Aseptic dry preform decontamination technology
Worldwide consumers are becoming increasingly health-conscious and moving towards drinks with a more natural taste. This has brought a focus from beverage producers on filling methods that protect the quality, taste and vitamin content, without using preservatives or additives. The main drinks currently driving the global growth of the beverage industry are those known as "sensitive" products, including juices, nectars, soft drinks, isotonics, teas and liquid dairy products, which are expected to grow by a further 6% by 2016. PET is already the material of choice for this beverage segment and continues to contribute to its growth. Its increasing usage is due to its 100% recyclability, excellent barrier material properties that can extend shelf life, bottle design freedom, lightweighting potential and the greater brand recognition possibilities offered by the package transparency.
The Combi configuration for Predis includes preform decontamination, blowing, filling and capping in one environment. Sidel Matrix Predis will be available for production of up to 60,000bph, representing an increase in output of 20% compared to when Predis is integrated with the previous Sidel blower generation. This provides a Combi for high speed production and also offersa capacity of up to 60,000 bph for on-the-go 0.5l bottles.
Matrix Combi Predis FMa is competitive for the same number of blow moulding stations as the output is higher per mould – up to 2,300 bottles per mould per hour. The electrical stretching included in the blowing station shall allow changeover with limited manual intervention to handle a wide variety of sensitive beverages aseptically, whatever the recipe or bottle format, ranging from 0.2 to 2l at high running outputs of up to 2,300 bottles per mould per hour.
