PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2011

BOTTLING / FILLING 31 PET planet insider Vol. 12 No. 07+08/11 www.petpla.net Thanks to the dry sterilisation process, no water is consumed during production for bottle and closure decontamination, nor during sterilisation of the product path and the filler’s cleanroom. The isolator, hygienically designed in conformity with EHEDG/3A, is first cleaned with caustic, then dried, and finally flooded with H 2 O 2 gas and decontaminated. Simultaneously, the product paths are cleaned with caustic and then steri- lised in place (SIP) Minimal product losses Container sterilisation has been designed as a continuous process, so no switching valves are needed. This reduces the number of components and simplifies process monitoring. The filler’s aseptic filling principle provides for the product to come from above out of a rotating central tank with a static inlet, an axial face seal shuts off the gas phase, and the product does not pass through a manifold, all of which combines to minimise product losses. The filling valves are steam- able, so no sterile water is required; the media used for CIP cleaning are returned via the isolator. At the closer, many critical com- ponents like the lifting cam and the reduction and stabilise the containers. The filling system permits the bottling of products containing chunks meas- uring up to 3 x 3 x 3mm (optionally up to 5 x 5 x 5ml). Product change-overs with- out intermediate flushing In order to avoid breaks in filling, the company has developed the fol- lowing procedure: a product change- over can thus take place without any intermediate flushing. For this pur- pose, filling is continued until the tank runs empty, with a residual quantity remaining in the filling valve, which is topped up with the new product, whereupon the mixing phase is filled and rejected. This requires about two filler rotations, given a filler with a pitch circle diameter of 1,080mm and a pitch of 103mm, corresponding to 66 bottles. The new product can then be filled, without the isolator being affected by product residues. The elimination of intermediate disinfec- tion ensures optimum availability. This enables long production cycles to be achieved of up to 48h with low-acid products and up to 72h with high-acid products. Availability is also boosted by shortened CIP/SIP times, with less than 3h from the last bottle to the first bottle. servodrives have been located outside the cleanroom. For closure sterilisation with H 2 O 2 , a static chute without any moving parts is used as a steriliser. This makes closure sterilisation afford- able, simple and reliable, and avoids malfunctions on the closure path. The platform with stairs accom- modates the valve rack, the cen- tral ventilation technology and the H 2 O 2 -sterilisable Hepa filters. Care has also been taken to ensure good access here to the treatment units. For the ventilation technology, an air route with monitored guidance was set up with supply air from the central zone, featuring inflow from above and extraction from below. A first refer- ence system for the new PET-Asept D Compact was delivered to a German bottler early in 2011. Format [ml] Residues 0.5 ppm Residues 1 ppm 330 12,000 bph 12,500 bph 500 12,000 bph 13,000 bph 1,000 10,000 bph 12,000 bph 1,500 8,000 bph 9,000 bph 2,000 6,000 bph 6,750 bph PET-Asept D Compact – Maximum out- puts for a pitch of 103mm when bottling still products www.krones.com The PET-Asept D Compact’s output range extends from 6,000 to 12,000bph: it can be installed as stand-alone machine or also as a monobloc with a stretch blow-moulder. sensitive BEVERAGES