PET bottle manufacturers, PTI, and compressed air specialists, Air Power USA, have partnered to create an energy audit program designed to lower energy costs in the blow-moulding process.
Donald Miller, VP technical services, PTI said: “In today’s environmentally-conscious world, companies go out of their way to drive weight out of bottles and other packaging components, but they often overlook the significant amount of energy waste that occurs when running the equipment.
“Depending on how inefficient energy usage is, this can be a goldmine of ‘found money’ for the company. If several plants are involved, the energy savings can be well over a million dollars annually,” added Miller.
Technology has helped US bottlers
The company says it has reduced costs for a handful of North American bottle manufacturers and now aims to expand the initiative to South America and Europe.
PTI provided two case studies to FoodProductionDaily.com that show estimated savings of $500,000 and $179,000 annually for two unnamed US companies.
Stretch blow-moulding equipment requires a large amount of energy – electrical power to process the raw materials and produce compressed air – to manufacture bottles.
“The key to creating a successful energy reduction program is to consider air delivery and air demand [blow molding equipment] requirements at the same time. In the past, companies have tended to focus on these as separate areas and not in concert with one another,” Miller said.
PTI produces blueprint with suggested improvements
PTI carries out on site audits and assesses the improvements which can be made. It compiles a cost benefit analysis report that can be used as a blueprint for its suggested improvements.
The company said most energy is consumed when materials are converted from a raw form to a finished or semi-finished state.
“In the case of reheat stretch blow packaging, the injection process (converting resin into a preform) and then the blow molding process (conversion of the preform into a bottle), both consume a great deal of energy.
“So there is a real opportunity to reduce operating costs if the energy consumed matches the requirements to create the correct finished product,” said Ron Puvak, director of marketing, PTI.
PTI is based in Ohio and has offices in Geneva. It was founded in 1985 to develop PET bottle technology.