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Maple-Vail Green Move
June 27, 2008

Turn off the dryers on a heatset web before rolling into the folder and what do you get? Set-off and smearing. 
But after a year of development, book printer Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing is rolling dual 36-inch webs right out of its Harris M120 and into the folder to deliver nearly folded signatures with no marking or set-off. The printer is getting fast roll-up--with as few as 9 signature makereadies--great products, minimal waste, and plaudits from customers and environmentalists.
Working over the past year with Amerikal, a Waukegan, IL supplier of eco-friendly press chemistries, cleaners and systems and newly developed high-solids Braden Sutphin EcoSet-MV (the initials acknowledging Maple-Vail's roll as project driver) has resulted in a breakthrough in reducing VOC emissions for book runs. 
Shutting down the dryer also eliminated the need for silicon remoistening, to say nothing of noise and heat and the burdens they place on plant cooling and employee work environment. Signatures during an inaugural run last week exited the folder with 6% moisture--20% more than they entered. With the dryer on, the paper can drop to 4% moisture or less, causing curling and uneven feeding in the bindery line. Now signatures fold flatter and more consistently. Signature logs awaiting the bindery are extremely even, though a bit bulker since they gain rather than lose moisture during the run. 
Maple-Vail's 500-employee York plant has been running a version of this chemistry-ink combination, components of a process Amerikal brands THINKTech (for think ink technology), on five 77x54-inch Miehle perfectors for over a year. Steve Brooks, prep/press superintendent, challenged Amerikal and Braden Sutphin to move the needle by adapting the process for the more volatile inks used on the web. Using thinner ink films reduces the VOCs released in the process, as do the alcohol-free, food-grade constituents comprising Amerikal's chemistries. 
After 13 months and at least four ink formulations blended on site by Braden Sutphin's Rick Pistor, the process had a public showing in a run for Harvard University Press on June 25. Running on a Glatfelter book text at 25,000 iph (around 750 fpm) the dryer shutdown reduced carbon emissions, while VOC emissions from the press fell dramatically. The VOC content of the ink dropped from 35% to 3%. 
"Dot gain is reduced and so is ink consumption," says Brooks. On the web line, chill nips were cut and belts adjusted to avoid marking the still-wet ink during its brief--30 to45 second dwell--before entering the folder. While the sheetfed process allows for about 70 seconds of cure time, the ink on the web must be set much more quickly.  
"This is a sea-change in the manufacturing process," says Scott Simons, Maple-Vail VP operations. The shift to Amerikal fountain solutions and chemistries in conjunction with the reformulated EcoSet inks reduce VOCs emissions by 90%, says Carole Scott DeWall, who manages Maple-Vail's encironmental programs. 
Next up Maple-Vail hopes to adapt the process for two-color work.

Posted by Bill Esler on June 27, 2008 | Comments (0)