New KHS aseptic block with bottle sterilisation

Energy-efficient InnoPET Blomax Series V stretch blow moulder integrated

With its new aseptic block for bottle sterilisation, KHS is setting standards in safety and hygiene. Beverage bottlers don’t have to compromise on performance here, however: thanks to its rotary filler, the block can produce triple the output of the linear filler.

Where maximum safety is of prime concern when filling sensitive beverages into PET bottles, KHS’ linear aseptic fillers have long proved themselves on the market. It’s thus only logical, then, that the Dortmund systems provider is now proud to also present a rotary aseptic filler for higher capacities whose hygienic properties are setting new standards. Here, the machine and systems manufacturer is consciously focusing on bottle sterilisation that – unlike preform sterilisation – can also be combined with the KHS FreshSafe PET coating system that provides additional product protection for sensitive beverages. In this procedure, all potential germs are removed from the containers directly before filling. This gives bottlers more flexibility and greater availability during format changeovers than with performing sterilisation, where changing the stretch blow moulds disturbs the sterile state of the block. Bottle sterilisation also allows lightweight containers to be gently handled with ease.

The new rotary Innofill PET ACF-R filler has been combined with the energy-efficient InnoPET Blomax Series V stretch blow moulder. The resulting InnoPET BloFill ACF-R aseptic block currently has a capacity of up to 36,000 1.0-litre bottles per hour as opposed to the linear fillers that work at a maximum rate of 14,000 bottles an hour. In the future, the block will even be available with an output of up to 48,000 500-milliliter bottles every sixty minutes. In addition, the new plant engineering achieves a sterility of log 6 inside the bottles – which is equivalent to a reduction in germs of 99.9999 per cent.