What makes better drinks: wet-aseptic or dry sterilisation and irradiation

Hotfill or aseptic - that is the question facing companies when it comes to investing in filling technology for sensitive beverages.

More and more, the decision falls in favour of cold aseptic filling. The market for products filled in this way is growing; consumers like fresh, natural beverages. And retailers are also happy because these beverages have a long shelf life and there’s no need to keep them chilled.

Aseptic filling is making it possible to bring innovations onto the market - even in highly sensitive products - in a short space of time. The various aseptic filling techniques are proving to be very gentle on the product and its ingredients and no preservatives are needed. The vitamins are also retained. And that fits in very well with the major market trends towards more natural products, health benefits and a pleasant aroma.

Trend towards reducing cleaning and sterilising media

For Holger Kahlert, Vice President Filling Technology at Krones AG, Neutraubling, the general trend in aseptic filling is towards a significant reduction in cleaning and sterilisation media: “The plant operators want to move away from the classic wet-aseptic with peracetic acid or dry sterilisation with hydrogen peroxide towards chemical-free systems, for example using irradiation. ‘No water, no life’: if the isolator always remains dry and no chemicals are used, then microorganisms have no nutrient to feed on, and no contamination can arise.” The background to this trend is on the one hand the positive effect it has on overall operating costs (total cost of ownership) and on the other, the dry isolator improves hygiene levels on the machine as a whole.

Block concept preferred

More and more fillers are opting for a mechanical/electronic block concept with the blow moulders integrated into the aseptic system. Potential cost and space savings are the biggest attraction here, because there is no need for an air conveyor. In addition, by doing away with this ‘contamination stretch’, it’s possible to achieve greater microbiological safety. Integrating the blow moulder with the filling system into a single block is achieved through intelligent control systems, which in the event of a machine fault can compensate for the missing buffer stretch between the two machines.

Aseptic filling for products with ‘added extras’

Also ever more interesting for the sector is aseptic filling for products that have added ‘bits’ in them. Until now, juices that contain pieces of fruit were generally hot-filled, either as a whole product or separately as the juice and the fruit pieces. The fruit juice fillers, however, are now demanding even more gentle treatment of the product through aseptic techniques.

Interest is high in the fruit juice industry. The separate processing of fruit pieces in fruit juices is currently gaining ground mainly in the Asian region.

Cheaper alternative: ‘enhanced hygienic filling’

A (cheaper) alternative to aseptic filling is ‘enhanced hygienic filling’ or EHF, which is being recommended by various manufacturers for both mildly and strongly acidic beverages. Holger Kahlert: “Combined with an integrated block of blow moulder and aseptic system, this method disinfects the PET preform and not the container.” That saves both on components as well as sterilisation media and caters to the wish to move the sterilisation process as far downstream of bottle disinfection as possible.

Preform sterilisation gives beverage filling under ultraclean conditions further opportunities for reducing costs and increasing eco-compatibility.

Aseptic systems for smaller outputs

Another trend in aseptic is being seen in the production of smaller batches. There is a demand here for aseptic systems for smaller outputs which can give much greater flexibility of use for different products and which enable SMEs in the filling business to play a part in this market. As a rule with aseptic systems, too, the emphasis is on availability. This implies short changeover times and shorter cleaning times. The industry is also aiming to reduce the area taken up by the clean zone by limiting it to core areas in which the containers are sterilised and where the filling takes place.

The full spectrum of ‘state of the art’ at drinktec

drinktec is the ‘world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry’. Manufacturers and suppliers from all over the world - global companies and SMEs alike - meet up here with all sizes of producers and retailers of beverages and liquid food products. Within the sector, drinktec is regarded as the number one platform for launching new products on the world market. At this event manufacturers present the latest technology for processing, filling, packaging and marketing all kinds of beverages and liquid food - raw materials and logistics solutions included. The themes of beverages marketing and packaging design round off the portfolio.

drinktec 2013, which takes place at the Messe München exhibition centre in Munich, from 16 to 20 September 2013, is expected to attract around 1500 exhibitors from over 70 countries and approximately 60,000 visitors from more than 170 countries.

Holger Kahlert regards drinktec as the most important and largest trade fair for the sector: “The nice thing about drinktec is that all the suppliers converge here. It is not only the most important trade show for Krones, it’s also the top one for our competitors, too. That means that at drinktec you really do see the full spectrum of all that is ‘state of the art’ and get a glimpse of what’s coming in the future. So anyone who wants to know what’s going to happen in the beverages sector over the coming years just has to be at drinktec.”