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Special equipment
Page

1 Theoretical fundamentals of IR drying .....................................................3

2 A depiction of the visible and invisible wave spectrum: .........................4

3 Theoretical fundamentals of UV drying ....................................................5

4 The UV drying process..............................................................................6

5 Design of the Eltosch IR dryer ..................................................................7

6 Diagram of an Eltosch IR lamp segment ..................................................9

7 General.....................................................................................................10

8 Installation instructions: .........................................................................11

9 Instructions for unpacking and checking on arrival ..............................12

10 Mechanical installation of the IR segments............................................13

11 Water-cooled guide plate ........................................................................14

12 Starting up ...............................................................................................15

13 Dryer function ..........................................................................................16

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1 Theoretical fundamentals of IR drying

Infrared (IR) radiation follows immediately after the visible wave range (380 to 790 nanometers) and lies between
780 and 1.000.000 nanometers.

This range can be divided into three sub-ranges:

Short-wave IR radiation: Wave lengths between 1,000 and 2,000 nm

Short-wave IR rays have the highest energy content within the IR spectrum.

Advantages:
- penetrate deeper into the substrate or ink layer
- better drying results with dispersion coatings (combined with hot air drying)
- shorter warm-up and cool-down phases (less risk of burning the stock when printing is interrupted)

Disadvantages:
- require more energy
- the lamps have a short life (approx. 5,000 hours)

Medium-wave IR radiation: Wave lengths between 2,000 and 4,000 nm

Advantages:
- even penetration into the ink layer
- virtually no reflection loss
- good drying results with conventional inks, IR inks and print varnishes because the emission maximum of the
IR rays virtually coincides with the absorption maximum of the inks (approx. 3,000 nm = 3 µm)
- the lamps have a longer life than short-wave lamps (approx. 10 – 15,000 hours)

Disadvantages:
- because the medium-wave rays have a lower energy content, drying of thick ink layers can take longer than
with short-wave rays although this can be compensated for by using more lamps

Long-wave IR radiation: Wave lengths between 4,000 and 10,000 nm

With one exception (medium to long-wave scatter lamps from another manufacturer), long-wave IR radiation is not
used for drying printing inks because the energy content is too low to penetrate far enough into the ink layer. Apart
from this, the long cooling-down phase means a relatively high risk of burning the stock when printing is
interrupted.

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2 A depiction of the visible and invisible wave spectrum:

What happens when IR drying is used?

Because of the greater wave length of the IR rays compared to UV drying or electron beam drying, their energy
content is not sufficient to cause a chemical reaction. However, IR radiation is sufficient to accelerate the drying
process.

Reasons:
The viscosity of the ink is reduced i.e. it becomes thinner. The solvents in the ink also become thinner which means
they can be better absorbed into the substrate (= ink absorption). Apart from this, IR radiation stimulates oxidative
drying.

The temperature in the delivery pile should not exceed 40°C. Higher temperatures will cause the whole pile to
block. The temperature is monitored by a sword thermometer.

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3 Theoretical fundamentals of UV drying

UV radiation is positioned in the area between 100 and 380 nanometers and therefore lies immediately before the
visible wave length range (380 to 790 nanometers).

UV radiation can also be divided into three wave length ranges:

1. UV-C radiation (wave lengths between 100 and 280 nm)

2. UV-B radiation (wave lengths between 280 and 315 nm)
3. UV-A radiation (wave lengths between 315 and 380 nm)

Because of the comparatively short wave length, UV radiation has the greatest energy. This means that UV-C rays
can cause serious skin burns when the press is not provided with effective shielding.

How is UV radiation produced?

Natural UV radiation is only produced by hot bodies (such as the sun or light rays).

UV radiation can also be technically produced through gas discharge. This is normally done by using a mercury
vapour lamp with electrodes melted onto its ends. The lamp is filled with an inert gas (mercury for instance).

The operating voltage needed to produce UV radiation lies around 10 A. Once this voltage is applied, the lamp is
ignited by a corona discharge which creates a light ray. As the light ray lengths increase, the voltage grows from
approx. 10 V/cm up to 2,500 V.

Spread of the UV wave lengths emitted

The ratio of UV-A, UV-B and UV-C wave lengths emitted is not equal. This spread is dependent on the operating
temperature of the mercury vapour lamp – the higher the temperature, the greater the vapour pressure inside the
UV lamp and this influences the ratio between the three types of UV radiation.

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4 The UV drying process

UV inks have a composition completely different to conventional inks so that they can be dried by UV radiation.
With UV, one does not refer to drying any more but polymerization instead.

UV inks consist of:

- photo initiators
- special binding agents (monomers and prepolymers)
- ink pigments

The photo initiators absorb the UV light which decomposes them into highly-reactive radicals. This releases an
energy that transfers to the binding agents and starts a chain reaction there. This chain reaction polymerizes the
monomers and prepolymers – the ink film dries (polymerizes) within fractions of a second.
For this reason one can describe UV drying as chemical drying because there is no absorption or evaporation of
binding agents.

Areas of application, advantages and disadvantages of UV drying

Areas of application: Printing on non-absorbent materials such as tinplate, foils, aluminium-coated paper.

Advantages:

- very high gloss levels achievable (cosmetic packaging)

- highly resistant to solvents and mechanical abrasion
- instant drying
- finishing operations can commence immediately
- No spray powder needed
- Full piles can be run even with heavy ink coverage

Disadvantages:

- special press equipment needed

(UV dryer, special rubber roller coverings and blankets)
- special inks and coatings needed
- protective equipment needed for press and personnel
- contact with non-polymerized ink can cause skin irritation
- UV printed products have a distinct odour (newly developed UV inks and coatings have been improved in this
regard)

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5 Design of the Eltosch IR dryer

- Eltosch provides dryers either in segment design or in slide-in cassette design.

- All Eltosch dryers can be equipped with short-wave or medium-wave IR lamps as required.

Advantage: Flexibility for different applications.

- The IR lamps are arranged across the sheet travel direction.

Advantages:

- Less heat on the chain tracks because only the outer sides of the IR lamps are close to the chain tracks.
- No stripe-wise blocking of the pile can occur should a lamp fail without being noticed, failure of a cross-
arranged lamp is noticed sooner.

Disadvantages: The lamps cannot be switched off zone-wise (across the sheet width) which is possible with IR
lamps arranged along the sheet travel direction (although lamps arranged across the sheet travel direction can be
switched on and off separately).

All Eltosch IR lamps are provided with gold-plated reflectors that effectively reflect back the rays from the lamp
that escape upwards. (There are some differences as to how lamp manufacturers deal with this area, some use
gold plating, others ceramic and some provide no reflectors at all).

Advantage: Better drying (96% radiation yield).

Eltosch IR dryers are equipped with a second reflector level which is positioned above the IR lamps and forms
the upper limit of the segment.

Advantages:

- Rays reflected back from the substrate towards the lamps are reflected back to the substrate.
- Better drying results with lower energy consumption (up to 30% energy savings).

Filtered blast air is blown into the upper area of the lamps and reflectors.

Advantage:

- Cools the IR lamps (increases their life).

- Removes spray powder which could otherwise burn onto the lamps.

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Filtered blast air is blown into the area where the segment starts and ends in the direction of the sheet.

Advantages:

- While it is being transported, the sheet does not contact the hot dryer segment (protection).
- This provides additional stabilization of sheet travel in the area of the dryer, especially effective for flimsy
substrates.

Stainless steel fenders form the lower end of the dryer segment.

Advantages:

- Protects the IR lamps from mechanical damage.

- Keeps the sheet away from the hot lamps in the event of a paper jam in this area.
- Reduced fire risk.

An integrated water-cooled guide plate.

Advantages:

- Reduces the amount of heat radiated onto important parts of the press.
- For the IR “Economy” dryer: a prerequisite for energy savings through heat recovery.

High-performance extraction system

Advantages:

- The press is subjected to less heat.

- Sucks away odours and excessive heat which provides a better working environment for the printers.

Individual IR lamps can be switched on and off

Advantage:

- As opposed to dryers with stepless output regulation, individual lamp on/off switching avoids uncontrollable shifts
in the amount of emitted IR rays.

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6 Diagram of an Eltosch IR lamp segment

1. Rotatable IR lamps, short or

medium-wave
2. Gold reflector
3. Second reflector level
4. Lamp cooling, blast air, reflector and
lamp cleaning
5. Stainless steel sheet fender grid
6. Blast air sheet fender
7. Ink/coating
8. Substrate

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7 General

At the present time there are five Eltosch segment dryers that are considered to be “standard dryers” for the
Roland 700.
These different versions cover virtually all requirements for drying conventional inks and dispersion coatings.

Should a customer have special requirements (e.g. running UV inks and UV coatings), then special versions can
also be provided.

Important:

When clarifying the customer’s needs, he should be informed about the necessary floor space for one supply
cabinet (IR drying, IR drying + Economy air dryer) or two cabinets (IR drying + hot-air dryer).
In addition, the customer should be made aware of diameter of the pipes between the supply cabinet and the
press, in case a wall needs to be opened to lay these pipes.

This diameter information is particularly important for the necessary opening for the extraction unit which removes
the warm air out to the open air.
It is the customer’s responsibility to provide the piping from the press to the electrical cabinets.

All these specifications can be found in the technical data sheets.

The following applies to all types of dryers:

- the maximum distance between the press and the supply cabinet must not exceed 5 meters.

- The height of the pressroom should be at least 3 meters so that the pipelines can be laid without difficulty.

- The distance between the extraction hood and the wall of the pressroom (opening in the wall) should not be
longer than 5 meters.

- The minimum distance between the dryer electrical cabinet and the control console = ½ meter.

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8 Installation instructions:

- Eltosch dryer combination

- Infrared / hot air dryer

- IR dryer and segment design with second reflector level and integrated blast air system

- Hot air dryer with extracttion system for MAN Roland 700

- Dryer type: 1020 IRK 3 + KW + TL

- Eltosch order number: PMO 011 x

- Press: R 700 + TLV

List of contents:

1. General
- General instructions for unpacking and checking on arrival

2. Mechanical installation

3. Extraction hood

4. Water-cooled sheet guide plate

5. Start-up

6. Technical documentation

7. Electrical diagram

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9 Instructions for unpacking and checking on arrival

When the equipment arrives, check that the packing has not been damaged in transit.

Remove the components from the packing and check there is no damage.

The units are sturdily packed but should any damage be detected when unpacking then the forwarding agent or
airline must be informed immediately, a resumé of the damage must be produced and MAN Roland must be
informed.

All units should be carefully taken out of the packing making sure that no items are overlooked.

Any stays or braces etc. for transport security should be removed at the installation location (these are indicated in
the cabinets with red adhesive tape).

Mechanical installation of the dryer components in the press delivery

Note:

Even when parts are preassembled, please read the pertinent points and then move on to the next one.

Installation of the jet slots

The jet-slots and IR segment holders are preassembled on mounting plates and brackets (see drawing
103.1100.0016, sheet 24.38 to 24.40, positions 1-9).
A side = drive side, B side = operating side.

The jet slots are firmly attached on one side only so they can expand when warm. There should be enough room
for them to expand at least 5 mm, 10 mm would be better (drawing 103.1100.0016, sheet 24.39 and 24.40, section
C-C).

The basic setting of the jet slots has been chosen so that are set at a 15° angle against sheet travel direction. This
basic setting applies to carton printing, other settings such as for thin paper (45°) may sometimes be necessary.
The normal distance between the lower edge of the jet slots and the gripper systems should be 5 mm or more. The
absolute minimum distance between the front edge of the jet slots and the highest point of the gripper systems is 3
- 4 mm (please check this)!

Air feed to the jet slots comes from metal pipes with a 35 mm inner diameter. This piping system is on both A and B
sides and air distribution is done by two air distributors (see the piping plan on sheet 24.41).
Two on each A and B sides (MRO air distributors) and one in the extraction hood which indicates the
corresponding connection ends. The piping between the MRO air distributors and the one in the extraction hood
has a diameter of 80 mm. The metal pipes should be fastened at the ends with clamps provided.

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10 Mechanical installation of the IR segments

The segment mountings are preassembled on the holding brackets (see point 2.1).

The absolute minimum distance between the front edge of the segment and the highest point of the gripper
systems is 5 mm (please check this)!

The normal distance between the segments and the gripper systems should be 10 mm!

Important note:

Because the segments expand when hot, a play of at least 5 mm, preferably 10 mm, must be maintained when
mounting them. The segment must be able to expand this distance at the side with the loose slide fastening.

The IR segments are air-cooled by a metal hose with an inner diameter of 35 mm. The connections of all IR
segments are joined by an air distributor integrated in the extraction hood (see piping plan PMO 0011, sheet
24.41).

Power supply to the IR lamps comes from a plug with an insulated hose with PG 13.5 connection diameter. The
plug that goes from the inside to the outside of the press is placed on the outside underneath the covers on the
drive side.

Extraction hood

The extraction hood is mounted on the front of the delivery.

Two suction fans are mounted under both of the extraction hood covers (the fans are fastened by self-tapping
screws and serrated lock washers).
The customer is responsible for laying the flexible hose or the pipe from the hood fan II in the middle of the
extraction hood.

The air connection on the extraction hood DN 400 should be led the shortest way to the open air in order to
achieve the highest possible exhaust volume. This is also important for good drying. The temperature of the
exhaust air reaches approx. 60°C.

The hood fan provided as standard is intended to work with a max. pipe or hose length of 8 m with a 90° bend.
With pipe or hose lengths longer than this, one can expect reduced extraction performance which leads to higher
temperatures in the press delivery. In such cases Eltosch should be consulted.

The hood fans are connected by a plug to the electrical cabinet.

The length of piping between the cabinets and the hood should be as short as possible. The materials needed for
this is detailed in the following drawings:

- 300.5400.0004, pipe set 4 (DN = 100 mm) sheet 24.42

- 300.5400.0006, pipe set 6 (DN = 150 mm) sheet 24.42

This material permits a max. piping length of approx. 8 m.

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11 Water-cooled guide plate

The original MAN Roland sheet guiding plates (three) are prepared for water cooling (drawing 103.1100.016, sheet
24.38). Before the plates are screwed into the holders specified by MAN Roland, the water hoses must be
fastened.

The ½” rubber hose is then connected to the heat exchanger.

The water hose must not be laid in existing cable ducts, it must always be laid separately from the
electrical lines!

Note:
A rigid installation using copper is especially practical for an “overhead” water line. This construction is not included
in the equipment delivered but it is a simple matter for the customer to attend to this.

Note:

With an “overhead” installation, it is a good idea to fit an automatic air-bleed valve at the highest point in both the
inlet and outlet lines.

Filling and commissioning is described in the operating manual in the section heat exchanger.

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12 Starting up

Check that all air connections and piping are firmly seated.

Press must be switched on, no “impression ON” signal

- Turn the IRK/TL dryer main switch on, the control lamp “Network ON” lights up.

- VERY IMPORTANT: Fill the heat exchanger and water circuit with coolant, see section “heat
exchanger” in the operating manual!

- Check the motor turning direction and the water flow, set the flow monitor (refer also to “heat exchanger”
description).

- Check the speed regulator function of the extraction hood fan.

Note: A 5 x 20 mm (2A) fine-wire fuse is built into the speed regulator.

- Set the speed regulator in the hood to 100%.

Press is switched on,

- There is an “Impression ON” signal, the control lamp “impression ON” lights up.

- Preselect IR dryer.

- Check the turning direction for the IR segment cooling fan.

- The IR lamps can now be switched on. Turn them on one at a time, each must register two ammeters. Repeat
this procedure for all lamps.

- If they don’t function, first check the relevant fuses and contactors and then the wiring.

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13 Dryer function

- On the signal impression OFF”, i.e. the “impression ON” signal goes out, the lamps must switch off
automatically.

- When the press “Stop” button is pressed, the lamps must also switch off.

- When press “Emergency stop” is activated, the complete dryer must switch off (this works via the input signal
“Machine, main switch ON”).

Refer to the operating manuals for more detailed operating information.

Technical documentation

Piping plan PMO 0011, sheet 24.38

Drawing 103.1100.0016, sheet 24.38
Drawing 103.1100.0016, sheet 24.39 and 24.40
Drawing 300.5400.0004, sheet 24.42 (pipe set 4/6)

Electrical documentation

Wiring diagram – see the operating manual.

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