GERMANY – Packaging and bottling machine manufacturer Krones has equipped Adelholzener Alpenquellen with advanced aseptic technology across seven of its eight production lines, ensuring unparalleled hygiene standards for the renowned beverage company’s spritzers and water products.
This strategic upgrade aligns with the growing demand for on-the-go beverages.
The enhancements include installing a returnable glass container line in 2020, which will be complemented by a new line for non-returnable containers in 2025.
The new Krones line, with an output of 36,000 bottles per hour, is designed to boost bottling capacities for spritzers and water significantly.
Adelholzener has chosen the Contipure Bloc P for this purpose—a highly hygienic block specifically designed for sensitive products.
This system sterilizes preforms before they are blown into bottles, aseptically filled, and sealed. The “P” in Contipure Bloc P denotes the performance version, which uses a hot caustic solution for machine surface disinfection and steam for sterilizing product paths. This ensures microbiologically safe filling with rapid cleaning and sterilization times.
In addition to the bottling line, Krones provides essential process technology equipment, including a Unipure product filtration system and a VarioAsept J flash pasteurizer.
The new line’s first products, a result of the ongoing partnership, are expected to roll off in the summer of 2025, with full acceptance planned for autumn.
This timeline demonstrates the efficient and timely execution of the project, marking a significant milestone in Adelholzener Alpenquellen’s mission to deliver high-quality, hygienically processed beverages to meet rising consumer demand.
Krones introduces VarioAsept D System for heat-sensitive beverages
In another development, Krones has innovated a more energy-efficient method for heating sensitive beverages like milk and plant-based alternatives using their VarioAsept D system.
Krones AG continues to build on its reputation for innovative solutions and technologies to optimize production with this latest energy-saving concept.
Krones’ process technology team has revolutionized the direct-heating process of the VarioAsept D system, introducing a high-gravity heating method inspired by high-gravity brewing in the beer sector.
The beverage (such as an oat or dairy-based drink) is fed into the direct heating system in a concentrated form, with a lower water content than the finished product.
The VarioAsept D system offers two direct heating methods: injection or infusion. Krones uses high-gravity heating for infusion, reducing energy consumption in direct heating and upstream steps like mashing.
This concept significantly lowers energy usage in producing sensitive products like milk-based beverages and plant-based milk alternatives.
The genius of this approach is evident in the cooling process. In conventional systems, the same amount of steam injected during heating must be removed during cooling.
However, with high-gravity heating, water is added to the concentrated product later, allowing some steam to remain during cooling.
This reduces the need for additional steam in the heat exchanger and lowers the cooling output required by the condenser.
This energy-saving concept, initially proven in the brewing industry, benefits producers of sensitive beverages by using the finished product as a heat source, raising the temperature of process water, and utilizing surplus heat in upstream processes.
Krones has successfully adapted this concept for manufacturing dairy and other liquid-food products, showcasing its applicability beyond brewing.
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