Page 50 - AMEFT Journal 2021-2

PROCESSING & PACKAGING
Innofill PET ACF-L: Proven technology, further developed to include numerous innovations: the KHS Innofill PET ACF-L linear aseptic filler in the assembly shop.
KHS: Changing ways of filling and packing
Often a combination of small things has a big impact. In the case when filling sensitive beverages into PET and HDPE bottles, KHS offers a whole range of innovations. It provi- des greater efficiency, more flexibility, increased ease of operation and opti- mum product safety.
Mixed milk beverages, juices, smoothies, iced teas and near-water products are in – and the list of sen- sitive beverages continues to grow. They make high demands of hygienic filling so that the consumer can enjoy them fresh. “When filling and capping beverages so as to prevent recontami- nation, filling under aseptic conditions especially is a gentle process,” ex- plains Manfred Härtel, Filling Product Manager at KHS. There are hardly any alternatives to this technology. “With over 25 years of experience KHS is a real pioneer and specialist when it comes to hygiene and freshness. This is also demonstrated by the fact that
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we offer our customers a full range of systems tailored to suit very different requirements,” he added.
KHS technology is always state-of -the-art regarding the task on hand, namely the sterile beverage filling of sensitive products, and continuo- usly ensures the best possible hygi- enic conditions, as Härtel explains. Nevertheless, KHS is constantly stri- ving to further improve its lines and machines. At the moment, a total of seven optimizations for the modular KHS linear aseptic filler are helping to further boost its efficiency and flexibi- lity in particular. Most machines can be retrofitted with the further develo- ped components.
Variable aseptic block
KHS’ linear aseptic fillers can be blocked with a rotary stretch blow molder – in this case, an InnoPET- Blomax V – to form an extremely compact unit. For this purpose, KHS
has developed a transfer module that harmonizes the continuous PET bottle flow with the stepped filling process. There are three variants of the mo- dule: one for blocking with a stretch blow molder, a second with an addi- tional discharge to a Plasmax coating machine and a third with an extra bottle in-feed that enables the filler to process both PET and HDPE bottles.
Optimized bottle infeed
With the number of bottle formats and designs rapidly increasing, sys- tems have to be more and more fle- xible. Unlike in the past, following a format changeover the bottle infeed is now no longer set up in a repeti- tive process that involves loosening and fastening screws, running tests and making fine adjustments. Instead, handwheels marked with scales per- mit the exact height and diameter of a container to be easily configured and ensure that these settings can be
(Source: KHS Group)
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