PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2015

BOTTLING / FILLING 39 PET planet insider Vol. 16 No. 05/15 www.petpla.net Saving energy, step by step Overheads for materials and the price of energy are among the biggest cost drivers in pro- duction. PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH charged KHS with the modernisation of their Punica PET bottle filling line at their site in Hamburg, Germany. When several hundred thousand PET bottles are manufactured and filled per day, a lot of electrical energy is used. For PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH electricity consumption is a relevant factor in its operating costs, a factor the company wished to mini- mise. Together, PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH and KHS therefore analysed the line’s energy-saving potential. As a result, KHS first modernised the blow air infeed on the KHS InnoPET stretch blow moulder from 2008 (a Blomax Series III Compact) in opera- tion at the plant. With the help of KHS AirbackPlus system up to 35% of the blow air is now recycled, which has a positive effect on the process’ energy consumption. The next step involved KHS renewing the geometry of the line’s heater box in fall of 2014. The savings from this second optimisation measure are primar- ily achieved by the use of modern ceramic materials in the preform heater boxes. The reflective proper- ties of the ceramic elements greatly improve the energy distribution in the heater box. The tunnel in the heater box has been made smaller so that less energy is needed for heating; energy can now be deployed when conditioning preforms in the heating process. Here, a more efficient unit comprising a reflector and infrared emitter prevents the sensitive bottle thread area being unnecessarily heated. The amount of cooling of this area can then be reduced. These technical features generate an energy saving of up to 30%. “At PepsiCo Deutschland we’re always trying to save energy to cut costs and protect the environment. We can check the heating profile of the modernised system on an energy monitor, allowing us to measure and document all significant savings. KHS converted our line quickly and competently without affecting system operation,” states Jens Hadler, project engineer at PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH. Heater boxes are converted in a maximum of one to two days. KHS process engineers make the small final adjustments during the startup phase so that disruption to production is kept short. “Through the amount of energy saved, investing in a modernisation of the durable InnoPET Blomax Series III pays off for customers after one to three years depending on the line’s capacity utilisation and the price of electricity,” explains Dirk Teschner, project manager at KHS Corpoplast. “We can retrofit any of our stretch blow moulders in the InnoPET Blomax Series III quickly and easily with cutting-edge preform heating technol- ogy.” For many companies, energy- optimised PET stretch blow mould- ers are an excellent way of reducing production costs. Teschner estimates that “After the successful conversion project at PepsiCo last year we’re expecting orders from other custom- ers, too, for the upgrade of about 50 more lines in 2015.” www.khs.com  www.pepsico.de