• Journal of Korea Technical Association of The Pulp and Paper Industry
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.77-84
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• 2012

The lithographic process depends on a satisfactory ink-in-water emulsion being formed during printing and the speed of wet presses makes the choice of fountain solution vitally important as the ink and fount must react quickly to form a stable emulsion. Ink and water come into contact with each other on the rolls of the press and are forced together in the roll nips. The water is not soluble in the ink since it is slightly fat. Instead, an emulsion is formed, a heterogeneous mass consisting of small water drops mixed into the ink, if the water feed is too great. This emulsification can affect the properties of an off-set ink and negatively affect the printability. So we investigated the effects of the emulsification of phenol free heat-set ink and existing heat-set ink on printed quality, such as amount of ink transfer, printed density, print-through and uniformity. We used Duke emulsification tester for the emulsification of inks, and used IGT printability tester for printed quality. The printed quality were measured by densitometer and were evaluated by the image analysis system. Compared to conventional printing ink, phenol-free ink showed better results of the printability at the emulsification.