PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2014

Editour report 10 PET planet insider Vol. 15 No. 11/14 www.petpla.net Single stage vs two-stage by Waldemar Schmitke Patrizio has been head of the operation for 3 years and has modernised it bit by bit. The block format line acquired a new stretch blow moulding machine a few weeks ago. The line has grown from 12 to 16 cavities. Now it is possi- ble to get 32,000 b/h instead of the previous 24,000 b/h off the stretch blow moulding machine. The block format filler with 100 valves required a speed-up to adapt to the new output. San Benedetto has developed a tradition of dispensing with the support ring on the preform. This saves material and does not present any problems as far as the single stage equipment is concerned. As regards the 2-stage process, the handling of the preforms in the blowing machine requires some fine tuning and design tricks in order to ensure that the preforms - which have no support rings - run into the stretch blow moulding machine without jamming. Transport through the capper is also a special solution. In fact, the preform threads and cap threads are, for Patrizio, the parts on a block format line that are most susceptible to faults. “At the end of the day it is they that determine overall efficiency“, is what he says. Patrizio is in favour of block format lines. He pioneered this format in 2002, not only because they are of more compact construction and do not need any transporters, but also simply for a practical reason: “There are fewer Acqua di Nepi San Benedetto produces more than 3 billion PET bottles per year worldwide, around 85 % of these using the 1-stage process on Sipa machines. Says Patrizio Dessi, GM of Acqua di Nepi, a spring in the Acqua Minerale San Bene- detto Group, “A lot of people consider 1–stage machines obsolete, but in certain conditions, once the processor is in control of the line, you get a highly efficient line that produces excellent bottles“. In his capacity as Plant Manager, Patrizio has acquired a lot of technical know-how over the years; he has been able to experience the 2-stage as well as the single stage world in all its manifestations. There is, nevertheless, a 2-stage item of equipment in his plant at Nepi. “It is cer- tainly a good choice for those occasions when you have a lot of different bottles shapes and weights to be processed on the same line, and it is easier to operate when you can’t always rely on process specialists“, is his comment on the Sipa Berchi block format line installed. There is a long his- tory of partnership between the San Benedetto Group and Sipa - the Zoppas family controls both the San Benedetto bottling company and Sipa. Nuremberg Milan Rome Naples Palermo Tunis Al giers Rabat Casablanca Marrakech Seville Madrid Lisbon Bologna Monastir Agadir Tan gier Valencia Cordoba Bilbao Oporto Andorra La Vella Venice Turin Florence Messina Barcelona Zaragoza Italy Part 3