Conveying & Filling, Packaging, Labeling & Storage
Hygienic, Flexible and Durable
Hoses ensure a high level of Process Safety
The hose solutions from technology company Continental used by Oettinger Brauerei at its Mönchengladbach plant ensure that pressure and storage tanks at the modern and almost fully automated brewery are properly filled, emptied and cleaned. Continental supplies the foodstuff hoses for the brewing and cleaning process, thus playing a key role in the area of food safety.
Special rubber compounds ensure maximum hygiene and safety
At the core of Continental hoses is a smooth inner layer, which is crucial for absolute purity and safety when transporting the beer. The inner lining is resistant to heat and chemicals, which is particularly important for the cleaning and disinfection processes. The hoses can easily withstand temperatures up to +95°C. The inner lining of Continental hoses also meets the requirements of recommendation XXI of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and the guidelines of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“The advanced rubber compounds, which are designed to meet the specific requirements of the market and the physical demands of everyday use, even under difficult conditions, ensure maximum safety for long-term use,” says Georg Bester, Sales and Technical Consultant for foodstuff hoses at Continental. “This is confirmed time and again by the market.“
Meeting the everyday challenges of brewing
The biggest challenge for the hoses used by the Oettinger Brauerei is achieving the perfect balance between extremely high flexibility and maximum durability. “The hoses supplied by Continental deliver on all fronts. Our employees can handle the hoses freely, lay or move lines as needed and even drag them over hard ground without the risk of kinking or damaging them. The hoses have to withstand a lot during everyday brewing operations,” says Sven Willim, Deputy Head of Production at Oettinger Brauerei in Mönchengladbach. “This ability to withstand external effects while at the same time maintaining stability inside the hose gives us the reliability that we need in the brewing process to ensure that the quality of our products is never compromised.“ Every single step in the brewing process is important – whether the hoses are being used to transport beer, water or cleaning media.
High-quality food and chemical hoses such as the Purple Snake or the Aquapal from Continental play a key role in handling processes in breweries and in many other areas of the food industry. Oettinger Brauerei alone uses up to 135 hoses from Continental – primarily in its storage and pressure tanks. “Continental hoses are extremely resilient and therefore last a long time, and are very easy to clean. Some of our hoses have been in use for up to ten years – without compromising the quality of our products or processes in any way,” says Willim. Regular microbiological samples of the liquids as well as hose inspections conducted by independent organisations and service providers have confirmed this time and again.
Complete solutions with fittings
When it comes to hygiene and process safety, Continental products offer the additional benefit of being available as a complete solution. “We supply not just the hoses, but complete lines with compression-moulded fittings. Brewery employees can easily lengthen, widen or shorten the hose design, thus eliminating the need for time-consuming assembly processes. The secure connection between the rubber hose and fitting can withstand working pressures up to 16 bar and offer three times the level of safety required of them,” says Bester. “We have designed a perfect, completely hygienic transition from the fitting to the inner lining of the hose – which is crucial for continuous hygiene and reliability in operation.“ The range of hoses is vast. Continental supplies hoses with nominal diameters ranging from 13 to 100 DN. The food hoses are produced at the plant in Korbach in the German region of Hesse.
Last but not least, the industrial hose specialist is at the forefront of the development of high-performance rubber/plastic compounds for use in a wide range of applications.
Beer – a huge global market
Whether it’s alcoholic, non-alcoholic or a mix – beer remains one of the world’s favourite drinks. The art of brewing has a long tradition and is an integral part of the culture of numerous countries. According to statistics portal statista, almost two billion hectolitres of beer are consumed worldwide each year. Germany has by far the biggest beer market in Europe. According to the Federal Statistical Office, taxed beer sales in Germany in 2018 were around 78 million hectolitres. Today’s megatopics of health, fitness and sustainability are playing an increasingly important role. Craft beers, functional beers and other trends have transformed the beer market in recent years, making it more diverse and dynamic.
For breweries such as Oettinger, this is an exciting business environment – and for Continental, it provides as many excellent opportunities for products like the Purple Snake, given the huge number of beers and breweries where flexible hose solutions are needed.
Conveying & Filling, Packaging, Labeling & Storage News Plant Construction, Engineering & Components
Silage Wrap Stretch Film Capability
Coveris further expands
Building on its longstanding expertise of more than 35 years as a leading supplier of stretch films, Coveris now expands its capacities and further invests in its Kufstein plant. Following on from the recently announced major investment programme in Winsford UK, the second phase of this programme is now launched which expands and upgrades the technical capabilities in Kufstein, Austria through investment in a 5-layer specialist Agri Extrusion line.
The Winsford UK investment in new generation extrusion and pre-stretch assets creates a dedicated UK cell for stretch film production, expanding its industrial capacity and extending its capability to manufacture agricultural stretch film applications in the UK.
The 5-layer extrusion investment in Kufstein significantly enhances its position as Centre of Excellence for Agri production and will allow Coveris to extend its product range to include additional premium quality silage films for high speed wrappers and challenging bale sizes. The new equipment will be installed and commissioned during quarter two 2020, and together with the Winsford investment increases Coveris silage wrap capacity to ~30k tons.
“This investment of 5-layer extrusion capability into Kufstein is an exciting development for Coveris as we seek to significantly expand our offering within the Global Agri films market. We now have Agri manufacturing centres in both Austria and the UK, allowing us to offer our clients a wider service proposition to add to our outstanding product and technical know-how built up over many years. Our reputation for high quality products can now be enhanced further through accelerated product development and innovation”, comments Martin Davis, President Business Unit Films on the Agri investment programme.
Conveying & Filling, Packaging, Labeling & Storage Food & Beverage Plant Construction, Engineering & Components
Deliberately produces creases
Unique labeller for unique containers
A label with creases, and a labeller that deliberately produces these creases – what for most beverage producers is a no-no was one of the paramount requirements of Mozart Distillerie in Salzburg. A look at the container’s shape explains the paradox: the liqueur bottles are spherical, to connote the world-famous “Mozart-Kugel”. The label, made of aluminium-coated paper foil, is required to fit snugly round the container – and to look as if it had been applied by hand.
Hitherto, Mozart Distillerie had been using what is meanwhile a 30-year-old labeller from a customised-machine manufacturer, which Plant Manager Friedrich Guggenberger had progressively individualised over the course of time with numerous design enhancements of his own. But the output no longer sufficed – and Mozart Distillerie was looking for a partner to jointly develop a new machine.
Numerous customisation features combined
Because Krones’ corporate roots, of course, originate in labelling technology, the firm accepted the challenge – and combined the long years of practical experience and visions contributed by Friedrich Guggenberger and his team with the technical expertise of Krones’ own labelling specialists. And the results are truly impressive: a combination of features for precise container positioning, several inspection systems, and a multiplicity of technological customisation improvements ensure that Mozart Distillerie’s requirements are translated into engineered reality. For labelling, Krones is for the first time deploying a combination of one cold-glue and one wrap-around Contiroll labelling station, and pressure-sensitive body labels are applied to a sloping area. For affixing the foil, Krones developed a patented combination of a servomotor that turns the bottles, and linear motors that in twelve press-on operations use sponges to carefully press the foil onto the containers.
In order to ensure that the closure cap is correctly positioned as well, Krones has specially developed a guide rail that uses the sloping label area as an orientation reference point. These rails can be re-adjusted with only a few manipulations, so that all six sizes – from the small 50-millilitre to the large one-litre bottle – can be handled with the same system.
The new line is currently dressing around 5,000 bottles per hour, with an option for increasing the output to as much as 9,000 bph. It embodies two antithetical characteristics: the technology is fully automated to the latest state of the art, while the results, by contrast, reflect Mozart Distillerie’s craft philosophy.
Conveying & Filling, Packaging, Labeling & Storage Food & Beverage Trade shows
Tailor-made packaging solutions from a single source
At this year’s interpack Multivac will be exhibiting packaging solutions for sensitive products. The highlight will be the RX 4.0 thermoforming packaging machine in GMP design, which will be presented to the visitors for the first time. In conjunction with an integrated handling module and an InteliJet HD printer from Bell-Mark, it forms an efficient solution for producing and printing combi packs containing a syringe, filter and vial.
RX 4.0 in GMP design for producing combi packs
The packaging solution is completely enclosed in a housing. In addition to the machine’s comprehensive sensor system, the new generation of intelligent dies also contributes to the high level of efficiency, process reliability, and operating security. Thanks to their highly developed actuating system, the RFID-coded X-tools enable the die to be changed quickly and reliably during product changes. The packaging solution in Düsseldorf will be used to produce a combi pack. The RX 4.0 is equipped with an InteliJet HD printer from Bell-Mark for coding the packs. An integrated H 242 handling module in the outfeed area removes the packs from the machine.
Carousel system for the separating and controlled loading of syringes
Multivac is also showing a carousel system with integrated H 242 handling module for loading syringes into combi packs. A high-performance vision system will be used on the carrier system. This ensures that, even at high throughput, all the packs are inspected for completeness, and it also checks whether the individual products are loaded correctly into the pack cavities.
Wrap-around labelling of cylindrical containers
Among the other exhibits is a compact solution for the wrap-around labelling of glass or plastic bottles. The L 320 conveyor belt labeller, combined with a MRT 100 rotating infeed table and an outfeed table, will be on show in Düsseldorf. The L 320 was specially developed for rapid and precise labelling of round or oval bottles, pots, or glass jars. Since the labeller is constructed of standard modular elements, it can be perfectly designed for the requirements of the particular sector. The model is also very versatile when it comes to label positioning. Labels can be positioned on all sides, as well as over the pack edges or as wrap-around labels. The application of sealing labels is also possible. Thanks to a minimum of format parts, which can be changed very quickly, the L 320 can be converted to different products within a short period of time. The rapid change of label rolls, together with the use of low-maintenance components, also contribute to the labeller’s high level of availability.