David Savastano, Editor01.11.23
The ink industry has seen growth in key markets in the past year, with most of that expansion driven by specific segments such as the inkjet ink and packaging ink areas. Meanwhile, ink manufacturers are working to enhance their sustainability measures, and this goes through all aspects of their operations, from raw materials through production.
To help meet the needs of their ink customers, leading equipment manufacturers are developing new equipment for the printing ink industry. They are seeing particular strength in a number of fields. For example, Christine Banaszek, sales manager, Charles Ross & Son Company, said that ROSS is seeing growth in a number of segments, including specialty and conductive inks, as well as sustainable raw materials, 3D printing resins, pastes and powder blends.
Banaszek sees continued interest in rental programs, which she noted can serve as a bridg between development and pilot scale production, and noted that Ross has a Test & Development Center with its full range of mixing equipment, allowing customers to perform proof-of-concept demonstrations using their own raw materials.
Michelle Tangredi, sales support manager for Hockmeyer Equipment, pointed to water-based inks as a particular strength.
“The increased development and use of more eco-friendly aqueous inks has been an encouraging signal of growth,” Tangredi observed. “Hockmeyer has experienced the most activity in the pilot and production-size NexGen machines designed with the challenges of waterborne formulas in mind.”
Dan McGee, NETZSCH’s inks, paints, and pigment application manager, pointed to inkjet as an area of growth.
“We see an increased interest in a variety of customers making more and more digital inks and inkjet products,” McGee added.
McGee noted that ink customers are mainly looking for production equipment now, but also like to have the capabilities to run smaller scale tests in their labs.
“These small-scale tests can be for feasibility studies,” added McGee. “Most of our lab size mills can be scaled up to production sized mills, which is highly desirable.”
Dustin Thomas, applications lab manager for Hockmeyer Equipment, noted that Hockmeyer can help ink manufacturers meet their sustainability goals through enhanced efficiencies, ability to process high solids/concentrated products, real-time data gathering, less waste, and safer alternatives for the production staff.
“The NexGen Mill and NexGen RotorStator are closed recirculation system, which reduces VOCs in the manufacturing environment,” Thomas said. “The HCPS Mill has the ability to process at higher solids loading than conventional mills, eliminating unnecessary shipments of liquids and finished material.
“The CMX Vessel Washer is a fast and efficient tank washing system, offering significant reduction of solvent and detergent use, employee exposure to hazardous chemicals, and HazMat waste,” Thomas added.
Thomas also observed that automation offers control and monitoring systems with real-time data gathering for immediate processing updates and notification so issues can be resolved faster, limiting negative effects on production and wasted energy for “re-work.”
Banaszek reported that choosing the right mixer for a specific application is important from a variety of reasons, including energy consumption, yield, rework and maintenance, adding that most products can be made in a range of equipment and manufacturing processes.
“When legacy equipment is routinely delegated to produce new formulations, this can compromise product quality and often do give rise to processing inefficiencies,” added Banaszek. “Taking the time and resources to identify the best mixing strategy ultimately helps companies meet their sustainability goals and even gain competitive advantage.”
McGee noted that sustainability begins with providing superior customer service, from the time of purchase, through commissioning, and, most importantly, for repairs and process optimization.
“NETZSCH provides lab testing opportunities prior to purchasing equipment,” McGee said. “Additionally. The Epsilon Inline Disperser and Neos grinding system are most applicable technologies for this industry.”
“The market is moving to finer and finer particles sizes, so modern equipment with newer technologies is typically needed,” McGee said. “Milling and mixing equipment from the 1990s and even early 2000s are quickly becoming outdated by newer processing equipment that is more efficient.”
As for new products, McGee pointed to the NETZSCH ProPhi, which is optimized for pre-grinding raw materials for further processing to finer particle sizes on the NEOS grinding system.
Banaszek reported that vacuum-capable multi-shaft and planetary mixers are replacing conventional single-shaft dispersers used in typical batching processes for high-viscosity specialty ink formulations. She added that the ability to deaerate the material before, during or after mixing is important to ink manufacturers, as is the need to maintain temperature uniformly throughout the batch at all times and impart high shear across a wide viscosity range. Transferring the finished product and preparing the machine for the next batch is also an important aspect.
“On the controls side, there's been a tremendous evolution in recent years,” Banaszek noted. “New software, control systems, and user interfaces are adopted to optimize production cost, service life, data logging and operator safety.”
As for new equipment, Banaszek said that the Ross X-Series is a new generation rotor/stator technology which fills the gap between standard high shear mixers and traditional milling equipment.
“Turning at tip speeds over 11,000 ft/min, the X-Series rotor consists of concentric rows of intermeshing teeth,” Banaszek added. “The product enters from the center of the stator and moves outward through radial channels in the rotor/stator teeth. The combination of high tip speed and extremely close tolerances between the interlocking channels subjects the ink to intense shear in every pass. This ultra-high shear mixer routinely produces fine pigment dispersions superior to those made in single- and multi-stage rotor/stators, as well as colloid mills.”
Thomas said that precision and tight particle distribution are key, with the ability to achieve extremely tight particle distribution even into the 100nm range. Ease of use and automation options, rapid color changeover and less downtime and the ability to process viscosities over 1mm cps are also areas that ink companies are looking for, Thomas noted.
Thomas pointed to Hockmeyer’s NexGen product line as a recent introduction.
“The NexGen RotorStator improves premix quality to reduce milling time and energy,” said Thomas. “The NexGen Vacuum Recirculation Mill achieves unprecedented results often in half the time or less than traditional (horizontal) milling methods, significantly enhancing productivity and saving energy. It also allows manufacturers to disperse and mill using only one tank, minimizing material transfers, cleanup, and movements in the factory. The airless milling operation virtually eliminates foaming, which is often an issue in waterborne coatings, thus minimizing or eliminating the need for defoamers and other additives. The removal of air from the product also helps minimize product degradation or packaging issues caused by trapped air.”
To help meet the needs of their ink customers, leading equipment manufacturers are developing new equipment for the printing ink industry. They are seeing particular strength in a number of fields. For example, Christine Banaszek, sales manager, Charles Ross & Son Company, said that ROSS is seeing growth in a number of segments, including specialty and conductive inks, as well as sustainable raw materials, 3D printing resins, pastes and powder blends.
Banaszek sees continued interest in rental programs, which she noted can serve as a bridg between development and pilot scale production, and noted that Ross has a Test & Development Center with its full range of mixing equipment, allowing customers to perform proof-of-concept demonstrations using their own raw materials.
Michelle Tangredi, sales support manager for Hockmeyer Equipment, pointed to water-based inks as a particular strength.
“The increased development and use of more eco-friendly aqueous inks has been an encouraging signal of growth,” Tangredi observed. “Hockmeyer has experienced the most activity in the pilot and production-size NexGen machines designed with the challenges of waterborne formulas in mind.”
Dan McGee, NETZSCH’s inks, paints, and pigment application manager, pointed to inkjet as an area of growth.
“We see an increased interest in a variety of customers making more and more digital inks and inkjet products,” McGee added.
McGee noted that ink customers are mainly looking for production equipment now, but also like to have the capabilities to run smaller scale tests in their labs.
“These small-scale tests can be for feasibility studies,” added McGee. “Most of our lab size mills can be scaled up to production sized mills, which is highly desirable.”
The Importance of Sustainability
When it comes to producing inks, the manufacturing process is one of the most important aspects of sustainability.Dustin Thomas, applications lab manager for Hockmeyer Equipment, noted that Hockmeyer can help ink manufacturers meet their sustainability goals through enhanced efficiencies, ability to process high solids/concentrated products, real-time data gathering, less waste, and safer alternatives for the production staff.
“The NexGen Mill and NexGen RotorStator are closed recirculation system, which reduces VOCs in the manufacturing environment,” Thomas said. “The HCPS Mill has the ability to process at higher solids loading than conventional mills, eliminating unnecessary shipments of liquids and finished material.
“The CMX Vessel Washer is a fast and efficient tank washing system, offering significant reduction of solvent and detergent use, employee exposure to hazardous chemicals, and HazMat waste,” Thomas added.
Thomas also observed that automation offers control and monitoring systems with real-time data gathering for immediate processing updates and notification so issues can be resolved faster, limiting negative effects on production and wasted energy for “re-work.”
Banaszek reported that choosing the right mixer for a specific application is important from a variety of reasons, including energy consumption, yield, rework and maintenance, adding that most products can be made in a range of equipment and manufacturing processes.
“When legacy equipment is routinely delegated to produce new formulations, this can compromise product quality and often do give rise to processing inefficiencies,” added Banaszek. “Taking the time and resources to identify the best mixing strategy ultimately helps companies meet their sustainability goals and even gain competitive advantage.”
McGee noted that sustainability begins with providing superior customer service, from the time of purchase, through commissioning, and, most importantly, for repairs and process optimization.
“NETZSCH provides lab testing opportunities prior to purchasing equipment,” McGee said. “Additionally. The Epsilon Inline Disperser and Neos grinding system are most applicable technologies for this industry.”
What are Ink Manufacturers Looking for From New Equipment
What features do ink companies say is most important to them when they do invest in new equipment? McGee pointed to efficiency and particle size as key areas of interest.“The market is moving to finer and finer particles sizes, so modern equipment with newer technologies is typically needed,” McGee said. “Milling and mixing equipment from the 1990s and even early 2000s are quickly becoming outdated by newer processing equipment that is more efficient.”
As for new products, McGee pointed to the NETZSCH ProPhi, which is optimized for pre-grinding raw materials for further processing to finer particle sizes on the NEOS grinding system.
Banaszek reported that vacuum-capable multi-shaft and planetary mixers are replacing conventional single-shaft dispersers used in typical batching processes for high-viscosity specialty ink formulations. She added that the ability to deaerate the material before, during or after mixing is important to ink manufacturers, as is the need to maintain temperature uniformly throughout the batch at all times and impart high shear across a wide viscosity range. Transferring the finished product and preparing the machine for the next batch is also an important aspect.
“On the controls side, there's been a tremendous evolution in recent years,” Banaszek noted. “New software, control systems, and user interfaces are adopted to optimize production cost, service life, data logging and operator safety.”
As for new equipment, Banaszek said that the Ross X-Series is a new generation rotor/stator technology which fills the gap between standard high shear mixers and traditional milling equipment.
“Turning at tip speeds over 11,000 ft/min, the X-Series rotor consists of concentric rows of intermeshing teeth,” Banaszek added. “The product enters from the center of the stator and moves outward through radial channels in the rotor/stator teeth. The combination of high tip speed and extremely close tolerances between the interlocking channels subjects the ink to intense shear in every pass. This ultra-high shear mixer routinely produces fine pigment dispersions superior to those made in single- and multi-stage rotor/stators, as well as colloid mills.”
Thomas said that precision and tight particle distribution are key, with the ability to achieve extremely tight particle distribution even into the 100nm range. Ease of use and automation options, rapid color changeover and less downtime and the ability to process viscosities over 1mm cps are also areas that ink companies are looking for, Thomas noted.
Thomas pointed to Hockmeyer’s NexGen product line as a recent introduction.
“The NexGen RotorStator improves premix quality to reduce milling time and energy,” said Thomas. “The NexGen Vacuum Recirculation Mill achieves unprecedented results often in half the time or less than traditional (horizontal) milling methods, significantly enhancing productivity and saving energy. It also allows manufacturers to disperse and mill using only one tank, minimizing material transfers, cleanup, and movements in the factory. The airless milling operation virtually eliminates foaming, which is often an issue in waterborne coatings, thus minimizing or eliminating the need for defoamers and other additives. The removal of air from the product also helps minimize product degradation or packaging issues caused by trapped air.”
