PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2018

PACKAGING / PALLETISING PET planet Insider Vol. 19 No. 11/18 www.petpla.net 28 From preform moulding to transport-ready product Filling and packing of PET kegs The Danish Carlsberg Brewery has at its facility in Fredericia commissioned a complete line from Krones for filling beer in 20 litre kegs. Carlsberg brews more than 60% of its entire beer volume for the Danish market in Fredericia. Besides the Jacobsen speciality-beer and show- case brewery in the centre of Copen- hagen, the Fredericia facility is the only Carlsberg brewing plant in Denmark. The company produces here for the whole nation, and for export to Euro- pean countries. “In the craft beer and speciality-beer segment, we achieved volume growth of 29% in 2017,” says Plant Manager Martin Bjeld. “Draught Master is a super instrument for sup- porting the concomitant premiumisa- tion of the brands.” In order to provide the catering trade with an option for offering beer- lovers a maximally broad spectrum of different beers, Carlsberg has devel- oped Draught Master. The system ensures that beer filled in PET kegs remains fresh for up to 30 days after first tapping. For filling these 20 litre disposable PET kegs, Carlsberg has invested in a line from Krones which has been dimensioned for an output of 500 containers per hour. Special machine from Krones The PET preforms are moulded in the line by a stretch blow-moulding machine into 20 litre containers, and fed to the filler via AirCo conveyors. The filler is a special machine from the Modulfill VFS series, with 18 spe- cially modified large-size filling valves. Since PET containers cannot be pre-evacuated, a blowing starwheel is inserted, through which the air in the containers is flushed out by means of carbon dioxide, thus preventing the filled beer from coming into contact with oxygen. This is already the third time that Krones has built this special filler for Carlsberg. Together with the upstream container rinser and the downstream six-head closer, it is accommodated in a cleanroom. In this case, the kegs are sealed with a pres- sure closure, which is pressed on, not screwed. After being filled, the containers are transported in carriers suspended on belts. A Variocart carton erector feeds in the cartons, and after the beverage kegs have been date-coded and labelled, the Linapac II packer inserts four containers at a time in a carton. After a downstream weight check, a Variocol closes and seals the boxes, which are then labelled. Next, a robot places 15 cartons at a time on a pallet, which is subsequently stabi- lised for transport with a net. Currently, Carlsberg is producing 48 different SKUs on the new Krones line. From the Carlsberg Group’s breweries abroad, too, tank beer is filled here in large PET containers. This means that well-known brands like Feldschlösschen, Kronenbourg or Holsten can likewise be seen on the cartons, but also, of course, craft beer brands like Jacobsen Yakima IPA or Jacobsen Wheat Beer. The high output of the Krones line enables a large number of different products to be filled. Changing over the line to a new beer type – including cleaning – takes just one hour. The PET preforms are moulded in the line by a stretch blow-moulding machine into 20 litre containers, and fed to the filler via AirCo conveyors. Carlsberg is already producing 48 differ- ent SKUs on the new Krones line. From the Carlsberg Group’s breweries abroad, too, tank beer is filled in Fredericia on the line in large PET containers. Jeppe Holm-Jørgensen, responsible for the kegging operation as Senior Line Manager