Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Energy-efficient Low Pressure Curing Lamps





Several years ago the only UV lamps available to industries to cure free radical UV inks were medium or high pressure UVA (365nm) lamps.  Today however, new advancements have made it possible to use low pressure UVC (254nm) curing lamps to cure “cationic” based UV inks, coatings, lacquers, and resins.  These low pressure UVC (254nm) curing systems provide the benefit of producing no hazardous byproducts as well as offering lower operating costs than either free radical UVA (365nm) curing or heat-based curing systems.

As they operate on significantly less power than medium or high pressure lamps, low pressure lamps are ideal for applications that require dimming at 40%, 60% or 80% of full power.  In addition while both low pressure mercury lamps and amalgam lamps produce UVC (254nm), there is an increasing trend toward using amalgam lamps due to their speed and efficiency in drying cationic based UV inks, coatings and resins.  For example an amalgam lamp can produce an output of 200 to 1000 watts, of which one-third is usable UVC (254nm) energy. Another reason for the growing popularity among industries is that amalgam lamps offer the ability to downsize a system while still maintaining maximum speed and efficiency for UV curing.

Furthermore, the advantages to energy-efficient UV curing are clear when compared to traditional heat curing systems.  UV curing systems are not only easier to maintain, but since they do not produce noxious fumes, do not require expensive exhaust systems. Moreover since the process is instantaneous, it provides economic benefits such as speeding up production times as well as improving consistency and quality of the finished product.

LightSources and LightTech are happy to answer any questions you have regarding an UV system for your application needs.  Contact us for more information on low pressure and amalgam curing lamps. 

LightSources and our affiliated companies represent the leading high-tech designers and manufacturers in the lamp industry today.  Our team consists of the most highly skilled professionals that specialize in a range of innovative solutions.  Please contact us to learn more about our broad range of standard and custom lighting solutions.

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