The new UV LED light curing system has achieved a new breakthrough in technology and saved 80% energy consumption

With only one-fifth of the energy consumption, you can achieve half the speed of fiber production – efficient by the optical fiber drawing tower developed by Zhang Shanduan, deputy director of the Institute of Electric Light Sources of Fudan University and professor of the School of Information Science and Engineering. The UV LED light curing system has completed a technological innovation breakthrough. This UV LED light curing system will be unveiled at the 18th China International Industry Fair. Most of the photocurable inks are cured by the system in just a few seconds. Such innovative technologies with high power density and low energy consumption will enable the manufacturing of the optical fiber industry to leap forward.

Beyond tradition, one-fifth of the energy consumption is achieved by half the irradiance

The most prominent advantage of UV LED curing systems is their low energy consumption. Compared with the traditional microwave medium-pressure mercury lamp, the high-energy consumption of more than 6000 watts, the line source composed of ultraviolet LED only consumes 1200 watts, saving 80% energy consumption.

Microwave medium pressure mercury lamps are the curing devices commonly used in fiber drawing towers in the past. In the process of manufacturing an optical fiber, when the optical fiber is drawn into a filament, it is required to apply a protective ink material on the surface and cure it, which is a common saying that the coating changes from a liquid to a solid. This aspect of production in the printing, automotive, electronics, furniture and other industries is indispensable. UV curing is the most common rapid curing process, and UV-sensitive coatings can be cured after exposure to the appropriate light source.

However, the traditional medium light source of microwave medium pressure mercury lamp has many drawbacks, which not only consumes a lot of energy, but also generates a large amount of heat during the operation of the microwave magnetron, and the radiation efficiency is also low. According to the spectrum, the light emitted by the medium-pressure mercury lamp is only about 10% effective for curing, 20% of visible light, and 70% of heat. Its curing efficiency is difficult to meet the growing production needs of the fiber industry, and it is also contrary to the current concept of promoting economic and environmental protection.

For this reason, Zhang Shanduan developed a more efficient UV curing system using UV LED light source. In addition to reducing energy consumption, the traditional equipment has a life of only 6000 hours. This system extends the service life to 30,000 hours. After more than one year of continuous operation, there is almost no light decay, and the photoelectric parameters remain in the factory state. According to the spectrum, the UV LED is very concentrated in the 365 to 385 nm band for fiber ink curing, and is more advantageous for curing than the medium pressure mercury lamp. Zhang Shanduan said: "The new UV LED light curing system requires only one-fifth of the energy consumption of the traditional one, and can achieve twice the irradiance than the conventional one. The drawing speed is increased by half and the work is longer."