Hygienic Design is a major criterion for a company’s competitiveness. Optimizing consumer protection is always the most important aim when implementing Hygienic Design. Another aspect concerns protecting the health of the workforce in production companies. From an economic perspective, Hygienic Design not only pays off because microbiological risks are eliminated, but also because it means machines and their components can be cleaned quickly and easily. Short cleaning cycles are directly reflected in longer production time and, ultimately, in the increased efficiency of plant engineering. This article gives examples of what successful Hygienic Design can look like in practice in beverage filling technology.

Filtration is an important process step in breweries. It removes turbidigens such as tannins, proteins and protein components, yeast cells and the like from the beer. Process engineering in the filter cellar of breweries makes a major contribution to shelf life and taste and thus to the commercial success of a beer. Depth filtration using kieselguhr has a good filtering effect, but the abrasive nature of kieselguhr places special requirements on flow measurement equipment. These requirements can be met very well with instruments based on the clamp-on principle.

Since its launch to the market, countless beverage companies have been convinced by KHS’ InnoPET BloFill stretch blow molder/filler monoblock system. For in addition to specifically saving on the cost of an air conveyor and decreasing the space requirements by eliminating the need for an air conveying segment, the system also has the advantage of gentler PET bottle handling.

Regardless of the current economic crisis, the reality of the matter is that the German brewing industry has reaped the advantages of globalization. What’s more, some breweries have not only been able to compensate for the continuing drop in domestic sales but, in some cases, actually increase sales. Without doubt, globalization has also provided pportunities for some breweries to remain in business. In the pursuit of more affordable keg packaging, a number of disposable alternatives are now available. Here, Lightweight Containers BV, the Dutch marketing and sales subsidiary of KeyKeg, shares its experiences using the KeyKeg.

Bottle design is an essential element of a brewery’s brand presentation for consumers. Bottles of different shapes and colors with embossing and other decorative motifs have come into favor as a means of enhancing a brewery’s image and its brands. Furthermore, such bottles visually set a brand apart from its competitors’ brands and draw attention to the product on the store shelf. Both large and small breweries are choosing to highlight the individuality of their products with unique glass bottles.

Dimensioning of glass and PET returnables filling plants is oftentimes still based on a staging of individual units that are not output-adjustable or adjustable only in steps. With up-to-date control techniques, it is possible to have stepless demand-based control of all individual units in the wet

Optimisation of the hygiene status of conveyors has been proven in comparative tests in April 2009. The microbiological laboratories of Dipl.-Ing. Thonhauser Ges.m.b.H., Perchtoldsdorf/Austria and CCHBC, Vienna/Austria participated in these tests. Evaluation of results obtained by both laboratories clearly indicates that dry belt lubrication provides better results. The largely dry environment prevents growth of microorganisms. Apart from significant commercial implications and reliable technology, dry belt lubrication should be given preference, also from a microbiological point of view.

Balf is a part of the city of Sopron, located near Hungary’s border with Austria and is situated directly on the edge of the Neusiedler See National Park. This region is also known for its excellent mineral water. Here, the company PET-Pack packages the mineral water “Balfi” as well as over 60 different non-alcoholic beverages. Problems with foaming were experienced with all of these products during filling, especially with those containing sugar. In order to solve this problem, two possibilities were examined: one option was to implement a very energy-intensive cooling process, and the other, to install a cavitator manufactured by CavitatorSystems GmbH, based in Landshut, Germany.

About 1000 customers obtain their beverage requirements from the five associated breweries and various external depots – a massive logistical undertaking, in particular in a sector in which demand is highly dependent on unpredictable factors. In order to ensure that forwarders do not have to wait for hours for loading at peak times, the company decided to install a Tislot® time slot management system.

In April 2010 the Novosibirskprodmash Company, Russia, starts the sales of its cost effective growler filling systems PEGAS CrafTap in the USA and Europe. The pilot samples of the PEGAS CrafTap last were presented to the beer community in April at the Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America 2010 in Chicago/USA.

In December 2010, Krones has received a letter of non-objection from the FDA for a rotary dry-aseptic PET-bottle filling system featuring H₂O₂ as the sterilising agent.