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Reprinted from Canning and Filling, January 2000
Stephanie Eve visited Guinness' UK
packaging plant in Cheshire to discover
how an A&E waterless rinser has
improved the efficiency of its canning line.
Waterless container rinsers have become
increasingly popular in
recent years; not only because
they eliminate the need to use
water, but for their superior performance in cleaning empty cans
and bottles compared with traditional water rinsers.
The UK's first
installation of a waterless container rinsing system from A&E
Conveyor Systems recently took
place at Guinness's Runcorn,
Cheshire, facility. The installation
was handled by Elson Automation, European agent for US-based A&E.
The Pur Rinse system is suitable tor a variety of different can
sizes —including the 330ml,
400ml. 500ml and 568ml sizes
used at Guiness - and may be
adapted for use with PET and
PVC bottles.
0ne reason why Guinness
chose A&E's Pur Rinse ionised
air rinser was the increased efficiency which it enabled in the
pre-fill rinsing procedure, by eliminating water usage and effluent
charges. Another reason was that
A&E's system operates in a sterile
environment, which further
reduces the chances of contaminating containers. The risk at
microbiological contamination by
water is not only reduced inside
containers, but also in the surrounding conveying system and
environment.
The Pur Rinse system uses
neutralization equipment to
remove dust and debris from
empty containers immediately
prior to filing. It has an eight-stage
ionisation and vacuum system
whereby Ionised air is blown into
the container as it travels over the
nozzles, ionised air is able to
combat the static charge, which
often makes particles difficult to
dislodge from the container wall.
This makes the ionised air superior to standard compressed air,
while A&E says ionised air is the
same and sometimes more effective than water, which may act as
a glue, keeping the contaminants
stuck to the container wall.
The Pur Rinse system also
operates within an enclosed sterile environment whereas
conventional rinsing system may even
contribute to sanitation problems,
for example compressed air can
contain particles of water and oil.
In comparison, ionised air is
passed through three separate
filtration stages before use.
David Eaglefield, project manager at Elson, spent six months at
Guinness coordinating the project in order to ensure a smooth
start up; "We think of waterless
rinsing as a next generation technology."
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