The adoption of UV LED curing systems has been growing in printing markets globally, however its introduction in Brazil took a joint effort involving UV specialist UVTronic, UV-LED lamp manufacturer Phoseon Technology and Germany-based specialty chemicals group Actega. Brazil has been experiencing an energy cost increase, resulting in limited growth for companies. By upgrading to LED once difficult to cure colors were suddenly working flawlessly and adhesion was improved. Energy savings were evident the first month and have relieved stress on the power load in this section of the facility. All this plus gaining the advantage of LED technology that is environmentally sustainable and safer for operators.

Notable Cost Savings:

With 90% savings on energy costs and up to 97% reduction in maintenance, CMP quickly discovered the benefits of their LED integration. Conventional mercury lamps are powered with high voltages and high currents which result in extensive energy consumption, high temperatures, and harmful ozone gases. 

On the other hand, the radiation emitted from UV LED lamps is maintained within the ultraviolet range, making it safe employees and production. With LED curing there is no need for high voltage energy consumption or exhaust ventilation systems. The lifetime of a mercury UV lamp is 1,000 - 2,500 hours on average, while LED lamps have a long lifetime of 80,000 – 100,000 hours. One LED lamp compares to around 80 standard UV lamps regarding lifetime. The reduction in machine stops for lamp changes results in less downtime and more production.

Additional Benefits:

UV LED curing embraces many of the advantages of traditional UV curing for manufacturing processes, offering advanced capabilities beyond traditional mercury UV curing. First, UV LEDs do not generate any infrared and operate at significantly lower temperatures than traditional arc and microwave UV. This is extremely important on lines where the introduction of heat changes the chemical properties of the ink, adhesive or coating. In these cases, heat can lead to material warping, lack of adhesion, and eventually scrap. 

The second major improvement is process stability. Manufacturing companies need consistent, stable output. Traditional UV bulbs degrade over time, which means their UV output was not keep stable. UV LED outputs stable and consistently UV energy leading to better process control, less scrap, and more in spec finished goods. 

Sustainability:

Waste Reduction: UV LED lamps offer better than 50% lower CO2 emissions. Studies have shown that in certain applications, replacing mercury lamps with UV LED lamps can lead to 67 tons of CO2 reduction per year. Conventional mercury lamps need to be replaced every 1000-2,500 hours.  Upgrading to UV LED technology eliminates these replacement costs offering significant environmental benefits with the elimination of mercury.

Pollution Prevention: UV LED lamps generate no ozone and offer the promise of eliminating toxic mercury in an entire category of industrial processes. With UV LED lamps, there is no need for fume extraction units to remove the harmful gases and Ozone generated by mercury-vapor UV lamps.

Energy Savings: With traditional UV curing processes, the tremendous heat associated with mercury UV lamps require a significant amount of electricity to operate. Phoseon LED provides energy savings of between 75 and 90 percent compared to prior drying systems. With Phoseon LED, there is no need for fume extraction units to remove the gases generated by mercury-vapor UV lamps. Phoseon LED is not only good for the environment, but also has a positive effect on bottom line, sustainability, health, and safety of company operations.

Phoseon LED products provide significant energy savings, prevent pollution, and reduce waste. Phoseon LED solutions offer consistent and reliable power output, eliminate greenhouse gases, and remove mercury from an entire category of industrial processes. Collectively, Phoseon LED has eliminated millions of pounds of CO₂ emissions.