ENVIRONMENT - CASE STUDY: DISTILLATION WASH PLANT IN CONJUNCTION WITH NOVA INKS
Early in 2005 Blue Star commenced investigations into supplying its four business units with a recycled wash plant. The drivers behind this included:
- significant reduction in virgin wash purchases
- continuous improvement of our environmental program
- Reduce, recycle and Reuse Program
The two main systems available for BSPG's consideration were filtration or distillation.
Filtration systems require that a specific wash type be used. This wash, once it has been used on the press is then allowed to settle in holding tanks. The specific chemistry of these washes allows for a separation of the waste wash and water parts after a set time and this occurs in these holding tanks. The two separate liquids are then micro filtered to remove any ink, paper, and other particle residues, before the water is disposed of into standard waste water systems, i.e. down the drain. The wash part is then 'boosted' with as much as 20% virgin material before being collected for reuse. The filter bags with the waste solids are disposed of with normal ink waste.
The recovery rate is usually around the 80% mark.
The system would have required BSPG to install one of these systems in each of its business units and they are restricted to the specific filterable wash type.
Distillation systems also recover around 80% of virgin purchases; however, their versatility is that they can process any type of wash. Blue Star will not be restricted to using filterable washes that have sometimes shown to have lower than acceptable cleaning properties.
Blue Star has formed a partnership with Nova Inks and Chemicals, a major supplier of inks to the printing industry in New Zealand. Nova had formed a partnership with Maratek Environmental, a Canadian based company with a long history in recovery systems, to bring their first distillation wash recovery system to Australasia. These systems have been making their mark in the North American market for the past decade and utilise PLC controlled low temperature distillation to recover virgin solvent from waste wash.
As the benefits of the system became clear, Nova proposed that it would handle all BSPG wash requirements using the Maratek system and late 2005 purchased a custom built unit from Maratek.
Nova will collect all waste wash from the four business units and processs this waste through its newly acquired unit in a specially built "house". Once processed the recovered solvent is again 'boosted', but this time with a specific mix of ingredients that will possibly contribute to a more efficient product than was started with. Even the water produced from the process is reusable, as the process produces significant quantities of distilled water.
The only disposable waste that is produced is 'sludge', made from ink, paper, and other particulates that are then disposed of in dedicated sites, and this accounts for less than 10% of all delivered waste product.
The key benefits of the distillation system include:
- reduction in blanket and roller wash
- reduction in electricity as a low temperature vacuum is used to boil off waste
- 85% of wash is recovered for reuse
- water is pure and can be disposed of safely into our stormwater systems
- very low amounts of ink “sludge” are produced and being vegetable oil based is biodegradable
- less demand for fossil fuels (which is what all washes are based on)
- Steel drum that the wash is supplied in are now refilled and reused.
The Distillation system is a first for Australasia and demonstrates Blue Stars commitment to sustainable environment and products. We are using an extremely environmentally friendly system which will supply up to 80% of their wash needs as a recycled product and significantly reduce our virgin wash purchases at the same time.
Nova Inks and Chemicals have been extremely enthusiastic about forming this unique supply arrangement as it supports their ambition of being a 'green' supplier to the printing industry in New Zealand.
