Alphasonics’ in-house developed technology
An experiment is to be carried out by Alphasonics UCS Ltd in order to address industry myths around the relationship between ultrasonic cleaning and anilox roller damage. From Sunday 25 May 2014, a continuous roller cleaning trial will be streamed online for 24 hours a day over the course of five days, with no breaks, live from the company’s manufacturing facility.
Viewers will be able to tune in to see rollers being cleaned on a continuous cleaning cycle using the company’s ‘Active Cavitation’, ‘Enhanced SuperSweep’ and ‘Alphasound’ technologies simultaneously. Six rollers in total, three new and three with existing superficial end damage, will be cleaned in order to highlight that through controlling ultrasonics in the right manner, roller damage need not be associated with Alphasonics equipment. A full time lapsed version of the trial will be available on the company’s YouTube channel afterwards.
Chris Jones, UK and Ireland sales manager and marketing manager, said, ‘There are some horror stories from the 80s and early 90s about anilox damage caused by ultrasonic cleaning still in circulation. Back then the equipment was low frequency, low specification and generally not fit for purpose. We have competitors around the world that jump on these stories from before our time in the industry, and unfortunately we get tarred with the same brush, despite the fact our ultrasonic technology simply cannot damage rollers. We’re giving customers the opportunity to see for themselves what our equipment can do and more to the point, what it won’t do. We’re sending out a strong message to the industry that our systems are the safest and most effective on the market.’
Manufacturing equipment from its base in Liverpool, UK, Alphasonics developed ‘Alphasound’ and ‘Super Sweep’ technologies in 2000 as a means of cleaning high screen aniloxes on a regular basis without any risk of damaging rollers. These in house developments utilised two ultrasonic frequencies, distributed equally in a cleaning tank to eradicate ‘hot and cold spots’ which caused the historical roller damage. This was followed by the developments of ‘Betasound’, and most recently ‘Enhanced Super Sweep’ and ‘Active Cavitation’, which were launched at Labelexpo Europe 2013. These enhancements saw ultrasonic distribution further improved upon and cleaning times brought down by accelerating chemical reactions in their cleaning systems. These, along with cycle times and operator determined features are what Alphasonics use to eradicate risk.
The company plan to run a non-stop cleaning cycle for the full five days interspersed with comments and discussion through the trial. Rollers have been supplied by some of the biggest and best in anilox roller production, including Pamarco Global Graphics. Troika Systems will also be part of the trial to check the rollers using its AniCAm QC tool. Checks will be carried out before the trial begins, and live on camera at the conclusion of the trial to verify results independently.
In total, the rollers will go through the equivalent of five years’ worth of cleaning in the five days with just over 1,400 cleaning cycles taking place. Viewers will be given access to the stream the day before the broadcast begins giving them a live insight into Alphasonics’ workshop floor. The idea is to give viewers a ‘no holds barred’ access of the full process to ensure transparency and clarity of the trial.
Mr Jones hopes that the trial can put an end to potential customers not getting the full picture on the equipment. He added, ‘The sad truth is that the equipment that caused the horror stories from the earlier periods still exist in one form or another today. What we have always done is install controls into our systems to ensure damage is simply impossible using our technology which sets us apart from the culprits in question in every way possible.’
