BOTTLING / FILLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 05/22 www.petpla.net 37 Design improvements help to save energy – from the compact tubular ring bowl to the effective servo-drives. As the new filler permits filling temperatures of up to 24 °C, no additional investment and operating costs are incurred for energy-intensive cooling devices. A further plus is that at these temperatures no condensation is formed that needs to be dried using a high amount of energy before the bottles are packaged in film or cardboard. The hygienic design also contributes to the overall sustainability of the new technology: the clear, straightforward design of the machine surfaces enables a free runoff of liquids. This is claimed to make cleaning and disinfection easier and shorter. Finally, as bottles are conveyed through the machine by their neck rings, the handling of lightweight containers is supported, thus helping to ensure that products are packaged safely and reliably while saving on resources. Avoiding flavour carryover In view of the increasing variety of products and ever more frequent type changeovers, avoiding flavour carryover is of central importance. One key prerequisite needed to achieve the level of flexibility beverage fillers require is thus to choose the right sealing material for the expansion joint seals on valve pistons and switching cylinders. “KHS uses polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE) here,” emphasises Härtel. “This material can be excellently cleaned and absorbs practically no flavouring substances – unlike standard seals made of elastomers such as ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM), that soak up liquid like a sponge during production. When there’s a drop in concentration with the next product in the filling sequence, the EPDM again releases these flavourings – water, for example, then tastes of the beverage previously filled.” In order to prevent this unwanted effect, the production plan has to be scheduled by flavour, states Härtel. “The week thus starts off with a mineral water, for instance, and continues with the filling of products with an increasingly intensive taste, such as energy drinks. After these have been processed, the filler then has to be thoroughly cleaned before water can be bottled. By considerably reducing the flavour transfer, our filling valves give our customers more freedom in their production planning.” 26"-*5: "4463"/$& GPS ZPVS QSFGPSNT BOE 1&5 QSPEVDUT 888 */53"7*4 $0. The new KHS filler is featuring a servo screw capper.
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