"Due to the fact that here we sterilize the preform instead of the bottle, we can lightweight as much as each design allows. Therefore, there is a huge potential material saving using this machine," Schneider, who is senior project engineer filling/aseptic technology filling and capping technology at Krones, tells Ben Bouckley.
"But there are other advantages as well. It's a completely dry machine so we're only using evaporated H20 (vaporized hydrogen peroxide or VHP as many people say in the branch) and sterile filtered heated air - so we are not using any water on that machine, it does not use any water during production," he adds.
"There is no paracetic acid on such a line, and the machine has a very small footprint. It can also be operated by just one person - so it's a very flexible and economic machine," Schneider explains to BeverageDaily.com in Munich.
Directly after the preforms are heated they are sent to the sterilie zone and treated with H2O2 (VHP); blow molding, filling and capping occur in a second sterile zone. This machine has an output of 32,000 bottles/hour, but Schneider tells us that Krones tailors installations to suit client preferences.