The bottle washing machine is one of the costly units in the filling production line. Therefore, its availability, anti-interference and work efficiency are very important to the manufacturer. In order to further improve the decontamination function of the machine, Krones AG of Neutraubling, Germany, has successfully improved the cleaning function of the bottle washer with a new prepreg design.

Typically on a standard equipment size of 60,000 bottles per hour, each bottle has about 1 gram of dirt (without labels). If the machine runs continuously for 150 hours a week, there will be 60 kg of dirt per hour and a total of 9 tons in one week. If a mechanized system using filter belt drains or circulators is used, it is often prone to malfunctions, and depending on the installation location, there are also difficulties in cleaning and maintaining these sewers. In response to this problem, Krones's research and development goal is: Effectively remove dirt, residual beverages, canopies, cigarette butts and debris and keep equipment parts clean.

After repeated trials, Krones used hydraulic methods to solve the above problems. The specific method is to provide horizontal flow water for the bottle washer with a propeller pump with circulating water volume of about 500m3 per hour. The amount of recycled water is taken from the filter side of the small tag separator, pumped to a pipe that is longer than the width of the machine, and then returned to the machine. The stream strength is sufficient to flush all dirt and debris through the pre-soak channel into the screen box.

The special shape of the bottom of the sieve box can make the heavier pieces such as glass pieces or sediments, etc., precipitate under the action of gravity. Lighter materials such as labels float on top and are discharged through a filter belt. The debris tank is connected by a descending pipe to the drain. Depending on the amount of debris, open the drain to empty the debris if necessary.

With this new pre-impregnation design, Krones has successfully improved the washing function of the bottle washer. (Longman)

Reprinted from: Consumer Daily