BOTTLING / FILLING PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 05/22 www.petpla.net 38 Low oxygen pickup The solid jet principle of the NV filling system with its practically drip-free gas lock also helps to ensure a high product quality. “From a microbiological standpoint, it’s beneficial if the beverage doesn’t come into contact with the bottle neck,” Härtel continues. The product manager also always keeps an eye on the amount of oxygen pickup. It’s important to avoid this wherever possible, for instance when hot filling juice: too much oxygen pickup could cause pulp to float to the surface and thus form clumps. It would also lower the vitamin C content in the products. Oxygen pickup is a relevant topic for breweries in particular. “Bottom-up filling on our DVF and DRF long-tube valves significantly reduces oxygen pickup and allows beer and mixed beer beverages of excellent quality to be filled into PET bottles.” The exact filling volume is determined with the help of an inductive flow meter or – optionally – a mass flow meter. Two different filling speeds are configured as standard that ensure good flow behaviour and low-foam filling. A number of optional additional components are available for the best possible processing of different volumes and viscosities, such as a large spectrum of bottle sizes or juices with a low or high viscosity. A control valve upstream of the filling valve can freely regulate the filling speed for production within a capacity range ideally suited to the type of beverage, amount of foaming, bottle volume and viscosity. Together with a gentle container control, this results in less product loss, says KHS. Because of the design and deployment of the components on the filling valves, the new filler platform is intended to achieve a high-power density regardless of the type of beverage. Härtel underlines: “We’ve implemented this modularity and standardisation in both the machine controller and the mechanical equipment. As our fillers will always have the same construction in the future, installation and commissioning will be much faster.” This shortens the time to the start of production and the first commercial product. Here, semi- and fully automated format changeovers especially are claimed to ensure a permanently high level of availability during ongoing operation. Some parts of the cleaning system are already automated, such as the CIP sleeves. In addition to providing hygienic safety, the use of quick functions also means that they save considerably on time. As several operator tasks are now redundant, the number of potential sources of error is reduced to boot. Moreover, the durability of all components makes for greater efficiency, so that maintenance intervals can now be much longer. Diagnostic assistance system The technical functions of the new filler platform are supplemented by the optional KHS Dias diagnostic assistance system. This enables all aspects of the entire filling process to be monitored. For this purpose, pressure sensors are installed in every filling valve that constantly The clear design with its mostly enclosed surfaces increases hygiene and makes cleaning and disinfection easier.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTY0MjI=