Folex Coating GmbH in Cologne, Germany have added UV curing capability to their principal coating line.

Folex is a coating and finishing specialist converting a wide variety of films and foils for offset, gravure and inkjet printing applications and the electronics industry.

In 2016 Folex installed a UV curing station on their principal coating line and integrated a GEW-made 170cm-wide NUVA2 UV system with an 18kW RHINO electronic power supply. The UV lamphead is positioned over an 800mm-diameter temperature controlled roller with the ability to operate within a range from 15 to 130°C, depending on the substrate, to achieve an optimised UV-curing effect. The configuration is able to convert substrates up to 1650mm wide with speeds up to 15m/min and media with thicknesses between 5µm and 2mm. It is mostly used to coat PET films. 

The UV system is mounted in a custom designed motorised aluminium frame which allows the lamphead to be lifted away from the moving web when UV curing is not in use.

The coating line operates in a controlled environment and the air-cooling and ozone extraction of the UV system is designed to achieve zero net consumption of air-conditioned ambient air.

Managing director Dr Thomas Dietrich explains: “We are extremely happy with the installation, the performance and the support we get from GEW.“

The decision in favour of GEW’s technology was based on the positive experience and convincing results with a comparable UV system at the Folex plant in Switzerland.

Adds Dietrich: “GEW was able to offer us a comprehensive package of efficiency and reliability backed up with the security of a 5-year warranty.” 

GEW’s Embedded Service, which is part of the RHINO package, enables engineers to remotely access performance data and proactively detect parameters outside the permitted tolerances and immediately take the necessary maintenance steps even before a fault can develop. This type of preventive remote maintenance ensures that the entire UV system works at its peak performance at all times thus avoiding unplanned machine stoppages and waste of resources.

UV systems based on GEW’s highly efficient NUVA2 lampheads achieve particularly fast warm-up and cool-down cycles realising substantial electricity and time savings.

Dietrich concludes: “The NUVA2 UV lamphead together with the RHINO power supply enables us to minimise our electricity consumption and to further increase our capacity whilst enjoying stable production with more uptime.”

Since the initial GEW installation Folex have already invested in three additional GEW systems to harmonise their UV technology across their sites.