PETpla.net Insider 10 / 2017

BOTTLING / FILLING PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 10/17 www.petpla.net 26 Coca-Cola Andina Group opts for process-synchronised cooling solution Connected cooling capacities For its new facility for CSD products being built in Brazil, Coca Cola Andina Group opted for a new Ecodry Sytem – a “Process-Synchronised Cooling Solution” by Frigel. In the system, each cooling unit will be installed close to the processing line and digitally synchronised with it, providing the optimum cooling performance required at any given time according to actual product carbonation needs. Coca Cola Andina Group is one of the most important soft drink processors in Latin America, operat- ing 11 plants located in Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Its Brazilian branch, Coca-Cola Andina Brasil, is building a state-of-the-art facility in Rio de Janeiro that is intended to sup- port the increasing demand for car- bonated soft drinks and mineral water in the region. The implementation of this new hi- tech plant is planned in three phases, with the installation of six latest gen- eration, high throughput bottling lines supplied by Krones. The first phase of the project in 2017 will start with three lines delivering an expected produc- tion of 400 million litres of beverages per year, including the world’s largest single bottling line, able to fill 78,000l/h. The project has been developed with latest technologies available today for CSD processing and designed with a modular concept in which each pro- cessing line is a separate “production/ cost unit” to be operated and managed separately. This approach aims to give the new facility higher productivity, pro- duction flexibility, cost control and easy future expandability. Process-synchronised cooling Instead of the traditional “central” cooling system, with this ammonia- free, plug & play, modular concept, each bottling line will have its own Multiple-Cascade Refrigeration Unit (MultiStage) specifically designed for the application. Compact, inverter- driven, factory-built and pre-tested, each cooling unit will be installed close to the processing line and digitally synchronised with it, provid- ing the optimum cooling performance required at any given time according to actual product carbonation needs. For this first phase of the project, Coca Cola Andina is installing three MultiStage units rated for 450kW, 1,100kW and 2,200kW cooling capaci- ties, connected to each of the three bottling lines rated for 33,000l/h, 48,000l/h and 78,000l/h respectively. Each one may operate at a different coolant temperature: from 20°C for car- bonated water to 12°C for Coca Cola in 3l one-way PET bottles. Additionally, each cooling unit is also a “heat pump”, so heat extracted from the bever- age before carbonation is recovered, producing hot water up to 50°C to heat up the bottled product through warmer tunnels, thus avoiding condensation in the tropical ambient conditions of Rio de Janeiro.