ChemQuest Technology Institute (CQTI), in partnership with Heraeus Noblelight America, LLC, has begun scheduling trials on its newly installed state of the art, microwave-powered and UV LED wide-format curing systems deployed on its automated flat line in South Boston, Va.  CQTI’s client-base of raw material suppliers, formulators, and OEM end users are now able to test new chemistries and curing processes using equipment and a line scaled to the productionof durable goods.
 
“No other independent facility provides microwave-powered and 30-inch wide UV LED flat-line curing systems,” said Kevin Joesel, director of sales, UVP, Heraeus Noblelight America, LLC. “Comparing different UV curing methods – UV LED, microwave-powered, or arc lamps – is now easily achievable on one line. Heraeus Noblelight America, LLC sought to partner with ChemQuest not only to advance UV coating processes but to make hard data collection easier for proving the performance/cost advantages of converting to UV curing.”
 
At CQTI, coatings can be applied to any flat substrate (e.g., wood, glass, metal, composite, or plastic) measuring up to 50 inches wide, 12 feet long, and 4 inches thick.  After an automated spray-application of a coating, the substrate can be exposed to several curing methods for R&D testing, including infrared curing (IR); convection curing; and three types of UV curing: traditional mercury arc UV, Heraeus Semray^® UV LED, and Heraeus Light Hammer 10Mark II microwave-powered UV.
 
Comparing curing variations of different UV spectra is as easy as switching out the bulb in Heraeus’ Light Hammer 10 system; for example, to determine which UV spectra works best with any of the wide array of new and improved photoinitiator chemistries. Adjustments to the UV wavelength emitted by the LED modules are also easily rendered in the Semray UV LED units.