PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2021

BOTTLING / FILLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 22 No. 05/21 www.petpla.net 26 line. This represents a major turning point for the companies in India, which were previously producing juices in PET bottles with the hot-fill process and milk in cartons. The adoption of Sidel’s Aseptic Combi Predis marks RJ Corp’s first step into aseptic PET bottling, as well as its first experience with dry preform sterilisation. The injection of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) before the oven elimi- nates water consumption and can sig- nificantly reduce the use of chemicals. This is a lighthouse project for PepsiCo Inc. worldwide regarding the processing and bottling of its high-acid Tropicana juices products. The inclusion in the system of Capdis, a similar dry sterili- sation for caps, helped to optimise the cleaning process and cap handling, to avoid deformation and ensure tightness between cap and bottle. “Sidel’s new line allows for up to 200 hours of continuous production without any stoppages for cleaning, keeping production running steadily and without any compromise on prod- uct quality. The equipment is easy to manage; operators find its functions intuitive and easily accessible,” says Rohit Sawhney, Sales Director for Sidel India. Aseptic PET packaging line The complete line at RJ Corp in Punjab includes flexible End of Line solutions: the medium-speed VersaFilm Access seamless shrink- wrapper; and the automatic PalKombi layer-by-layer palletiser. RJ Corp also invested in Sidel’s Efficiency Improvement Tool (EIT) in order to monitor Overall Equipment Effective- ness (OEE). It provides reports and analyses based on live and histori- cal data, to better understand line flow, uncover sources of efficiency loss and achieve in-depth perfor- mance evaluation, and interfaces with inspection devices and business systems. Specific training was delivered to enable all RJ Corp technicians to gain complete understanding of aseptic PET packaging, including the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system (HACCP). Since its implementa- tion and validation, the line has been working successfully with an output up to 36,000 bph. Overall, it expands pro- duction capabilities in terms of volume as well as a higher number of SKUs. Same bottle shapes and caps During the implementation of the packaging line, Sidel also shared its experience in PET packaging and helped design the new PET bottle, enabling the same shapes and caps to be used for both Cream Bell UHT milk and the Tropicana juices. The cap size for all bottle formats is 33mm, which is a common width for LDP but quite uncommon for juices. Sidel’s packag- ing experts developed and designed an iconic bottle shape in three formats – 200ml, 500ml and 1 l. All of the bottle shapes and formats underwent Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and on-site validations prior to industrial production, in order to ensure the bottles’ strength and performance across the supply chain. Produced in white monolayer barrier PET, the new packaging ensures a shelf life up to nine months for UHT milk. Furthermore, all the transpar- ent Tropicana juice bottles passed the demanding PepsiCo validation protocols. Varun Beverages chose Sidel solutions again, for a plant located in Central-Eastern India. www.sidel.com Varun Beverages has installed Sidel’s Aseptic Combi Predis in its new plant in Punjab, India. Sidel’s packaging experts designed one bottle shape in three formats for both, Tropicana juice and Cream Bell UHT milk.