Left to right - Nathan Ridenour (FTA), Jennifer Heathcote (GEW), Amir Dekel (GEW) and Laura Wright (FTA) at the Awards Banquet.
UV systems manufacturer GEW has been presented with a prestigious FTA Sustainability Excellence Award for its AeroLED2 UV curing system, in the category of ‘Innovations in Sustainability’ at the Flexographic Technical Association Awards Banquet in Pittsburgh, PA. The award recognises ‘dedication and exceptional sustainability efforts’ in the sphere of flexographic printing.
The FTA judging panel considers new technology, formulations, or techniques developed to reduce the environmental impact of printing, and/or improve worker health and safety. This includes ‘technology and product developments that have been created with sustainability benefits in mind’ alongside ‘measures taken to reduce energy consumption, or maximise energy efficiency’. The FTA panel also sought evidence of ‘improved operation and/or maintenance of equipment and methods that reduce or prevent waste generation’.
The award was presented to Jennifer Heathcote and Amir Dekel of GEW, Inc. by Nathan Ridenour, President of the FTA. Heathcote later commented: "For those adopting AeroLED2 curing technology, the improvements are clear: users can expect reduced carbon footprint, elimination of ozone and the need for mercury, substantial energy and cost savings, alongside improved curing process consistency and reliability… not to mention a substantial saving in consumables."
AeroLED2 is an air-cooled UV LED curing system for full cure, printing, coating and converting applications. It has the necessary power to meet and surpass modern productivity demands, while delivering energy savings of better than 55 percent over traditional mercury arc lamps. This latest model in the AeroLED series has increased power, UV dose and irradiance to ensure effective curing with all leading LED-curable inks on the market, and the maximum width available has been increased to 70cm (27in.) to ensure compatibility with the vast majority of label and web presses in operation today.
Amir Dekel, Vice President, Sales at GEW, Inc., adds a comment: "Air-cooling is more reliable than water-cooling and is preferred by the industry. It is more economical to install and run as it requires less energy. AeroLED2 uses negative cooling for quieter, more reliable operation and this also ensures that no air is exhausted into the machine, which eliminates the risk of heat and contamination on and around the press, and makes a better, safer working environment for machine operators."
He concludes: "A further benefit of switching to AeroLED2 is that the heat generated during the LED curing process is significantly lower than that of UV Arc systems. This in turn can greatly reduce the need for HVAC and other energy-intensive air management equipment. Waste warm air can be ducted into or out of the factory, bringing a further energy saving that is not possible with forced air systems."
The FTA judges were also impressed by the accessibility of the AeroLED2 curing system: the interchangeable lamphead cassettes enable an easy upgrade to UV LED for users of GEW's ubiquitous E2C UV Arc systems, by simply changing over the lamp cassettes and running a software update. This patented 'ArcLED' technology also means that UV Arc and UV LED lamps can seamlessly operate side by side on a press.