Application of PET Bottle Temperature Filling Technology in High Speed ​​Production Line

Since the in-bottle filling technology of PET bottled beverage was born in China, the filling production line adopting this technology has matured after just a few years of development and has formed a certain market scale. This technology is based on the limit of the temperature resistance of ordinary PET bottles. With the supporting filling line, filling environment, and follow-up processes, the product can be kept fresh without adding any preservatives. Through production practices, beverages produced from non-heat-resistant PET bottles have been shown to meet the hygienic specifications of heat-resistant PET bottled beverages and national standards. The shelf life of products has reached more than one year. The technology relies on a rational filling system design, a well-established package disinfection system and an air purification system, a comprehensive and thoughtful SIP system and a CIP system, and a complete production quality control management.

Compared with the low-speed production line, the advantages are obvious

With the rapid development of China's beverage industry, the development of high-temperature filling lines for PET bottled beverages has become inevitable. The realization of the high speed of the temperature filling line for PET bottled beverages is not a simple device amplification. Compared with the previous medium and low-speed production lines, medium-temperature filling production lines need to make innovations and breakthroughs in the sterilization of empty bottles before filling and the bottle-injection sterilization processes and equipment after filling. After several years of unremitting research and exploration, Jiangsu Xinmeixing has made a breakthrough in the high-speed implementation of the temperature filling line for PET bottled beverages, and the overall equipment level has reached the world's advanced level.

1. Sterilization of empty bottles in medium- and low-speed production lines uses a conservative disinfectant filling, maintaining, and dumping method. This method has many equipment links and covers an area that is not suitable for the high-speed production line. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the sterilizing process of empty bottles and simplify the sterilizing equipment so as to meet the requirements for high-speed production lines. To this end, Jiangsu Xinmeixing cooperated with internationally renowned manufacturers of disinfecting fluids to replace disinfectant used earlier with safer, more efficient disinfectants and changed the sterilization process of the original packaging materials (bottles and caps). In addition, in terms of sterilization methods, Xinmeixing’s equipment also has great advantages in saving operating costs, and most of the sterilization methods used in other filling equipments use the disinfectant (such as peracetic acid, etc.) to flush or soak the entire packaging. Different from the bottle, the sterilization method of Xinmeixing's medium-temperature filling equipment uses spray to spray the disinfectant into the bottle, that is, the original disinfectant is poured, maintained, and dumped into a disinfectant spray. Disinfectant consumption is only 1/3 of the general equipment consumption. The consumption of disinfectant is greatly reduced, which simplifies the sterilizing equipment for packaging materials and reduces the equipment area. The most important thing is that it is more suitable for high-speed medium-temperature filling production lines. The sterilizing of empty bottles adopts the method of inserting the nozzles into the bottle mouth to move the spraying and disinfecting liquid, and is equipped with a highly efficient spray nozzle imported from the United States. The sterilization is thorough and safe. At the same time, bottle sterilization is carried out in a closed environment, microorganisms are easy to control, and the operating environment is fully improved. It is easier for the centralized recovery and treatment of waste gas, which is conducive to environmental protection and can protect operators from the infringement of disinfectant to the greatest degree.

2. The bottle-down sterilization of medium and low-speed production lines adopts a chain conveyor belt method with a long bottle-down time. This method has a large area and requires manual assistance with the bottle, which is not suitable for the automation and high-speed production of the production line. In order to meet the requirements of high-speed production lines, Xinmeixing learns and adopts the inverted bottle sterilization chain mode of high-temperature filling production lines. At the same time, in order to meet the sterilizing time requirement of the bottle cap, the spray chiller is designed as a spray sterilizer, so as to compensate for the lack of sterilizing time for the decantation of the bottle, so that the product can be fully sterilized before cooling.

The key equipment features of the entire production line (five-in-one sterilizing, flushing, filling and capping of empty bottles)

1. Adopting the technology of direct connection between the air-feeding track and the in-wheel dial, the in-wheel dial adopts an innovative bottle-neck clamping mechanism with a bottle-dividing function, which eliminates the screw and conveyor chain of the bottle, and does not require replacement or adjustment when changing bottles. Any part.

2. The bottle transmission adopts the card bottleneck technology, and the bottle-neck bottle clamp is used instead of the traditional dial wheel. The change bottle type does not need to adjust the height of the equipment and it is not necessary to replace or adjust any parts.

3. Specially designed stainless steel flush bottle clamps are durable and do not touch the threaded parts of the bottle mouth to avoid secondary pollution of the bottle mouth. Disinfectant and sterile water flushing lines are equipped with pressure detection switches and have low-voltage protection.

4. Use UHT and filling machine direct connection to reduce pollution. The feeding method is a cylinderless structure in which the main liquid pipe is connected to the distributor through a dynamic and static seal. The filling machine is provided with a CIP cleaning cup, which can make the inner and outer walls of the filling valve in contact with the material perform effective CIP cleaning and SIP sterilization.

5. Disinfectant washing machine, sterile water washing machine, filling machine, capping machine, transition dial wheel and other rotating parts and non-rotating parts are sealed with liquid tank, effectively protecting the bearing and other carbon steel parts from disinfection. Liquid corrosion. At the same time, it insulates the environment from dirty air intrusion and maintains a clean filling environment.

6. Equipped with a class 100 air purification system, isolation and closing windows, and purifying air curtains at the inlet and outlet ports to prevent dirty air from entering the clean room. There are multiple pairs of isolation gloves on the closure window for easy maintenance. Equipped with equipment surface spray sterilization and clean room fumigation system.

The medium-temperature filling technology for PET bottled beverages is the first of its kind in China. Currently, Xinmeixing is the only supplier in China that has this technology and provides a beverage filling production line using this technology. In 2004, Jiangsu Xinmei launched a 20,000 bottle/hour (500ml) bottled beverage mid-temperature filling production line adopting the latest sterilizing and filling technology and the world's advanced level. With this production line, Xinmeixing has made a bid for the project of the sixth Pharmaceutical Factory of Harbin Pharmaceutical Group. stand out. In 2005, Japan Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. after more than 20 years of discussion on the mid-temperature filling technology and process flow of New American Star after a demonstration, finally recognized the new Midea's mid-temperature filling technology and signed it. A 21,000-bottle-hour PET bottled beverage was processed in a warm filling plant. The production line will be used for the production of vitamin beverages.

After several years of painstaking efforts, tea, juice drinks, and functional beverages have become stable and mature products in the beverage market. Although aseptic cold filling technology can show great advantages in reducing costs in the tea and juice beverage market, Its high equipment investment and equipment maintenance costs have deterred many companies. Now, Jiangsu Xinmeixing's high-speed medium-temperature filling technology has provided the best solution for many beverage companies. It not only satisfies the safety of products, but also reduces the operating costs of beverage companies. With the continuous development and progress of the company, the high-speed medium-temperature filling technology is becoming more and more mature. Jiangsu Xinmeixing will provide more domestic large and medium-sized beverage production enterprises with advanced, stable and reliable beverage filling equipment.

Source: Huayin Media