PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2017

BOTTLE MAKING 22 PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 04/17 www.petpla.net on the market for connecting kegs to draft dispensing systems. Particular attention was given to accommodat- ing Dolium’s plastic valves to the variations in tolerance of the metal couplers from different manufactur- ers. The system uses glass reinforced polyamide. www.dolium.eu Sometimes yes, sometimes no: the bag A yes for the bag comes from the keg system of Lightweight Contain- ers from Den Helder, the Netherlands. The bag separates the beer from the compressed gas, so that it cannot come into contact with the oxygen. The lightweight one-way kegs meet the very strictest safety requirements. The Keykegs with double wall technol- ogy are tested to 7 bar during manu- facturing. The Keykeg coupler is also the only system in the world fitted with a special safety valve. Filling can take place manually or by machine. Indi- vidual printing ensures good branding. Keykeg is available as slimline in 10, 20 and 30l kegs. A no for the bag applies to UniKeg, also by Lightweight Containers, intro- duced two years ago. The new 20l keg uses the Double Wall technology and integrates an American Sankey D fitting. Jan Veenendaal, CEO of Light- weight Containers says, “UniKeg was developed to offer a successful prod- uct-price-market combination.” The system will be manufactured in the US and will only be sold there initially. The main difference between the new UniKeg and Lightweight Con- tainers’ well established product, the Keykeg, is that the UniKeg lacks the laminated inner bag. Lightweight Containers produces their kegs on a fully automated production line in Den Helder, the Netherlands. The line is based around two Sipa SFL2/2 linear stretch-blow moulding units, one for the inner bottle, and one for the outer. It has a capacity of 400 kegs per hour. Sipa has not only supplied Lightweight Containers with the stretch-blow moulding equipment, but also col- laborated in research, prototyping and development of the containers. As well Sipa has been chosen by major multinationals beer producers (AB-Inbev, Heineken, etc) as the blow moulding machines manufacturer to blow patented solutions beer kegs. www.keykeg.com www.unikeg.com www.sipa.it The bag separates the beer from the compressed gas. (photo: Sipa) Outside HDPE, inside PET Ecokeg uses a stable outer shell of HDPE which provides mechanical protection for the PET bladder. Suit- able for gravity filling, valves can be connected and reconnected multiple times. The PET ball is reportedly the strongest on the market: with 490g virgin PET preform, it provides dura- bility for long-distance exports. Heat tested up to 60° Celsius in a dormant state. Pressure tested to up to 10 bar, 32l capacity, allowing for 2l of headspace heat expansion. The PET features an oxygen scavenger and thus allows for shelf lives of up to nine months. The outer HDPE skin weighs 2.5kg in Europe and 1.8kg in Australia. Ecokeg’s patented technology was originally developed in collaboration with the Foster’s Group on One-Way- Kegs (OWK). Closely replicating a steel keg, Ecokegs are compatible with the tap / dispensing systems used by pubs and bars. The design combats issues such as Fobbing and allows Livening through the valve. www.ecokeg.com PET bladder in a stable outer HDPE shell (photo: Ecokeg) Mechanical engineering Lines for racking beer in non-refillable kegs KHS and Petainer jointly devel- oped the Petainer keg system. The system is designed for multi-shift operation, for racking beer in stand- ard 20 or 30l kegs made of PET. This system is designed for a capacity of up to 420 kegs per hour. The system components can include stretch blow moulding, filling, encoding, packaging, and palletising and the necessary inspection equip- ment. The process precision of the stretch blow moulder ensures that the disposable kegs are reliably fed to the subsequent production process. The Innokeg PETBoy F2 non-refillable keg system with two independently operating filling heads. (Photo: KHS)