For almost two years, the beta.f dampening solution fine filtration unit, developed and manufactured by Technotrans, has been available on For almost two years, the beta.f dampening solution fine filtration unit, developed and manufactured by Technotrans, has been available on the market as a serial product. This ancillary unit retrofitted in a bypass to the dampening solution circulation tank can be of great use in stabilising the entire printing process. By integrating the beta.f unit, a constantly clean dampening solution circulates with considerably longer dampening solution service life and a clear reduction in filter material consumption.

Apparently one of the first Technotrans beta.f units was installed by leading Indian board packaging company, Parksons Packaging, on their KBA Rapida 6-colour plus double coater with interstage UV curing. The installation received environmental certification by KBA.

Visits to printing companies using the beta.f, working with a wide range of tasks demonstrates a constant and positive improvement. Intervals for cleaning, maintenance and dampening solution replacement are drastically reduced. Even after more than a year, the filter material in the beta.f unit did not have to be replaced at some companies.

The printing company Wanfried, Germany, was founded nearly 150 years ago. It specialises in printing for packaging materials and labels. The company has a MAN Roland 704, a 706 with single coater and a 706 with a double coating unit. The company uses all kinds of substrates from label paper of 68 to 90 gsm to cardboard of 230 to 650 gsm. Due to the wide range of paper types it is only natural that large amounts of dust and dirt are generated during production. “We had a lot of problems with deposits in the dampening units,” explains Klaus Kalwinsky who has been working for the company for more than 40 years. “Some of the printing units even overflowed. When we heard about the new filtration units made by technotrans, we gladly offered to be a field test customer.”

A prototype of today’s beta.f unit was connected to the central dampening solution unit in bypass for six months. “We noticed the first positive effects after only a few days,” explains Mr. Kalwinsky. “Very quickly, the dampening solution was a lot clearer and more stable.” In continuous operation, this made work for the press operators much easier.

"Previously, we had to clean the dampening solution trays at least once a week, whilst now, this interval could easily be extended to two weeks." As a field test customer, Wanfried was continuously provided with the latest improved variants of the beta.f system. “After nine months, the current version of the beta.f unit was installed in the press room. The cleaning intervals could be extended to two months.” Mr. Kalwinsky believes that the deposits, which can still be found in the dampening solution circuit, are caused by residue in the press pipes. “The beta.f unit works continuously in bypass and the result becomes immediately obvious when one looks in the dampening solution tank.” Apart from a more stable printing process, Wanfried also achieved a considerable reduction in maintenance and cleaning work.

Print company Aumüller in Regensburg also uses the Technotrans fine filtration system. Two brothers, Christian and Stefan Aumüller, manage the company, which was founded in 1888 and taken over as a family company in 1912. With a total of 40 printing units in the 70 x 100 cm format on two 10-colour presses, two 8-colour presses and one 4-colour printing press made by Heidelberg, Aumüller is the largest sheet-fed offset printing company in southern Germany. “We do not only set out to have a great store by the quality of our print products, but also strive to take environmental responsibility throughout the production process in our company,” explains factory manager Volker Dollinger. “We see the greatest potential in the areas of recycling and the reduction of consumables that need to be disposed of.”

This was the main driver for Aumüller to procure an efficient dampening solution cleaning system. “The results achieved with the help of the beta.f unit exceed our wildest expectations,” says Mr. Dollinger.

Due to the high quality demands of their customers, among which are some of Germany’s major automotive companies and worldwide known sports equipment manufacturers, the cleaning of the dampening solution circuit and the replacement of the dampening solution were an essential part of each day's work. The use of numerous special colours such as gold and silver led to special contaminations. “Our normal dampening solution replacement interval was two weeks,” explains Mr. Dollinger. “The dampening solution for the Heidelberg 10-colour press to which a beta.f unit is connected has not been changed for four months and it still has the same excellent quality.The filters used as consumables in the beta.f unit are still the original ones. They have not been changed since the unit was installed 18 months ago and according to the indicators they will still last a while longer.”

As far as the environmental aspects of the production process are concerned, now the dampening solution that is no longer used can be discarded into the normal sewage system, a procedure compliant with the German water conservation laws. Christian Aumüller, general manager, gets to the heart of it all: “We meet regularly with 12 other printing companies from our region and I have always stated that the beta.f system should be a standard in sheet-fed offset printing."

But the beta.f unit doesn’t only yield these kinds of results described in sheet-fed offset applications. At the newspaper printing house “Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung,” constantly clean dampening solution was needed for quite another reason. In the WIFAG OF 370 printing press, small and large dirt particles were causing problems with the spray dampening units. The systems became blocked and the press had to be stopped. In the context of other projects, Reinhold Schneider, head of the rotary offset department of the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper, already had close contacts with Technotrans. After he had explained the problems that were caused by the contaminated dampening solution, technotrans informed him about the beta.f system in pre-production at that time.

“The research and development results achieved by Technotrans were very impressive in the advanced test phase,” says Mr. Schneider. “This is why we gladly offered to be a field test customer here in Augsburg.” The installation of the first unit was immediately a huge success. “Before the installation, we had to clean the nozzles of our spray dampening units every four to six weeks. Today, the cleaning interval is approximately two months,” says Mr. Schneider. Noticeable cost reductions in terms of press downtime and staff working hours gave him a further idea, one that even technotrans thought may be too extreme an application.

“We also have a Colorman printing press with internal and external dampening units that are completely open. Because of the time we saved with the WIFAG press, I wanted to have the same effect with this press, too.” Technotrans, however, advised against this experiment because of the considerably greater amounts of contaminants. “We thought that this would stretch the prefilters and the main filter module too far,” explains Klaus Wiedemann of Technotrans AG in Augsburg. But the experiment was successful, even at the Colorman press. The fine filtration system now guarantees a permanently clean dampening solution circuit. “Everybody is able to work out the cost reduction,” says Mr. Schneider. “We usually had to have the dampening units cleaned every four weeks by two workers over two shifts.Today’s interval is two months.”

Apart from the cost reduction, the newspaper printing company also places special emphasis on the aspect of operational safety. At present, the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper is in the process of retrofitting a MAN-XXL printing press with a width of 2.10 metres with one beta.f unit to every dampening solution circulator right from the beginning. “In view of such an investment, the price for this ancillary equipment is not important,” says Mr. Schneider, “and we now know that the beta.f unit will pay for itself in less than one year.”

This outstanding success even surprised the Technotrans engineers. Christian Walczyk, the responsible product manager at the Sassenberg headquarters, explains: “It is amazing how a device, which was developed for a very specific area of application, is used innovatively in a much broader context by experts in the field.” The question as to how far the beta.f unit, which was originally intended for sheet-fed offset printing, will be successful in newspaper printing is not important for Mr. Walczyk: “We want to help our customers to optimise and stabilize their processes. If we then notice that a device is more powerful than originally planned, we will certainly not advise against broader use!”