Breath of fresh air
Working in a safe environment that ensures the health of both your staff and machinery is of critical importance to print-service-providers (PSPs) of all shapes and sizes. There are several things that businesses can do to improve their working conditions, with one of these being having a quality humidification system in place.
Installing such a system will help keep your staff fit and healthy for work, as well as protect your printing machinery in the longer term, and also ensure you can produce high quality work even in the busiest of environments.
O Factoid: The Studies show humidity of less than 40%RH promotes the spread of respiratory infections in a workplace O
Here, Print Monthly speaks with some of the brands in this market to find out more about the benefits of these systems and the latest solutions available to PSPs here in the UK.
Informed decision
First up, Condair develops commercial and industrial humidification and evaporative cooling products and systems. Dave Marshall-George, sales director at Condair, warns that as low humidity issues frequently do not occur year-round for UK printers, they can often be overlooked and thought of as a seasonal annoyance, but the installation of a quality system can help make this issue a thing of the past.
“An accepted drop in productivity or quality temporarily occurs every winter,” Marshall-George says, adding: “But the impact could be substantial, particularly if it leads to a drop in quality with resultant client losses. This impact may easily go unnoticed, as clients don’t always highlight dissatisfaction and rarely inform a supplier that they are now using someone else.
“To make an informed decision to invest in a humidification system, a printer must first be able to identify and associate any productivity issues experienced as a result of low humidity. Secondly, be able to financially assess the cost of any humidity-related issues, and finally weigh the cost of the humidifier against these losses, both in the initial outlay and in the longer term.
To make an informed decision to invest in a humidification system, a printer must first be able to identify and associate any productivity issues experienced as a result of low humidity”
“This equation can be relatively difficult to put together, but Condair has great experience in this sector and often works with printers to provide detailed return on investment calculations following free site assessments.”
In terms of the impact low humidity in a printing facility will have, Marshall-George picks out two key points related to output quality. Firstly, it draws moisture from any exposed paper surface, causing dimensional changes to occur. This can be seen in wavy edges on paper stacks and results in problems such as mis-feeds on machines, mis-registration issues, and web-breaks.
Secondly, low humidity will promote electrostatic build up. This can result in issues such as paper jams on machines and dust being attracted to plates. Maintaining humidity at around 50%RH allows static charge to naturally dissipate through the air, avoiding these problems.
Marshall-George also warns a dry environment can also negatively impact staff, saying: “This can be from direct physical effects, such as dry skin and eye irritation, and indirectly, by increasing respiratory illnesses and absenteeism. A humidity of less than 40%RH promotes the spread of respiratory infections in a workplace.
“Studies have shown that our body’s natural defence against airborne viruses is impaired in low humidity, as our nose and throat dry out. Viruses can also stay airborne and remain infectious for longer in dry environments. These effects will all lead to increased staff sickness from colds and flu, and reduced productivity for a company.”
So, what does Condair have on offer to combat such issues? Marshall-George says there is no one-size-fits-all solution for managing humidity in the print sector, adding that the correct solution for any print project will be dependent on the level of humidity needed, the constraints of the area, the contents of the room, the air movement and budget, among many other factors.
“What has made Condair successful in the print sector, with clients including Heidelberg and HP, is being able to provide expert application advice, alongside the most comprehensive range of humidifiers available,” he says, adding: “Being the manufacturer, and not just a distributor, allows Condair to perfectly tailor a humidification system to the needs of a client, and deliver the manufacturer’s engineering knowledge on-site.”
He gives the example of smaller rooms with a digital print machine, saying these often only need a wall-mounted steam humidifier with a fan unit, such as the Condair EL. These humidifiers can provide from just a few kilos of steam per hour to around 40kg, with easy maintenance and good humidity control.
Condair says smaller rooms with a digital print machine often only need a wall-mounted steam humidifier with a fan unit, such as the Condair EL
Larger print rooms, on the other hand, often benefit from spray humidifiers, as they not only provide humidity control but also free evaporative cooling. This can be advantageous, given the waste heat generated by print machines. Condair manufactures both high pressure and compressed air and water spray models and provides detailed analysis on the level of cooling that can be achieved.
Alongside humidifiers, Condair offers a complete range of dehumidifiers to help alleviate environmental issues in older industrial buildings, which often suffer from poor ventilation that can lead to excess air humidity causing condensation and mould on the building fabric, and excessive water absorption by the paper.
Optimal speeds
Another supplier of these systems is Humidity Solutions. John Barker, managing director at the company, says the most important factor to any print business is the quality of its finished products, with the quality of finishing essentially coming down to the environment in which the materials are stored and used.
“When the environment is too humid or too dry, hydroscopic materials such as paper and card will warp or crack,” Barker says, adding: “It does not matter how good the paper or card is from the paper mill, if not stored correctly it will deteriorate and ruin the quality of the final product.
“Not only does incorrect humidity levels ruin the quality of the paper, but will also increase the amount of wastage. Warped paper and card will need to be thrown away as running them through the print machines will cause static, paper jams, and machine breakdowns. When this happens, print companies are faced with bigger challenges.
“Breakdowns and paper jams are time consuming and expensive to fix, resulting in a loss of profitability from each print run. Ensuring the correct humidity levels will help glue drying times and production speeds, keeping you running at optimal speeds for production and profitability.”
So, how do printers go about selecting the best system for their business? Barker says investing in the wrong solution is worse than not having one at all, explaining that once you have taken the time and money to implement something for the benefit of your business, you need to be confident that the solution is right.
“That’s why our turnkey service is vital to our customers as it gives them the reassurance that what they’ve invested in is the right solution,” Barker says, adding: “At Humidity Solutions, we take the time to understand each and every project so we can offer the best solutions for the job.
“We first begin by offering a free onsite survey where an expert humidity control engineer will gather specific information about your space. This is also our opportunity to calculate the size of the area, take humidity readings, and locate any power, electric and water supplies, and more. We will then provide you with a quotation for the entire project, which will include supplying the new humidity control system, installation, and commissioning.
Humidity Solutions says high-pressure water systems are the most popular humidification solutions for print rooms
“We also offer a planned maintenance service to take the hassle away from maintaining and ensure that it’s working efficiently throughout its working life. This service helps minimise maintenance costs and reduces the likelihood of system failure and breakdowns. That way, you can focus on printing, and we can worry about the humidity.”
Looking at the options available from Humidity Solutions, Barker picks out high-pressure water systems as the most popular humidification solutions for print rooms. This type of system consists of a pumping station and atomisers suspended from the ceiling, depending on the size of the application.
The atomiser has stainless steel nozzles attached to it that disperse a fine mist over the area providing humidity control and free cooling. The benefit of the high-pressure water system is that it is low energy usage which helps to save on energy bills whilst also providing a comfortable environment for employees during hot summer months.
Typically, the high-pressure water system is used for larger print room applications with tall ceilings to allow the atomiser to be located at the correct height. If the ceilings are too low, the water will not evaporate into the atmosphere and machinery and paper will become damp or wet. For applications with low ceilings other humidification systems are available, such as resistive steam and electric steam humidifiers.
Taking control
Looking at humification systems in action and DriSteem offers the example of Modernistic, a US supplier of commercial display graphics and industrial OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) products. The company was seeking a solution to combat unwanted smears of ink caused by static electricity on its new large-format digital press.
Having so little mass, microscopic ink droplets are extremely sensitive to even the tiniest influence, and any droplets pulled off course by a static charge were merging into a blob, which splashed onto the media and left a very visible smear. Ultraviolet light then cured the ink, including the smear, the moment it is applied.
Press operator at Modernistic Eric Madison, comments: “With too much static electricity, the reject rate can be as high as one out of every seven pieces. We needed a better way to control static in the shop.”
Previously, the company was circulating the entire building’s entire air volume several times a day through a garage-sized bank of ultra-fine filters. Air temperatures were monitored and controlled in each of the four print rooms, while even the forklifts used only the cleanest-burning fuel, and a boiler as old as the 1970s building produced steam for humidification.
However, Mark Gorski, vice president of operations at Modernistic, says a new system was needed to make this process easier. He explains: “We needed a humidification system to replace the old boiler. A system that could humidify at a high enough volume and precisely enough for the digital press room. That’s where it had to work, even in the winter.”
Humidity Solutions says high-pressure water systems are the most popular humidification solutions for print rooms
DriSteem supplied its high-pressure system, providing high-capacity humidification along with flexibility in a number of zones, all with a single pump station, while the evaporative cooling effects have offset the building’s cooling load. As a result, the reject rate on the digital press was reduced to one in 40.
Reducing unnecessary errors is ultimately the end goal for print companies investing in a humidification system. Proper research into these solutions and the specific benefits they can have on your business will not only improve the quality of output but also provide a much more pleasant working environment for your staff.
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