Satisfying The Strictest Hygiene Requirements
The wine, sparkling wine, and spirits sector profits from the new KHS Innofill Glass platform
Ludwig Clüsserath* With its new generation of KHS fillers, Innofill Glass, KHS has created a technical base which a variety of computer-controlled KHS filling systems can build on. The first KHS filling system for this innovative platform was the computer-controlled Innofill Glass DRS-ZMS pressure filling system for the bottling of beer. The many benefits of this platform system, now with an optimized hygienic design and thus suitable for a whole range of applications, have since proved themselves in practice. After also migrating to the soft drinks sector, Innofill Glass is now available to the wine, sparkling wine, and spirits trade. Depending on the products to be filled, the same base machine can be used in conjunction with three different filler variants, these being the: • Innofill Glass DNRT (computer-controlled, Trinox pressure/normal pressure filling system)• Innofill Glass NDRT (computer-controlled, Trinox normal pressure/pressure filling system)
• Innofill Glass NRT (computer-controlled, Trinox normal pressure filling system). The Innofill Glass DNRT fills the entire spectrum of wines, sparkling wines, and spirits, including non-alcoholic wine and sparkling wine, slightly fizzy wine, and mixed wine beverages. The Innofill Glass NDRT can be used for all of the aforementioned products except sparkling wine, and also for products with a low CO2 content. The Innofill Glass NRT only fills still products. The many advantages of hygienic design The KHS Innofill Glass platform system has been consistently developed according to the rules of hygienic design. This concept stipulates that construction be kept as simple as possible, helping first and foremost to boost product quality and safety and thus to provide outstanding protection for the consumer. Significantly reduced or sloped surfaces mean there is an extremely low contamination potential, and any broken glass is simply allowed to slide unhindered onto the floor. The free runoff of liquids and the elimination of crevices and corners prevents unwanted biofilm from forming. The outer cladding of glass or Plexiglas permits access from all sides and unobstructed views of the entire filling area, creating transparency and enabling operators to permanently monitor the hygiene situation. These benefits give rise to even more plus points, such as increased line availability thanks to minimized cleaning and maintenance times, cuts in media and energy consumption, and reduced servicing and maintenance costs. Implemented holistically, hygienic design thus makes a considerable contribution to increasing cost effectiveness and saving on resources. Simple design for easy sanitizing The Innofill Glass generation of fillers is manufactured without a front table. The glass bottles are transported to the feed screw along a conveyor made of stainless steel piping elements which is open on all sides. An automatic sanitizing system can be integrated into the conveyor segment, with the spray nozzles directed at all critical points on the bottle. The controlled belt drive is in a stainless steel housing; the feed screw is also driven by a servo motor encased in stainless steel. On the Innofill Glass platform the star columns and capper housing are connected by cross pipes with no flanges, secured with hygienic sealing systems on the exterior, and equipped with servo or direct drives. These are located in protective star columns outside the hygiene area. Direct drives directly transmit the torque to the star wheels and cappers, thus doing away with the need for gears and couplings and helping to keep maintenance costs and the energy consumption low. Open gear wheels, screw fittings in the hygiene area, and lubrication are now a thing of the past; cables and lines are laid in the connecting pipes. All of the above aspects make the sanitizing of transfer stars, railings, guide profile sections, and mounting components an extremely simple affair. Lightweight tubular ring bowl The tubular design of the ring bowl also adheres to the highest standards of hygiene. There are no edges and corners here; this is ideal for the CIP and SIP processes, resulting in reductions in the amount of water and cleaning media required. Further tubular ring bowl positives arise from its lightweight design; as opposed to the classic rectangular ring bowl with its greater mass heating and cooling times are shortened, therefore taking up less energy for sanitizing and sterilizing. The lightweight construction of the tubular ring bowl also reduces the necessary drive forces, in turn further cutting down on energy consumption and maintenance costs. Option: filler carousel support structure in stainless steel By building the support structure for the filler carousel in stainless steel all materials used are resistant to the foam cleaners commonly used in the industry. With the pilot valves safely encapsulated in stainless steel housings and the electronics housing positioned in the center of the carousel, these components are protected within the filler carousel and kept deliberately separate from the actual hygiene and filling area. In the pressurization zone, easily removable metal guard plates with integrated cleaning nozzles protect the open bottles from glass splinters. Media feed through hygienic pantograph joints Media is fed to the filler carousel through height-adjustable, hygienic pantograph joints with aseptic sealing systems, making hygienically critical sliding seals in beverage and gas passages and between the rotary leadthrough and tubular ring bowl redundant. The amount of time and effort needed to adjust all exterior control cams and stop segments is reduced thanks to the use of linear drive technology. A control ring running around the entire carousel, complete with an additional height adjustment motor, reversing gears, joint shafts, and lifting columns, is no longer necessary. Easy to fit and easy to remove: the filling valves Another great advantage of the Innofill Glass filler is that each filling valve can be fitted to or removed from the tubular ring bowl by simply tightening or loosening two cap nuts. This also automatically restores or severs the beverage feed and all media and pneumatic connections, meaning that there are no pneumatic supply hoses, cables, or electrical elements laid along the front of the filling system. Open bell rods and cylinders with sloped surfaces also provide ideal conditions for automatic exterior machine sanitizing. Fast, tool-free format part changeovers Another important factor is that with their weight now reduced, all format parts are very easy to change – without the need for any tools, as they all have quick-action locks. For reasons of weight, the stars are designed in parts, with the weight of the format part not above 10 kilograms. Adjustable format parts can also be integrated into the concept if required. This has the advantage that guide stars no longer have to be changed over when bottle types are switched; instead, they can be easily adapted to suit the new situation in a matter of seconds. Space-saving compact valve manifold The compact valve manifold included in the Innofill Glass setup constitutes another great benefit. It only needs 50% of the space taken up by the valve manifolds utilized to date as the fittings here have been constructed vertically. This mode of construction ensures that all fittings are much easier to access for servicing and inspection. The new compact valve manifold is also attached to the filler cladding to keep the distance between the valve manifold and filler carousel especially short. Vacuum pump module concept for targeted simplification To date it was usual to have a vacuum pump that was precisely adapted to and individually configured for the filling system and bottling capacity. This is no longer necessary with the new series of fillers; instead, vacuum pump modules have been engineered which are perfectly suitable for all applications. All customers have to do is decide whether they need one, two, or three identical vacuum pumps depending on the filling system and output. While a single standard vacuum pump is adequate for smaller filler capacities, for larger systems up to three standard vacuum pumps may be required. In addition to targeted simplification, the new concept for the modularization of vacuum pumps offers many other benefits. Depending on the operating state and required filler capacity, pumps can either be switched in or disconnected; if several pumps are available, production can continue even if one pump fails. The chief advantage of the vacuum pump module concept is that the system is automatically adjusted to the prevalent operating conditions, therefore considerably reducing the amount of water and electricity used. Standardized pump design shortens delivery times for spare parts and makes servicing much easier. The new generation of pumps can be ordered with ECO cooling, if required, which generates water savings of up to 98% in comparison with the conventional water ring principle. Capacity of 10,000 to 72,000 glass bottles per hour In all versions of the Innofill Glass filling system product, gas, and CIP media are fed in through hygienic pipe fittings with gapless, aseptic sealing systems which do not allow any deposits to accumulate. This is a prerequisite for fast intermediate rinsing and sanitizing processes when changing the product. Lines laid at an angle ensure that product passages are quickly emptied, saving a lot of time if product changeovers are frequent. The established Innofill Glass DNRT filling system has now been further improved for the warm filling of sparkling wine with a high CO2 content. The Innofill Glass NDRT and NRT fillers are two new developments which have been derived from the Innofill Glass DNRT. They are specifically designed for wine and spirits bottlers who do not necessarily need to use classic pressure filling. All three fillers process bottles holding 0.1 to 3 liters at rates of between 10,000 and 72,000 bottles per hour. The Innofill Glass DNRT and Innofill Glass NDRT are also suitable for PET bottle filling, as neither process requires a vacuum. Trinox technology for high-precision fill levels On the Innofill Glass DNRT machine, which is ideal for both classic pressure filling and pressureless filling, the control valves for the gas processes are integrated into the compact filling valve bodies. An additional, separate gas cylinder activates the Trinox function. One new feature which is common to all of the wine and spirits fillers mentioned above is integrated into the Trinox system. Inside each filling station there is now a special sanitary room where the Trinox tube adjustment area is automatically rinsed and sterilized together with the rest of the filler. The Trinox process enables high-precision fill levels to be achieved. This functions as follows: from the Trinox channel a pressure is built up in the previously overfilled bottle which is 0.3 to 0.5 bars higher than the set filling pressure, both in the case of balanced pressure and pressurized filling. This positive pressure in the bottle ensures that excess product is forced gently back into the ring bowl through the Trinox tube positioned in the center of the bottle and filling valve. This process ends exactly at the moment that a minimum defined gap is produced between the level of the product and the end of the Trinox tube. In this manner Trinox technology provides extremely accurate fill levels with standard deviations of one millimeter or less. This is a huge plus when it comes to saving product – especially for high-quality beverages such as wine, sparkling wine, and spirits. Another benefit lies in the fact that the Trinox system can keep to a precisely defined headspace between the bottle mouth and fill level, which means that where natural corks are used, an ideal distance between the beverage and the cork is always maintained. The Innofill Glass DNRT – the multitalented filler Whether balanced pressure or pressurized filling, the Innofill Glass DNRT has a CO2 or nitrogen purging option that can be run one or more times before filling begins. Single or multiple pre-evacuation is also possible, fully in line with the individual requirements of the products to be bottled. The ZMS process, familiar to beer bottlers and patented by KHS, can also be selected. Where this principle is applied, prior to filling bottling plants can obtain a maximum CO2 concentration in the bottles using the minimum amount of gas. If pressure filling is scheduled, after pressurization the fast fill phase takes place in the cylindrical area of the bottle, followed by a slow fill phase. Both fast and slow fill phases are also available in balanced pressure operation. To date, only the fast fill phase has been used on the Innofill DNRT, even for pressure filling. The advantage of the additional slow fill phase is that the fill level quality is improved, among other things by minimizing product foaming. New fan gas lock for an especially gentle hygienic filling process Another innovation to be included in the Innofill Glass DNRT and the other two aforementioned wine and spirits fillers is the newly devised swirl fan gas lock which allows product to flow down the inside bottle wall for a gentle, low-foam, hygienic filling process. No spreader elements that are susceptible to wear protrude into the bottle; it is also not necessary to adapt the equipment when bottle neck shapes change. This means that operators no longer have to change the return gas tube when working with several different bottle types. Filling stops on the Innofill Glass DNRT when the rising level of the product reaches the tip of the Trinox tube and the fan gas lock brings the process to an abrupt end. This gas lock ensures that only a tiny amount of product is overfilled, thus saving time and reducing the amount of product to be transferred. When filling has stopped the Trinox process switches in, feeding the excess product back into the ring bowl until the desired fill level is reached. The height of the Trinox tubes can be infinitely and centrally adjusted; to this end they are connected up to an adjustment unit driven by linear motors. These linear drive units are encased in stainless steel and can be included in the exterior sanitizing procedure. The required fill level can be set with the utmost precision and automatically started on the operator monitor. A filling system for each individual product range Unlike the Innofill Glass DNRT, the Innofill Glass NDRT and NRT filler versions for the wine and spirits sector have been developed for a fairly modest range of products. The Innofill Glass NDRT, for example, bottles still products and moderately carbonated beverages, such as slightly fizzy wines, at a filling pressure of up to 1.5 bars, making it the perfect filler if the natural CO2 content in wine is to be maintained. Prior to the start of filling, as an option the bottle can also be purged with inert gas. Head space purging is equally possible. The Innofill Glass NRT bottles still beverages exclusively and therefore uses balanced pressure filling only. Here, there is no loss of flavor or alcohol common to vacuum filling systems, and what's more, no outside air is sucked into the system through the filling valves. Up to three closure systems The fillers can be monoblocked with up to three different closure systems as required, such as a natural cork corker, an aluminum screw capper, and a PE stopper corker. If only one closure system is to be used initially, thanks to the modular design of the bottle transfer frame other closure systems can simply be retrofitted at a later date. Optional automatic rinsing cap system An automatic rinsing cap system can be integrated into all three of the Innofill Glass filling systems. During filling the rinsing caps are hidden behind metal jackets and therefore well protected from glass splinters and product residue. They are only exposed and positioned under the filling valves when the sanitizing process begins. The rinsing pressure seals the caps. The CIP process also includes the inner centering bell contact surfaces and the Trinox tube adjustment area. Filling under ultraclean conditions The automatic rinsing cap system is particularly important when filling is to be carried out under ultraclean conditions. If very sensitive products are scheduled for bottling, such as non-alcoholic wine with cold sterilants, alcohol-free, carbonated mixed wine beverages, or non-alcoholic sparkling wine, ultraclean filling should be implemented. For this purpose the Innofill Glass DNRT, Innofill Glass NDRT, and Innofill Glass NRT can be monoblocked with a single-channel or two-channel rinser which is precisely customized to requirements. If ultraclean filling is performed, the rinser/filler/capper or corker monoblock is housed in a KHS sanitary room where part of the ceiling is equipped with filter units. These units permanently supply the interior with sterile filtered air. The sanitary room has been designed so that only the bottle transfer areas have to be supplied with sterile air. The inside of the filler and rinser carousel is outside the sanitary room and can be accessed externally without any contact being made with the actual sanitary area. The filtered air flows back through the rinser and filler carousel into the shop area. The sanitary room is kept at a constant, slight overpressure to ensure a defined airflow from the ceiling to the floor at all times. Wet process rinsing and dry sterilization with H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) can both be used to sterilize closures. Some closures can also be treated with UV light. Multi-award-winning, extremely user-friendly KHS operator panel The Innofill Glass platform system is controlled by a KHS interface which has won several prizes, including the red dot award and iF award. The interface features an integrated RFID system which provides extremely user-friendly machine operator prompting. Easy-to-decipher buttons, colored graphics and icons, and interactive handling instructions speak a language that is plain and simple. Complex processes are depicted in a manner that is easy to understand. The clear menu structure grants access to various detailed views and operating levels. Users log on using an ID card which gives them access to their relevant data only. The system also perfectly combines ergonomics, navigation, and design. The bottom line: new development with numerous extra benefits for the wine, sparkling wine, and spirits trade To sum up, the wine, sparkling wine, and spirits trade is now also set to profit from the numerous benefits the new KHS Innofill Glass generation of fillers can offer them, consistently built according to the principles of hygienic design. These benefits include ensured top product quality, extremely high line availability and flexibility, minimized media and energy consumption, and low servicing and maintenance costs. In addition, the time needed for installation and commissioning is much reduced thanks to the machine's modular, open construction and the use of particularly simple functional units, now established in this new series of platform-based, KHS fillers. * Development Manager, Filling and Process Equipment, KHS GmbH, Bad
Kreuznach, Germany Phone: +49 (671) 852-2501