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Flexo/Litho Printing Solvent Recovery

Flexo/Litho Printing Solvent Recovery

Kresco is a pioneer in the fabrication of solvent distillation and recycling systems for the printing industry. Our systems are widely used by major flexographic and lithographic printers around the world in order to reclaim and recycle cleaning solvents used for maintaining their printing equipment. The end product is a pure solvent blend that has equivalent properties to those of the original product.

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Printing Machines Cleanup

Maintaining printing machines, and cleaning up printing cylinders, printing plates, inkwells and other mechanical components exposed to printing inks require significant amount of cleaning solvents.

In the latest flexographic and lithographic technologies, a very small quantity of solvent is sprayed on a cleaning fabric which is rubbed against the printing rollers and blankets in order to obtain a more efficient cleaning process, somehow faster, and requiring less solvent.

A cardboard box containing several rolls of light blue paper, each with a black core, arranged upright and closely packed together—ideal for flexo printing applications. A cardboard box containing used disposable adult diapers, some stained blue and pink with visible absorption lines and materials, possibly marked by flexo printing.

Cleaning Fabric for Automatic Blanket Cleaning Within Print Presses

Flexo Press Dirty Cleaning Fabric
A close-up of a large industrial roller used in flexo printing, covered with a light blue sheet, partially exposing metal gears and machinery parts, set on a dark workbench in a workshop. A close-up of a person's hands guiding a white material through a metal roller machine, possibly as part of an industrial process like flexo printing.

Cleaning Fabric Installed on Printing Cylinder

Cleaning Fabric Installed on Printing Cylinder Zoom

Unfortunately, it is not the case for printing presses of older generation. As a matter of fact, integrated sprinklers combined with oscillating brushes systems require a much bigger volume of solvent. And, as opposed to cleaning fabrics which can be disposed of in regular waste stream, waste solvent blend generated from older presses cleanup are hazard materials and must be disposed of properly in accordance with local jurisdictions.

Close-up of a Flexo printing press with a bright green roller, yellow ink below, and metal components above, partially covered by a protective guard. A person’s arm is visible in the top left corner. A large blue barrel filled with dark liquid sits under a long metal pipe, which is releasing liquid into the barrel—a typical scene in solvent recovery processes for litho and flexo printing. Several hoses and cables run along the industrial floor next to metal equipment.

Flexo Press Automatic Cleaning Sprinklers

Flexo Press Used Cleaning Solvent Collection System

In some printers serving a large number of customers, color changes are frequent due to some customers who require a specific PMS color for their projects, which requires a printing rollers and blankets cleanup in-between each job. The volume of waste solvents generated for cleaning up printing equipment can sometimes be substantial and lead to significantly high hazardous waste material disposal costs. Not to mention that those printers must hire specialized contractors to collect and dispose of their waste properly. This practice is costly, involves the storage of a great deal of clean/used solvent drums in the shop and requires to fill out time-consuming EPA reports.

Fortunately, Kresco has a far more beneficial solution to offer, safe for user, environmentally-friendly, and very simple to use. Kresco provides a complete range of solvent recyclers designed to separate pure solvents from inks and other substances through an on-site distillation system. Reclaimed solvents can be reused over and over for presses cleanup. Our solvent distillers are safe to use, have a very small footprint in the shop and allow for significant savings, making your business more competitive and green.

Kresco’s Line of Solvent Distillers

Kresco’s line of Solvent Recyclers allows you to reclaim and recover your waste solvent through a controlled and fully-automated solvent distillation process. With our systems, you will be able to separate pure solvent from 3D printing resins and other contaminants with optimal efficiency, safety, and consistent quality. Depending on the components included in the substance, you should expect recovery rates yielding from 95% to 99.9% of the original product.

We have a large variety of equipment to choose from to accommodate your production volume:

All of our equipment is automation ready and almost maintenance free. It is explosion proof and requires very little expertise to operate. It is QPS-certified to UL standard 2208 in Canada and the U.S. for class I, Div.1, Group D hazardous locations.

Standard components:

  • Built with a strong 304-grade stainless steel tank insulated with 4″ polyurethane on the side wall and bottom.
  • Explosion-proof electrical heater and heat transfer oil for optimal indirect heating.
  • Working temperature of up to 210 ºC / 410 ºF.
  • Process parameters are regulated by programmable logic controllers (PLC) and interfaced with an intuitive, touch panel human-machine interface (HMI).
  • Meet NFPA codes (30,33 and 70) and International Fire Codes (IFC).

Optional Components:

  • Vacuum assisted system.
  • Auto-fill transfer kit.
  • All stainless steel components.
  • External alarm light box.
  • Overfill protection.
  • Oil cooling system.
  • Lifting arm for collecting industrial sludge.

Contact your Kresco representative today to find out more about our line of solvent distillers and how we can help you improve your flexographic or lithographic printing machines cleaning processes.