The potential for emerging UV LED curing applications within the woodcoatings industry was highlighted in a well-received presentation by pioneering developer Integration Technology Ltd at October's Woodcoatings Congress in Amsterdam.

The Congress's core theme this year – "Science and Technology for Sustainable Design" – measured the level of industry interest in corporate responsibility towards the environment.

Delegates were drawn from a range of professional bodies including raw material and equipment suppliers, paint formulators, end-users, research institutions and academia.

In his address to attendees, ITL managing director Adrian Lockwood outlined recent developments in and the state of the art of, UV LED's, while re-visiting the environmental and related advantages of the technology and examining a current economic cost model comparing UV LEDs with traditional mercury arc UV sources.

"Certainly within the wood coatings industry there has been far more hype than delivery in the adoption of UV LED curing and I expressly aimed for an objective and balanced take on the existing state of play," reports Adrian.

"We went through technical developments, environmental and economic advantages with cost comparisons including a graphic demonstrating how payback using UV LED instead of arc lamps on a new installation could be as little as eighteen months.

"The response was overwhelming to the extent the questions had to be halted to enable the next presentation," says Adrian.

He adds:

"The key point with this market is that while UV LED curing will not lead to an overnight revolution, it is emergent and developing at a far faster rate than any alternative radcure technology, all of which can be considered to have achieved relative maturity."

Spring 2-13 for FP7 findings

In spring 2013, Adrian expects further comment and debate on UV LEDs subsequent to the release of research findings from the EU framework project FP7.

ITL is a partner in the project which focuses on UV LED usage with industrial wood coatings as well as the inks, vinyl flooring and conformal coatings sectors.

EU industrial wood product manufacturers are coming under increased competition from imports and are looking to reduce their costs.

The FP7 project is focused on supporting more than 60 000 SMEs that produce wood products in the EU, by reducing their energy consumption.

Further information at http://www.fp7-uvled.eu/