KHS recently unveiled a new version of its' Innofill Glass DRS filling system for local German brewer Rothaus. The flexible, inline machine features 132 filling stations that can process up to 50,000 bottles per hour. Features of the system include:
- Fast format part changeovers via the hygienic QUICKLOCK locking system. Bottle guide parts can be exchanged with a few manual adjustments and remain securely in place due to a positive fit between the mount and the format part. The conversion time for fillers with a crowner is thus cut by up to 33 percent to just 15 or 20 minutes.
- During the filling process a DIAS diagnostic assistance system tracks the filling process, with pressure sensors in every single filling valve monitoring the pressure, time and step sequences without interruption. In this way any deviations from the target values are immediately recognized. The evacuation and CO2 purging processes are also monitored to ensure low oxygen pickup, and broken bottles are consistently detected across the entire processing angle.
- Foam displaces the residual oxygen from the bottle and is of great importance for the quality of the beer. As the foaming is dependent on various parameters in the filling process, the new camera-controlled OPTICAM HPI control system enables the head of the foam to be constantly monitored and regulated. This means that Rothaus can not only prevent undue beer loss due to excessive foaming, but also detect and reject bottles with insufficient foaming. If the beer error rate becomes too high, production is stopped and the operators can read off the cause of the fault from a clear analysis report.
