
The objective of the testing and subsequent FOGRA certification of approved hybrid products was to define unambiguous standards identifying suitable consumables and media for the user, without the for manufacturers to reveal their individual recipes.
The significant aspect was to verify the properties that guarantee reliably reproducible results and permit continued safe and problem-free operation of the printing press, added KBA.
FOGRA representative Alexander Schiller gave the symposium an overview of the investigations to date, concentrating on the areas of emission measurements and material testing.
The initial stage was to test the reactions of five hybrid ink ranges from different manufacturers in combinations with six different printing blankets, three different roller coating qualities and six different washing solvents, making for a total of 600 individual tests to assess swelling effects and cleaning efficiency.
The fact that the hybrid inks displayed widely varying reactions in practical application can be taken as an indication that the choice of a hybrid ink is, for a lot of users, still a decision with many imponderables, he commented.
KBA said that the the FOGRA symposium in Munich on November 15 and 16 took up a proposal from Jurgen Veil and established four manufacturer-independent working groups to consider four topics: including corrosion in UV offset printing presses; Standard procedures to classify the speed of curing of printing inks; Procedures to evaluate the odours of print products; Identification of the sources of odours for UV print products and proposals for prevention strategies at suppliers.
FOGRA will organise and chair the working groups and their results are to be presented at the next UV print users forum in the autumn of 2006.
Dr Bernhard Kuter, head of department for working materials at the Trade Association for Printing and Paper Processing, presented the first results of testing performed on the latest Rapida 105.
For the press to qualify for the 'emission-tested' certificate, it had to demonstrate that it has been designed and can be operated in such a way, that emissions such as solvent vapours and mists from washing and cleaning products, dampening solutions, inks and varnishes (VOCs), powder, ozone, UV radiation and noise, lie significantly be-low the strictest thresholds or recommendations in EU countries.
During the test measurements carried out at KBA's Radebeul customer centre in October, the press printed a series of jobs on papers and boards, reflecting its typical use in practice.
Two conventional and two hybrid ink systems were used, as well as one UV system, several UV-curing varnishes, a water-based varnish and a variety of washing solvents.
All print tests were run without alcohol in the dampening solutions ? at a printing speed of 14,400sph (corresponding to approx.
80 per cent of the maximum attainable speed) said KBA.
The evaluation of the results is still not yet completed but it has already been confirmed that the ink mist measured on the Rapida 105 is 30 per cent below the specified limit of 1.5 mg/m3.
KBA added that sa the press runs wihtout alcohol in the dampening solution, IPA concentration and emissions tests were irrelevant.
"Presses which have been awarded the 'emission-tested' certificate are often described as eco-presses and 'eco' can here be taken to stand both for ecology and for economy because there is clear economic benefit in the ability of such presses to work more effectively than in the past with the necessary consumables and to significantly reduce the associated costs," said Dr Kuter. Request a free brochure from KBA ...
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