PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2013

BOTTLING / FILLING 54 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 09/13 www.petpla.net With the Innosept Asbofill ASR KHS is now plugging the final gap in the area of aseptic fillers for bottlers of liquid dairy products and non-alcoholic beverages. With its range of linear and rotary systems the company now offers the indus- try a full aseptic programme, just in time for drinktec 2013. own. The Innosept Asbofill ASR can process filling volumes from 250ml to 1.5l with two different capacities avail- able. The two Innosept Asbofill ASR 24 machines output of 24,000bph for volumes up to 500ml or 1l; the three Innosept Asbofill ASR 36 models are able to process 36,000bph for the above two volumes plus a third bottle size of 1.5l maximum. Linear aseptic filling machines generally cover a low to medium output range, with rotary aseptic machines catering for the higher capacities. To take a typical exam- ple: a fruit juice company tends to fill the same type of bottle at rates of at least 24,000bph with very few product changeovers, and in this case a rotary machine would be the aseptic system of choice. However, if bottle types are changed several times a day, a linear aseptic machine would be better. The reason is that changeovers are faster and easier on linear machines than on rotary machines. On the Innosept Asbofill ABF, for instance, the bottles are fed through the entire machine in one single holder. All conversions and replacements take place in the non- sterile area outside the aseptic zone, with the bottle neck conveyed solely in the sterile zone. As in the linear technology the new generation of Innosept Asbofill ASR rotary machines has an inte- grated valve manifold with identical functions which is installed on the machine to save space. Develop- ment has focused on aseptic safety, with the new rotary technology based on the room-within-a-room concept implemented in the ABF series. Spe- cific measures protect the minimally dimensioned aseptic zone from the surrounding machine area which in turn forms a mechanical barrier to the production shop. The surrounding machine area can be opened for any necessary work even during produc- tion without endangering the sterile conditions prevalent in the integrated aseptic zone. To ensure maximum microbiological safety the necessary regular cleaning process is fully auto- matic. Sterilisation with H 2 O 2 aerosol The Innosept Asbofill ASR adopts the same principle of sterilisation as The Innosept Asbofill ABF 611 and Innosept Asbofill ABF 711 linear asep- tic filling machines are designed for bottling capacities of up to 12,000bph and a bottle surface hygienisation of up to log6. In the extended shelf life segment, the Innosept Asbofill ESL 611 and Innosept Asbofill ESL 711 models offer bottlers a surface hygienisation of up to log5. The dif- ference between the 611 and 711 series lies in the type of bottle to be processed; the 611 model handles plastic bottles holding between 100 and 750ml, whilst the 711 is designed for volumes of 0.25 to 2l as stand- ard. The original machine output of both the Innosept Asbofill ABF and the Innosept Asbofill ESL can be doubled by the addition of the Twin option, raising the capacity to up to 24,000bph. Increasing capacities With outputs like these, the new Innosept Asbofill ASR rotary asep- tic technology really comes into its Plugging the gap Based on an article by Thomas Niehr, Head of Aseptic Filling Technology, and Paul- Uwe Winterhoff Head of Aseptic Filling Technology Design Engineering, both KHS GmbH, Bad Kreuznach, Germany The Innosept Asbofill ASR aseptic rotary machines are based on the room-within-a-room concept of the Innosept Asbofill ABF linear aseptic filling machines. The Innosept Asbofill ASR fills up to 36,000bph.