PS version regeneration: a model for the use of circular economy

The PS version regeneration technology refers to a PS plate that can be used again by a series of processes such as leveling, sand regeneration, and photo-resist coating. It is understood that so far there have been hundreds of companies in the country engaged in the processing of recycled PS plates. In the past five years, these enterprises have produced an average of more than 20 million square meters of recycled PS plates each year. The average annual savings are 15,000 tons of aluminum plates, blocking nearly 400 million yuan in imports of fine-rolled aluminum plates for printing companies. Annual savings of more than 200 million yuan in printed material costs.

Reborn PS Edition and Resources

The strong growth of the printing industry has made the demand for printing plates more and more. As the PS plate that dominates printing plates, its indicators such as production, consumption, and export currently reach the highest levels in history. This growth is undoubtedly a good thing for the majority of printing plate manufacturers. However, PS plate production requires a large amount of aluminum plate base, and energy consumption is also very large, while aluminum plate production in China is obviously insufficient and the quality is low. Therefore, the development of domestic PS plate production companies has been greatly constrained.

With the improvement of technology application level and the change of living sources in China's printing industry, the current consumption of PS plates in China tends to increase in usage, reduce the number of prints, and reduce the degree of damage to the plates. This objectively creates a very favorable condition for the repeated use of the plate. The recycled PS version is used as a model for the recycling economy of the printing equipment industry. The advantages in terms of resource reuse, cost, etc. are increasingly drawing attention.

In China, the development of recycled PS version technology has been more than 10 years. Beijing Pretex Electronics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Prairie Company) is an enterprise engaged in research and equipment manufacturing earlier in this area. Currently, the majority of enterprises that use recycled PS plates in China are using Priiter. The company's equipment. At present, Prairie has sold hundreds of sets of PS recycling equipment (sets), of which there are more than 120 single-sheet continuous PS automatic production lines. Nowadays, the recycled PS version has occupied a considerable market share in the fields of color proofing, book printing, and packaging printing. In color proofing, about 90% use a regenerated PS plate. In the high-end four-color printing field, there are also many companies using recycled PS, but not yet scaled.

It is well known that the plate of the PS plate is a high-purity aluminum material. At present, the production of electrolytic aluminum consumes a lot of electricity. For China, where energy is in short supply, large-scale development of electrolytic aluminum processing certainly does not meet China's energy strategy. Therefore, for a long time, the electrolytic aluminum industry has always been the industry that restricts the development of state regulation. On the other hand, China's production capacity of aluminum rolling is obviously insufficient, and its technological level is relatively backward. The quality of the produced plate has a large gap with imported products. The combined effect of these two factors has greatly limited the domestic production of the PS version. According to statistics, nearly 70% of aluminum plates used to produce PS plates at home are imported from abroad. In China, the production of aluminum plates for PS plates is one of the few sellers in the country. Therefore, the price of aluminum plates has remained high for a long time. The direct consequence of this is that the PS version of the production company has high costs and low profit levels.

Therefore, whether it is from the perspective of energy conservation or from the perspective of reducing costs, it is imperative to vigorously develop renewable PS versions. As the director unit of the Professional Board for Recycling PS of the China Printing and Equipment Equipment Industry Association, Pratt has a lot of exchanges in technology, market, and management between the company and many remanufactured PS manufacturers. According to statistics, at present, there are more than 200 PS-plate production companies in the country. In 2004, these enterprises produced a new version of 10 million square meters and a recycled PS version of 30 million square meters. These enterprises have eased the pressure of raw materials shortage and energy supply shortage in our country, which is an effective supplement to PS industry.

Recycled version of the PS object

At present, the recycled PS version has occupied a considerable market share in the field of color proofing, book printing, packaging and printing. In color proofing, about 90% use a regenerated PS plate. In the high-end four-color printing field, there are also many companies using recycled PS, but not yet scaled. The reason is that the technical level of the recycled PS plate companies is uneven, some enterprise technologies are not in place, there is a lack of technicians who fully grasp the electromechanical technology, the quality of staff and technology is not high, and various parameters of the production process control are not strictly tested. , The required test equipment and experimental facilities are not equipped. The manufactured products lack strict inspection standards, or there are standards but the standards are relaxed. The production process is out of control. As a result, the recycled PS version products on the market are mixed and some product quality cannot be satisfied. Industry standards, or shoddy, seriously damaged the market reputation of the recycled PS version.

According to the industry standards for the production of renewable PS version, the main performance indicators, such as resolution, oxide film, coating amount, ink affinity, hydrophilicity, and the new PS version of the same standard, but slightly higher electrolyte sand value In the new PS version, it is widely used in 150 lines / inch color commercial printing, newspaper printing and color black and white books, packaging printing.

Buy and use recycled PS version

When users purchase and use the PS version, what should they pay attention to?

1. The number of times the recycled PS plate is recycled is different, and the quality of the layout is also different. With the increase in the number of regeneration, due to repeated folding on the printing press, the possibility of breaking the edge of the cut will increase, the amount of thinning of the base will also increase, the use of such a renewable PS version, the first to pay attention to the printing pressure Change (if the original version is used), because the thickness of the base plate is thinner than the new version, if the pressure is not adjusted, problems such as hair voids and blurring will occur due to too low printing pressure. The second thing to note is that when the print volume is too large, aluminum plate base damage may occur and the blanket may be damaged. Therefore, in the larger print. When the quality of the printed product is high, the recycled PS plate should be used once.

2. After repeated use of the recycled PS plate, improper storage may cause oxidation reaction between the aluminum plate base and water, resulting in the formation of corrosion pits on the plate surface, commonly known as oxidation spots. If the area of ​​the oxidation spot is small and the quantity is only a few, the manufacturer will leave the factory as a defective product. Such a regenerated PS plate is not suitable for high-grade color printing, because the presence of oxidation spots affects the resolution of the color image and thus affects the quality of the printed matter. However, this type of printing plate is not a problem for printing black-and-white images and books, and its price is much cheaper than genuine products.

3. The number of manufacturers of recycled PS plates is relatively large and the scale is relatively small. There are many kinds of coating photosensitive liquids used by manufacturers. Therefore, the products of various manufacturers have large differences in sensitivity, alkali resistance, etc., and the users are using recycled materials. When the PS version is used, plate making must be performed according to the plate-making time and developing conditions marked on the manufacturer's instructions. Otherwise, it will seriously affect the printing quality.

Regeneration PS version availability

There are many suppliers of domestic recycled PS, and the manufacturers that used the automatic continuous production method to process and regenerate the PS version earlier include:

Beijing Praite Company (Pratt Company, Langfang Development Zone)
Daqing Oil Printing Material Factory Hefei Jindong Photosensitive Material Factory Guangzhou Dongfanghong Printing Material Factory Tongzhou Jinghua Printing Plate Plant Shaanxi Coal Air Printing Material Factory Zhangzhou Jinma Printing Material Factory Shandong Linyi Xinhua Printing Factory Harbin Shenfa Light Metal Material Factory Shandong Changle Xingbao Printing Materials plant

After many years of technological accumulation and talent reserve, these companies have formed a relatively complete process and production process, accumulated a wealth of after-sales service experience, and the product's performance is relatively stable. Emerging renewable PS companies, especially those in the Changge region in Henan, have strong market development capabilities. They have demonstrated strong capabilities in the market since their inception. Their capacity and market share have grown rapidly, and the investment recovery period is extremely short. Its technical transformation and process upgrades made a good foundation for funding. Its development potential cannot be ignored.

Looking at the development of the renewable PS industry, as long as companies make a fuss about the development of circular economy, and save energy, reduce costs, technological transformation, and protect the environment as the basic point of business development, the prospects of the industry are very broad, with great Expansion capacity. The path for business development will be wider and wider.