8/31/2004 (Graphic Arts Monthly) - This year marks the silver anniversaryof the research program launched by the then-called American NewspaperPublishers Association (ANPA)--now the Newspaper Association ofAmerica--to develop an alternative oil source for the petroleum-based newsinks then in common use by newspaper publishers. The intensive program wasimpelled by the volatile price fluctuations in crude oil that were, at thetime, causing both periodic news ink shortages and a threat to theprofitability of ANPA's members.

Over the next six years, ANPA researchers tested more than 2,000 vegetableoils before zeroing in on soybean oil as a workable ingredient forprinting ink formulas because of its abundance, relatively low cost, andrenewability. Two years later, in 1987, the first soy-based printing ink,produced by Sun Chemical's General Printing Ink division, was successfullyused to print The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Currently, about a third of the nation's daily and weekly newspapers printwith soy inks, including about 95% of the 1,500-plus high-circulationdailies. Soy inks have become the prime source for newspaper colorprinting, with publishers citing their performance on press, vibrantcolors, and environmental friendliness (no volatile organic compounds).Though black soy news inks cost slightly more than their conventionalcounterparts, publishers still find them competitive because of the extracoverage they afford.

Following success in the newspaper market, ink manufacturers begandeveloping soy ink formulas for sheetfed, heatset, coldset, flexographic,and business forms printing. Today, about half of all American inkcompanies produce at least one soy ink product.

Popularity boom overseas

At present, only about 25% of domestic commercial printers use soy inks ona regular basis. Soy ink use, however, has gained surprising momentumoverseas, especially in Asia, and is expanding rapidly among printers inboth Europe and Australia. Users say soy inks are more forgiving thanthose that are petroleum-based, making it easier to affect changeoversfrom dark to light inks and to attain high quality, even on olderequipment.

Though penetration of the U.S. commercial printing market has beensomewhat limited, this may be changing as the high cost of crude oil hasrocketed petrochemical prices to new heights and environmental concernscontinue. In addition to becoming increasingly competitive, other economicpluses working to further expand the use of soy inks over petroleum-basedproducts include improved pigment dispersal, higher ink mileage, easierpaper recycling, and the possible development of modified soy oil as alower-cost printing ink intermediate.

One possible impediment to immediate growth lies in a late-Aprilgovernment report citing last year's poor rainfall and insect attacks asdrivers of surplus soybean inventories to their lowest levels in threedecades. Further exacerbating the supply problem is a reduction of importsfrom Brazil, due to quality concerns. However, ink industryrepresentatives say their operations should "not be impacted dramatically,since the ink industry uses a refined soybean oil and only in relativelysmall quantities."

To enhance future commercial printing market penetration, a number ofresearch projects have been underway for some time to further improve theproperties of soybean oils for ink use, especially those for lithography,flexography, and, to a lesser extent, rotogravure applications. Muchfunding comes from the United Soybean Board (USB), a U.S. soybean farmersconsortium that sponsors programs aimed at expanding the use of existingand new soy-based products.

Bonding with compounds

One such project that USB says has shown considerable success is theproduction of faster-curing inks and coatings based on a new technologythat bonds soybean oil with other compounds by using visible light and acatalyst.

Another successful project, conducted at Lehigh University under theauspices of the National Printing Ink Research Institute, has produced anultraviolet-curable soy-containing lithographic ink. Similar water-basedsoy-containing flexographic and gravure inks are said to be close tobroader commercialization.

Current research also includes further development of rapid-cure soyresins, probably water-based, which would provide additional cost andenvironmental advantages, and high-energy soy inks allowing forultraviolet, electron-beam, and ultrasonic curing. USB also hasinvestigated whether derivatives of soybean oil can be used as a lessharsh substitute for press-cleaning solvents, and has also funded studiesin the powder coatings market. That's using the old bean!