Contents

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................5 OVERVIEW OF THE BREWING PROCESS ......................................................................................6 GENERAL OVERVIEW OF PACKAGING OPERATIONS .............................................................7 THE HISTORY OF BEER PACKAGING ............................................................................................8 BOTTLING ...............................................................................................................................................8 5.1. Glass bottle ........................................................................................................................................8 Glass composition.......................................................................................................................8 Glass and glass container manufacture: ...................................................................................9 Procedures of pouring beer into glass bottle: .........................................................................17 Explain procedure:...................................................................................................................17

5.1.1. 5.1.2. 5.1.3. 5.1.4. 5.2.

PET bottle ........................................................................................................................................32 PET material ............................................................................................................................34 Advantages and disadvantages of PET packaging .................................................................35 Method of barrier masses.........................................................................................................36 PET plastic bottles with barrier coatings (monolayer plastic bottles) ....................................37 Multilayer technologies ............................................................................................................38 Bottle closures ..........................................................................................................................39 PET filling systems...................................................................................................................40 Testing procdures in Pivovarna Lako,d.d. .............................................................................41 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................42

5.2.1. 5.2.2. 5.2.3. 5.2.4. 5.2.5. 5.2.6. 5.2.7. 5.2.8. 5.2.9. 6.

THE ALUMINUM BEVERAGE CAN .................................................................................................42 6.1. 6.2. 6.3. Introduction .....................................................................................................................................42 Aluminum beverage can production .............................................................................................42 UV-Curable Coatings for Aluminum Can Production ................................................................48 CAN PRINTING TECHNOLOGIES:.....................................................................................48 UV TECHNOLOGY PROCESS DESCRIPTION: .................................................................49 PROCESS EFFICIENCY: ......................................................................................................52 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: .......................................................................................................52 ENERGY EFFICIENCY: ........................................................................................................52 PRODUCT QUALITY: ..........................................................................................................53 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: ..............................................................................................53 NATIONAL IMPACT:.............................................................................................................55 ACCEPTANCE: .......................................................................................................................55

6.3.1. 6.3.2. 6.3.3. 6.3.4. 6.3.5. 6.3.6. 6.3.7. 6.3.8. 6.3.9.

6.4. 6.5.

Improvement features of aluminum can .......................................................................................56 Aluminum can filling systems .......................................................................................................60 Production line .........................................................................................................................60 Producton line explanation......................................................................................................60

6.5.1. 6.5.2. 6.6. 6.7. 7.

Production efficiency ......................................................................................................................61 PET, Glass and Aluminum Beer Bottle comparison....................................................................62

KEGGING ...............................................................................................................................................62 7.1. 7.2. 7.3. 7.4. 7.5. 7.6. The keg .............................................................................................................................................63 Treatment of beer for kegging .......................................................................................................64 Handling of kegs ..............................................................................................................................66 Keg internal cleaning and filling....................................................................................................66 Keg capping and labelling ..............................................................................................................70 Smooth flow ale in kegs ..................................................................................................................71

8.

CASK BEER............................................................................................................................................72 8.1. 8.2. 8.3. 8.4. The cask ...........................................................................................................................................73 Handling casks ................................................................................................................................74 Preparing beer for cask filling .......................................................................................................75 Cask filling .......................................................................................................................................76

FIGURES :
Figure 1 The feeder molten glass is extruded through the orifice at a predetermined rate and is cropped into a solid cylinder known as a gob (courtesy of The Institute of Packaging). .................................10 Figure 2 The blow and blow forming process (courtesy of Rockware Glass). ............................................10 Figure 3 The wide mouth press and blow forming process (courtesy of Rockware Glass). .........................11 Figure 4 The narrow neck press and blow forming process (courtesy of Rockware Glass). ........................11 Figure 5 The parts of a glass container. (Reproduced, with permission, from Giles, G.A. (1999), Handbook of Beverage Packaging, Blackwell Publishing (Sheffield Academic Press), Oxford.) ...................12 Figure 6 The positions of the moulding joints of the glass container. (Reproduced, with permission, from Giles, G.A. (1999), Handbook of Beverage Packaging, Blackwell Publishing (Sheffield Academic Press), Oxford.) ................................................................................................................................13 Figure 7 Principles of production line inspections. (Reproduced, with permission, from John Wiley & Son Inc.) ........................................................................................................................................................15 Figure 8 Standard finish nomenclature (courtesy of The Institute of Packaging).........................................16 Figure 9 : Procedures of pouring beer into glass bottle. ...............................................................................17 Figure 10 The interior should be cleaned with a bottle brush .......................................................................18 Figure 11 Tongs should be used in all cases when handling hot containers. ................................................19 Figure 12 The washer system........................................................................................................................19 Figure 13 The bottle in washer .....................................................................................................................20 Figure 14 The component of bottle in and out ..............................................................................................21 Figure 15 The circuit of the washer .............................................................................................................22 Figure 16 The use of a simple funnel and rod...............................................................................................23 Figure 17 A simple frame to tilt jars so that the correct filling level is achieved .........................................23 Figure 18 A filler can be made by fixing taps into a 50 litre stainless steel bucket ......................................24 Figure 19 Filling procedure...........................................................................................................................24 Figure 20 Put the liquid into the bottle .........................................................................................................25 Figure 21 Component of glass bottle closures .............................................................................................26 Figure 22 The hand-held lever type & The table mounted model ................................................................26 Figure 23 Hand operated ROPP machines can be constructed locally and small motorized version are available commercially ...............................................................................................................................27 Figure 24 Plastic snap-on caps are fitted over the neck of the bottle and sealed by a capping machine & Corks are mostly used to seal wine bottles and hand operated corkers which both squeeze the cork and insert it into the bottle are available .............................................................................................28 Figure 25 Push-on lids are still used for sealing jars ....................................................................................28 Figure 26 The method of controlled cooling of containers after processing ................................................28 Figure 27 A simple frame which can be used to hold plain labels, wipe glue over top of label in stack, roll jar along............................................................................................................................................29 Figure 28 Small labelling machines can be used to apply strips of glue to labels. .......................................29 Figure 29 The label machine.........................................................................................................................30 Figure 30 Filled weight can be checked using a scale that has the package plus a known weight on one side and samples of filled product placed on the other side. ......................................................................31

Figure 31 Measuring the size to find the minimum internal dimensions .....................................................32 Figure 32 Newer methods of collating containers include shrinkwrap or stretch wrap films which hold the bottles or jars together on card trays ...................................................................................................32 Figure 33 Beer in PET packaging .................................................................................................................34 Figure 34 PET barrier ...................................................................................................................................36 Figure 35 PET barrier masses .......................................................................................................................37 Figure 36 PET barrier coatings ( monolayer plastic bottles ) .......................................................................38 Figure 37 PET Multilayer coating ................................................................................................................39 Figure 38 PET packaging system..................................................................................................................41 Figure 39 Structure of aluminum can ...........................................................................................................44 Figure 40 How to make aluminum can .........................................................................................................45 Figure 41 The initial draw transforms the blank into a small cup.................................................................46 Figure 42 Transformation from decorate to fill and seam ............................................................................46 Figure 43 The punch pushes the can past ironing rings ................................................................................48 Figure 44 UV printer .....................................................................................................................................50 Figure 45 UV Oven .......................................................................................................................................51 Figure 46 Cumulative VOC Emissions Comparision ...................................................................................55 Figure 47 Number or cans produced in the US .............................................................................................58 Figure 48 Beer filler .......................................................................................................................................60 Figure 49 Seam between body and lid ..........................................................................................................61 Figure 50 Vertical section of a 50l beer keg, height 472mm; diameter 382mm (by courtesy of Alumasc Ltd). ...................................................................................................................................................63 Figure 51 Flash pasteuriser; (a) raw unpasteurized beer, (b) pasteurized beer (by courtesy of APV Co. Ltd) .............................................................................................................................................................65 Figure 52 Automatic linear (lane) internal keg washing and filling machine, equipment shown in (a) is found in the washer/racker area of (b) (Eaton, 2002; Hough et. al., 1982). ..................................................68 Figure 53 A rotary keg racking machine shown in plan from the top. Kegs move around the central core at the series of stations which comprise: 1 cylinder down; 2 leak test; 3 rinse head; 4 blow out head; 5 pressure test; 6 counter-pressure; 7 fill; 8 disconne pressure relief; 11 cylinder up; 12 close keg; 13 release keg clamp; 14 discharge keg (Eaton, 2002 and courtesy of KHS Till). ...................................69 Figure 54 Vertical section of 18 imp. gallon beer cask, height, 520mm; diameter, 470mm ........................73 Figure 55 Internal cask washing equipment: nine station chain machine with moving centre beam; HL, hot liquor (water); det, detergent applied to outside of cask (not used in all installations) (by courtesy of Porter Lancastrian Ltd.). ................................................................................................................74 Figure 56 Traditional cask ale racking back .................................................................................................76

TABLES
Table 1 Relative proportion of beer sold in draught and small-pack form for important beerproducing countries in 2000 (BLRA, 2002) .......................................................................................................5 Table 2 Proportions of glass containers made in UK for various market sectors ...........................................9 Table 3 Economic analysis ( dollars/billion cans) ........................................................................................52 Table 4 Energy efficencies ( MMBtu/ billion cans)......................................................................................53 Table 5 Product Quality ................................................................................................................................53 Table 6 Environmental Impact Including Energy Source .............................................................................54

1. INTRODUCTION Beer must be packaged before it is sold. To ensure the best possible quality of the product, packaging must be carried out with skill and care. Only if packaging is effectively performed will the product be acceptable. Beer can be put into a number of packages. The most important world-wide is the bottle. Bottles are of two types: returnable and non-returnable. The most used is the returnable bottle but in developed markets in Europe and the USA the non-returnable bottle is prevalent. Beer is also filled into cans, kegs and casks. Usually a distinction is made between draught beer, i.e., in kegs or casks and `small-pack beer' in bottles and cans. There are differences between countries in the relative proportions of different packages (Table ). The UK and Ireland are unusual in having most of their beer on draught. The UK is further unusual in that of the 64% of its beer sold on draught in 1998, 11% was conditioned in the cask and not filtered in the brewery. Cask conditioned beer demands very different packaging from keg beer. Table 1 Relative proportion of beer sold in draught and small-pack form for important beer-producing countries in 2000 (BLRA, 2002) Country USA China Germany Brazil Japan UK The Netherlands Ireland Production ( 000hl) 233.521 220.485 110.429 82.600 71.727 55.729 25.072 8.710 Draught sales ( %) 9 5 19 1 16 62 30 78 Small-pack sales (%) 91 95 81 99 84 38 70 22

Packaging is influenced by environmental issues, which are stronger in some countries than others. In some cases a revival in the use of returnable glass bottles and the outlawing of selling beer in cans has occurred. Most countries now have packaging legislation, which seeks to control the use of packaging material and to reduce waste. This sometimes leads to conflict with marketing where packaging plays such a huge role in product attractiveness. Packaging is the most labour-intensive part of the brewing process. The machinery for packaging beer has become progressively more complex with the object of reducing labour costs and preserving product quality. Capital employed in packaging is usually the highest of
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the brewing operations. The efficiency of operation of packaging machinery is of critical importance to a profitable brewery. It is essential to keep records of packaging operations. These relate to the strength and type of the beer packaged and to the volume of the beer. Everywhere there is legislation governing the contents of the beer in the package for sale. This may relate to average or to a guaranteed minimum content. The records will be audited by officials. In most countries a tax (excise duty) is taken relating to the strength of the beer. The packaging department or warehouse keeps the records on which this is based. Packaging is thus of fundamental importance in the supply of beer and is pivotal in ensuring the customer is satisfied in terms of quality, quantity and legality. The packaging options available, particularly for bottles and cans, are now numerous and involve different types of multi-pack presentation using cardboard and plastic. Brands can establish an identity based on the package alone and this is frequently as important as the identity created by the taste of the beer. This essay deals with the underlying principles of successful modern packaging operations. 2. OVERVIEW OF THE BREWING PROCESS There are several steps in the brewing process, which may include malting, mashing, lautering, boiling, fermenting, conditioning, filtering, and packaging. Malting is the process where barley grain is made ready for brewing.Malting is broken down into three steps in order to help to release the starches in the barley.First, during steeping, the grain is added to a vat with water and allowed to soak for approximately 40 hours.During germination, the grain is spread out on the floor of the germination room for around 5 days.The final part of malting is kilning. Here, the malt goes through a very high temperature drying in a kiln. The temperature change is gradual so as not to disturb or damage the enzymes in the grain. When kilning is complete, the grains are now termed malt, and they will be milled or crushed to break apart the kernels and expose the cotyledon, which contains the majority of the carbohydrates and sugars; this makes it easier to extract the sugars during mashing. Mashing converts the starches released during the malting stage, into sugars that can be fermented. The milled grain is mixed with hot water in a large vessel known as amash tun. In this vessel, the grain and water are mixed together to create a cereal mash. During the mash, naturally occurring enzymes present in the malt convert the starches (long chain carbohydrates) in the grain into smaller molecules or simple sugars (mono-, di-, and trisaccharides). This "conversion" is called saccharification. The result of the mashing process is a sugar rich liquid or "wort" (pronounced wert), which is then strained through the bottom of the mash tun in a process known aslautering. Prior to lautering, the mash temperature may be raised to about 75 C (165170 F) (known as a mashout) to deactivate enzymes. Additional water may be sprinkled on the grains to extract additional sugars (a process known as sparging). The wort is moved into a large tank known as a "copper" or kettle where it is boiled with hops and sometimes other ingredients such as herbs or sugars. This stage is where many chemical and technical reactions take place, and where important decisions about the flavour, colour, and aroma of the beer are made. The boiling process serves to terminate enzymatic
6

processes, precipitate proteins, isomerize hop resins, and concentrate and sterilize the wort. Hops add flavour, aroma and bitterness to the beer. At the end of the boil, the hopped wort settles to clarify in a vessel called a "whirlpool", where the more solid particles in the wort are separated out. After the whirlpool, the wort then begins the process of cooling. This is when the wort is transferred rapidly from the whirlpool or brew kettle to a heat exchanger to be cooled. The heat exchanger consists of tubing inside a tub of cold water. It is very important to quickly cool the wort to a level where yeast can be added safely as yeast is unable to grow in high temperatures. After the wort goes through the heat exchanger, the cooled wort goes into a fermentation tank. A type of yeast is selected and added, or "pitched", to the fermentation tank.When the yeast is added to the wort, the fermenting process begins, where the sugars turn into alcohol, carbon dioxide and other components. When the fermentation is complete the brewer may rack the beer into a new tank, called a conditioning tank. Conditioning of the beer is the process in which the beer ages, the flavour becomes smoother, and flavours that are unwanted dissipate.After one to three weeks, the fresh (or "green") beer is run off into conditioning tanks. After conditioning for a week to several months, the beer enters the finishing stage.Here, beers that require filtration are filtered, and given their natural polish and colour. Filtration also helps to stabilize the flavour of the beer. After the beer is filtered, it undergoes carbonation, and is then moved to a holding tank until bottling.

3. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF PACKAGING OPERATIONS A packaging line is a series of machines designed to fill containers with beer and present those containers (packages) to the warehouse. The detailed design of the line will depend on the type of package (bottle, can, keg, or cask), the required rate of packaging and the types of beer to be packaged. There will also be machines to deal with any secondary packaging required which is usually specified by the customer. Modern small-pack beer fillers operate at very high rates, bottling at over 1000 bottles/min. and canning at 2000 cans/min. is common. As there is little storage space in breweries for empty cans and bottles a constant stream of bottles or cans to the site is needed. This could mean around 30 vehicles/24 h carrying 26 pallets of empty containers arriving at the brewery. Manufacturers of packages are frequently located near to the packaging plant. The pressure to supply is not so intense with returnable bottles and kegs but the recovery of empties from the trade must be arranged. These logistics are very important in the management of packaging. Two separate flows must be dealt with in any packaging plant: the flow of the beer and the flow of the containers both empty and full. Thus the mechanical engineering of machinery with large moving parts and its proximity to a perishable foodstuff must be considered. The handling of the container as well as the handling of the beer must be optimized. Three main aspects characterize all successful packaging operations: Preventing air getting into the beer is essential. All the precautions followed in producing bright beer must be maintained. Probably the final product specification for dissolved oxygen in the beer will be <0.2mg/l or, in some cases, <0.1mg/l, so during
7

filling operations the pick-up of oxygen must not exceed 0.020.03mg/l. If this oxygen level is not achieved serious flavour deterioration will result. This control of oxygen is therefore a major feature of good packaging. Control of oxygen on filling is not important with casks. Cask beer contains live yeast (14 million cells/ml) for secondary fermentation and any oxygen present in the beer is rapidly scavenged by the yeast. The temperature of the beer after conditioning and on filling the bright beer tank is likely to be -1 to 0C (3032 F) and the carbon dioxide content may be 2.12.7 volumes depending on whether it is destined for keg or small pack. The pressure on the beer must be maintained and the temperature rise controlled to <2 C (3.5F) to keep carbon dioxide in solution. Carbon dioxide loss is a serious problem, which can disrupt beer supply as beer is held in the warehouse pending re-processing. This is expensive and potentially damaging to customer service. The final major factor common to all filling plants is cleanliness. All the plant, not just that in contact with the beer, must be regularly and thoroughly cleaned.

4. THE HISTORY OF BEER PACKAGING The way in which beer was packaged has also evolved over the years. The ancients used the same container batch after batch for the fermentation process and often stored it in ceramic pots. Brewers would often travel with the fermenting containers so they could brew wherever they go. The history of beer packaging has evolved even more since being stored in a ceramic pot. The ways in which we store beer now is in a keg, a can, or in a bottle. The beer bottle is older than the other packaging. Beer was bottled in Hertfordshire first, sometime towards the end of the 16th century. The first keg as we know it was patented in 1910 and bought by the Milwaukee Brewing Company. In 1935, the Kreuger beer company marketed their beer in a can as a result of prohibition ending and the American Can Company producing a test batch of 2000 cans. 5. BOTTLING 5.1.Glass bottle 5.1.1. Glass composition 5.1.1.1.White flint (clear glass) Colourless glass, known as white flint, is derived from soda, lime and silica. This composition also forms the basis for all other glass colours. A typical composition would be: silica (SiO2) 72%, from high purity sand; lime (CaO) 12%, from limestone (calcium carbonate); soda (Na2O) 12%, from soda ash; alumina (Al2O3), present in some of the other raw materials or in feldspar-type aluminous material; magnesia (MgO) and potash (K2O),

ingredients not normally added but present in the other materials. Cullet, recycled broken glass, when added to the batch reduces the use of these materials. Table 2 Proportions of glass containers made in UK for various market sectors Product

% Trend in consumption Beer 30 Rising steadily from early 1990s Food 24 Steady in 1990s, now falling slowly Spirits and liqueurs 18.5 Steady Flavoured alcoholic beverages 16 Rapid from start in 1997 and rising Soft drinks 6.5 Steady but below 1990s average Milk 2 Steady Wine 2 Steady Cider 1 steady Source: Derived from data supplied by Rockware Glass. 5.1.1.2.Pale green ( half white) Where slightly less pure materials are used, the iron content (Fe2O3) rises and a pale green glass is produced. Chromium oxide (Cr2O3) can be added to produce a slightly denser blue green colour. 5.1.1.3.Dark green This colour is also obtained by the addition of chromium oxide and iron oxide. 5.1.1.4.Amber (brown in various colour densities) Amber is usually obtained by melting a composition containing iron oxide under strongly reduced conditions. Carbon is also added. Amber glass has UV protection properties and could well be suited for use with light-sensitive products. 5.1.1.5.Blue Blue glass is usually obtained by the addition of cobalt to a low-iron glass. Almost any coloured glass can be produced either by furnace operation or by glass colouring in the conditioning forehearth. The latter operation is an expensive way of producing glass and commands a premium product price. Fore hearth colours would generally be outside the target price of most carbonated soft drinks. 5.1.2. Glass and glass container manufacture: 5.1.2.1.Melting Glass is melted in a furnace at temperatures of around 1350C (2462F) and is homogenized in the melting process, producing a bubble-free liquid. The mol-ten glass is then allowed to flow through a temperature controlled channel (fore hearth) to the forming machine, where it arrives via the feeder at the correct temperature to suit the container to be produced. For general containers, suitable for foods and carbonated beverages, this would be in the region of 1100C (2012F).
9

5.1.2.2.Container forming In the feeder the molten glass is extruded through an orifice of known diameter at a predetermined rate and is cropped into a solid cylindrical shape. The cylinder of glass is known in the trade as a gob and is equivalent in weight to the container to be produced. The gob is allowed to free-fall through a series of deflectors into the forming machine, also known as the IS or individual section machine, where it enters the parison. The parison comprises a neck finish mould and a parison mould, mounted in an inverted position. The parison is formed by either pressing or blowing the gob to the shape of the parison mould. The parison is then reinverted, placed into the final mould and blown out to the shape of the final mould, from where it emerges at a temperature of approximately 650C (1200F). A container is said to have been produced by either the press and blow or blow and blow process (Fig. 6.2). In general terms, the press and blow process is used for jars and the blow and blow process for bottles. An alternative, for lightweight bottles, is the narrow neck press and blow process. The press and blow process is generally best suited to produce jars with a neck finish size of 35mm (1.25); the other two processes are more suited to produce bottles with a neck finish size of 35mm (1.25).

Figure 1 The feeder molten glass is extruded through the orifice at a predetermined rate and is cropped into a solid cylinder known as a gob (courtesy of The Institute of Packaging).

Figure 2

The blow and blow forming process (courtesy of Rockware Glass).

10

Figure 3 Glass).

The wide mouth press and blow forming process (courtesy of Rockware

The narrow neck press and blow process offers better control of the glass distribution than the blow and blow process, allowing weight savings in the region of 30% to be made.

Figure 4 Glass).

The narrow neck press and blow forming process (courtesy of Rockware

5.1.2.3.Design parameters: One of the design parameters to be borne in mind when looking at the functionality of a glass container is that the tilt angle for a wide-mouthed jar should be 22 and that for a bottle 16. These parameters are indicative of the least degree of stability that the container can withstand. (For other design parameters, see Figs 5 and 6.)

11

Figure 5 The parts of a glass container. (Reproduced, with permission, from Giles, G.A. (1999), Handbook of Beverage Packaging, Blackwell Publishing (Sheffield Academic Press), Oxford.)

12

Figure 6 The positions of the moulding joints of the glass container. (Reproduced, with permission, from Giles, G.A. (1999), Handbook of Beverage Packaging, Blackwell Publishing (Sheffield Academic Press), Oxford.) 5.1.2.4.Surface treatments Once formed, surface treatment is applied to the container in two stages: hot end and cold end treatment, respectively. Hot end treatment The purpose of hot end surface treatment is to prevent surface damage whilst the bottle is still hot and to help maintain the strength of the container. The most common coating material deposited is tin oxide, although derivatives of titanium are also used. This treatment tends to generate high friction surfaces; to overcome this problem, a lubricant is added. Cold end treatment The second surface treatment is applied once the container has been annealed. Annealing is a process which reduces the residual strain in the container that has been introduced in the forming process. The purpose of the cold end treatment is to create a lubricated surface that does not break down under the influence of pressure or water, and aids the flow of containers through a high speed filling line. Application is by aqueous spray or vapour, care being taken to prevent entry of the spray into the container, the most commonly used lubricants being derivatives of polyester waxes or polyethylene. The surface tension resulting from this treatment can be measured by using Dynes indicating pens. Labelling compatibility should be discussed with either the adhesive supplier or the adhesive label supplier depending on the type of label to be used. Low-cost production tooling The tooling cost for a glass container is approximately one-fifth that of a plastic container. Whilst the numbers produced per cavity are lower than for plastic, this can be advantageous, because the design can be modified or completely revamped in a much shorter time-span than plastic; thus, the product image can be updated and the product marketability kept alive. The numbers produced per mould cavity vary depending on the number of production runs required, the complexity of the shape and the embossing detail. In general, 750 000 pieces can be produced from a complex mould and 1 000000 pieces from a mould of a simple round shape. There can be upwards of 20 moulds per production set. Container inspection and quality As with packaging in general, quality assurance is needed to ensure that consumer safety, brand owners needs and efficiency in handling, packing, distribution and merchandising are achieved. Quality assurance needs are defined and incorporated into the specification of the glass container at the design stage and by, consistency in manufacture,thereby meeting the needs of packing, distribution and use. Quality control, on the other hand, comprises the
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procedures, including on-line inspection, sampling and test methods used to control the process and assess conformity with the specification. The techniques used can broadly be defined as chemical, physical and visual. Chemical testing by spectrophotometry, flame photometry and X-ray fluorescence is used to check raw materials and the finished glass. Small changes in the proportions and purity of raw materials can have a significant effect on processing and physical properties. Physical tests include checking dimensional tolerances, tests for colour, impact strength, thermal shock resistance and internal pressure strength. Visual testscheck for defects that can be seen (Sohani, 2002). The list of possible visually observable defects is quite long and though most of them are comparatively rare, it is essential that production be checked by planned procedures. The categories of these defects comprise various types of cracks, glass strands (bird swings and spikes), foreign bodies and process material contamination from the process environment, mis-shapes and surface marks of various kinds. For a comprehensive list, see Hanlon et al., Handbook of Package Engineering pp. 9-249-26. Defects are classified as being critical, e.g. defects which endanger the consumer or prevent use in packing major, e.g. defects which seriously affect efficiency in packing minor, e.g. defects that relate to appearance even though the container is functionally satisfactory. Visual inspection on manufacturing and packing lines is assisted today by automatic monitoring systems, as shown in Figure 7, where this is appropriate. Systems are available for container sidewall inspection using multiple cameras that detect opaque and transparent surface defects (Anon, 2002). Infrared cameras can be used in a system to examine containers directly after formation (Dalstra & Kats, 2001). On the packing line, claims have been made that foreign bodies can be detected in glass containers running at speeds up to 60 000 capped beer bottles per hour (Anon, 2001). An X-ray system such as that from Heimann Systems Corp. (Eagle Tall) is designed for the automatic inspection of products packed in jars. The system can detect foreign materials such as ferrous and stainless metals, glass particles, stone, bone and plastic materials. This equipment runs at 100m min-1. .

14

Figure 7

Principles of production line inspections. (Reproduced, with permission, from John Wiley & Son Inc.)

5.1.2.5.Closure selection Closures for glass packaging containers are usually metal or plastic, though cork is still widely used for wines and spirits. Effecting a seal is achieved either by a tight fitting plug, a screw threaded cap applied with torque in one of several ways or a metal cap applied with pressure and edge crimping. Hermetic or airtight sealing can be achieved by heat sealing a flexible barrier material to the glass usually with an overcap for protection and subsequent

15

reclosing during use. The aluminium foil cap applied to a milk bottle is one of the simplest forms of closure. All these closures are applied to what is known as the finish of the container. This may seem an odd name for the part of the container which isformed first but in fact this name goes back to the time of blowing and forming glass containers by hand when the rim was the last part to be formed and therefore called the finish. Four key dimensions determine the finish as shown in Figure.8. Industry wide standards for these dimensions have been agreed upon. The contour of glass threads are round, and closures, both metal and plastic, with symmetrical threads will fit the appropriate containers.

Figure 8

Standard finish nomenclature (courtesy of The Institute of Packaging).

Careful choice of closure is essential. Too large a closure can create leakage due to the force generated upon it either from internal gas pressure or from heating during processing of the product. Too small a closure may well introduce an interference fit between the minimum through bore on the glass container and the filler tube. The types of closure available fall into three main categories: normal seal vacuum seal pressure seal.

Vacuum seal is suitable for beer. Vacuum seals are metal closures with a composite liner to seal onto the glass rim. They can be pressed or twisted into place, at which time a vacuum is created by flushing the headspace with steam. Sizes are usually in the 2840mm range.

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5.1.3. Procedures of pouring beer into glass bottle:

Figure 9

: Procedures of pouring beer into glass bottle.

5.1.4. Explain procedure: 5.1.4.1.Inspection and preparation of containers: All incoming glass containers must be inspected for cracks, chips and small bubbles in the glass. New jars and bottles should be rinsed in clean water, chlorinated if necessary by adding 2-3 drops of household bleach per litre of water. Second hand bottles must be thoroughly inspected, both by looking for chips etc and also by smelling the containers to make sure that they have not been used for storing kerosene or poisonous chemicals (insecticides etc). All contaminated containers should be removed and not used for foods.

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Second hand containers should be soaked in a 1% solution of caustic soda with detergent to remove old labels. The interior should be cleaned with a bottle brush and then rinsed thoroughly. Rinsing is time consuming and can be speeded up using a bottle rinser.

Figure 10

The interior should be cleaned with a bottle brush

Many foods that are packaged in glass are then heat processed and for these it is usual to hotfill the containers (fill at 80C or above). Glass has to be heated and cooled carefully to avoid the risk of breakage and therefore it is usual to pre-sterilise containers before hot filling. This can be done by placing bottles/jars in a large pan of warm water and heating it to boiling. The containers are boiled for 10 minutes and then removed for immediate filling and sealing. Alternatively a steamer can be constructed and bottles/jars steamed for 1-2 minutes. This uses less energy and saves considerable amounts of time compared to using boiling water. However, care is needed to make sure that the containers are not heated too quickly, as they will break. Any weak containers will also break at this stage and bottle sterilization should therefore be carried out away from the food production area to avoid the risk of contamination by broken glass. Tongs should be used in all cases when handling hot containers.

18

Figure 11

Tongs should be used in all cases when handling hot containers.

For foods that are cold filled and then heat processed it is not necessary to pre-sterilise the container. For cold filled foods that are not subsequently heated it is essential to make sure that the jar or bottle is sterilised by one of these methods to prevent contamination of the product by any micro-organisms on the glass.

Figure 12 1234-

The washer system

Conveyer of glass in The intermediate position of the bottle on conveyer Warm water basin Spray warm water
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5- Spray hot alkaline solution 6- The basin of hot alkaline solution in60oC 7- The basin of hot alkaline solution in60oC 8- Spray alkaline solution 9- The basin of hot water 10- Spray hot water 11- Conveyer of bottle out 12- Spray water 13- Spray water 14- The basin of hot alkaline solution in80oC 15- The basin of hot alkaline solution in80oC

Figure 13

The bottle in washer

20

Figure 14

The component of bottle in and out

21

Figure 15 5.1.4.2.Solids fillers:

The circuit of the washer

There are few paste filling machines that are cheap enough for small-scale processors but an example of one type (a piston filler) is shown in Figure 16. Most producers fill by hand and although this is slow it can be speeded up by the use of a simple funnel and rod. In the case of solids such as fruit that is packed in syrup, the solid pieces are first placed in the jar by hand and the liquid is then filled using a liquids filler.

22

Figure 16 5.1.4.3.Liquids fillers:

The use of a simple funnel and rod

The simplest method is to fill containers from a jug that is calibrated for the correct volume. A funnel can be used to assist filling narrow necked bottles. A simple frame to tilt jars so that the correct filling level is achieved is shown, this will also speed up the filling operation. At a larger scale of production, a filler can be made by fixing taps into a 50 litre stainless steel bucket. Food grade plastic is acceptable for cold filling. However, these methods are relatively slow and therefore only suitable for small production rates (eg up to 1000 packs per day). They also give some variation in the filled volume, even with careful training of the operators. At higher production rates a piston filler gives a uniform fill-volume and can be adjusted to fill different containers from 25-800 ml. Typical outputs are 15-30 packs per minute. A different approach is to use a vacuum filler. These are available commercially but can also be made locally. The principle of operation is shown in Figure 17. A venturi pump, obtained from a laboratory supplier, is attached to a water tap to create the vacuum. This then sucks liquid from a product tank into the bottle until it fills to a pre-set level.

Figure 17

A simple frame to tilt jars so that the correct filling level is achieved

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Figure 18

A filler can be made by fixing taps into a 50 litre stainless steel bucket

5.1.4.4.Filling: Filling by equi-pressure filling method because CO2 content of beer is high. It divides 3 sections: Increase pressure in the bottle to balance pressure between the bottle and the tank. Filling Air exhaust, decrease pressure in the bottle equal to air pressure

Figure 19

Filling procedure

There are 2 filling method: Hot filling (pasteurization outside packaging): beer after pasteurization (68-70oC) will be filled into the bottle. The bottle must be steriled. Cool filling (pasteurization outside packaging and inside packaging.
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Figure 20 5.1.4.5.Sealing

Put the liquid into the bottle

Most caps for bottles and jars have a ring of plastic material (sometimes waxed card or cork) which forms a tight seal against the glass. During hot filling and heat processing this plastic softens and beds itself around the glass to make an hermetic seal. However, before this happens there is a risk that small amounts of air can be sucked into a container and cause contamination of the product. The risk of contamination can be reduced by laying a filled container on its side for about 10 minutes to ensure that the seal is perfectly formed. Specific types of equipment are used for sealing the different caps that are used for glass containers. For bottles the main types are: crown caps roll-on-pilfer-proof (ROPP) caps snap-on caps corks For jars the main types are: twist-on-twist-off (TOTO) lids push on lids All lids and caps should neither affect the product nor be affected by it and they should seal the container for its expected shelf life. This is usually found by testing trial containers with the product to be packaged to make sure that there is no interaction between the pack and the product. Expert advice should also be sought from the packaging suppliers when selecting the type of closure to be used. 5.1.4.6.Bottles Crown caps are commonly used for beer bottles and fruit juices.

25

Figure 21

Component of glass bottle closures

Hand-operated equipment is available in a number of sizes from a simple former that is placed over the cap and hit with a mallet, to the hand-held lever type shown in Figure 21 and table mounted model shown in Figure 22.

Figure 22

The hand-held lever type & The table mounted model

Roll-on-pilfer-proof (ROPP) caps are fitted by placing a blank cap on the bottle and then pressing the metal into the screw thread of the glass. Finally a ring of perforated metal is formed at the base of the cap which shows evidence of tampering or pilfering. Hand operated ROPP machines can be constructed locally and small motorized version are available commercially. A simpler cap which does not incorporate the pilferproof feature is known as a 'Roll-on (RO) cap and this can be fitted by similar types of equipment. Plastic snap-on caps are fitted over the neck of the bottle and sealed by a capping machine.

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Figure 23

Hand operated ROPP machines can be constructed locally and small motorized version are available commercially

Corks are mostly used to seal wine bottles and hand operated corkers which both squeeze the cork and insert it into the bottle are available (Figure 23). Corks are first wetted to make them slip more easily into the bottle and they then expand to give an airtight, waterproof seal. As corks may be contaminated by micro-organisms it is important that the soaking water contains either a few drops of bleach per litre or sodium metabisulphite at approximately one teaspoonful per 5 litres.

27

Figure 24 Plastic snap-on caps are fitted over the neck of the bottle and sealed by a capping machine & Corks are mostly used to seal wine bottles and hand operated corkers which both squeeze the cork and insert it into the bottle are available 5.1.4.7.Jars Push-on lids are still used for sealing jars (Figure 25) although these are increasingly being replaced by twist-on-twist-off (TOTO) lids. Small equipment is available for each of these types of closure.

Figure 25 5.1.4.8.Processing

Push-on lids are still used for sealing jars

Some products are heat processed after packing into glass containers. They should be heated and cooled gently in order to avoid breaking the glass. One method of controlled cooling of containers after processing is shown in Figure (26). Cold water enters at the deep end of the trough and overflows at the shallow end. Hot bottles are placed in at the shallow end and roll down to the deep end. The temperature is cool at the deep end and gets hotter along the trough, so minimising the shock to the hot containers.

Figure 26

The method of controlled cooling of containers after processing

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Glass containers lend themselves to in-bottle sterilization and pasteurization for both hot and cold filled products. Subject to the headspace volume conditions being maintained and thermal shock ground rules being observed, no problems will be experienced. In all cases the recommendations of the closure supplier should be obtained before preparing the design brief. It should be noted that the thermal shock of glass containers is twice as high when cooling down as when warming up. To avoid thermal shock, cool down differentials should not exceed 40C and warm up differentials should not exceed 65C. 5.1.4.9.Labelling Paper labels are the most common type used on glass containers. They can be plain paper that is glued onto the glass or alternatively self-adhesive types. Figure 27 shows a simple frame which can be used to hold plain labels, wipe glue over top of label in stack, roll jar along guide rail over label, roll and press jar and label into rubber mat. Small labelling machines (Figure 28) can be used to apply strips of glue to labels. A typical powered labeller has an output of about 40 labels per minute.

Figure 27

A simple frame which can be used to hold plain labels, wipe glue over top of label in stack, roll jar along

Figure 28

Small labelling machines can be used to apply strips of glue to labels.

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Water soluble glues such as starch or cellulose based glues are best if containers are returnable, so that labels can be easily removed. However, these glues may loose adhesion in humid climates. Non water-soluble glues, based on plastic polymers, are available and advice on the correct type should be sought from the suppliers. Self-adhesive labels can be bought, fixed to a backing (or 'release') paper in rolls or sheets. They can be applied by hand, by small hand held machines or by powered labellers. The type shown in Figure 19 can apply 30-40 labels per minute.

Figure 29 5.1.4.10. Quality control

The label machine

This should be seen as a method of saving money and ensuring good quality products and not as an unnecessary expense. The time and effort put into quality control should therefore be related to the types of problems experienced or expected. For example, glass splinters in a food are very serious and every effort should be made to prevent them, whereas a misaligned label may not look attractive but will not harm the customers. Faults can be classified as: Critical likely to harm the customer or operator or make the food unsafe (eg glass splinters) Major likely to make the package unsuitable for use in the process or result in a serious loss of money to the business (eg non-vertical bottles that would break in a filling machine) Minor likely to affect the appearance of a pack (eg ink smudges on the label)

Critical faults should always be checked for, whereas others may be examined, if they are causing problems. For glass containers the critical faults are broken, cracked, or chipped glass, strands of glass stretched across the inside of new packs, or bubbles in the glass that make it very thin in places. Major faults are variations in the size and shape of containers and
30

minor faults include uneven surfaces, off colours in the glass, rough mould lines and faults with the label. One further quality control measure that is important with glass containers is to check variations in the weight of jars and bottles as these variations will affect the fill-weight. Random samples should be taken from the delivery of containers (eg 1 in 50 containers) and weighed. The heaviest pack should then be used to calculate the final filled weight required. Quality control needs trained staff, an established procedure and some equipment and facilities. Staff is the most important and all operators should be trained to look out for faults in the product or package. One staff member should have responsibility for checking the packaging. All glass jars and bottles should be checked for critical faults and if second-hand, checked for contamination before washing. Other quality control checks include: the filled weight (to ensure that the net weight is the same as that declared on the label) the appearance of the pack a proper seal formed by the cap the presence and position of the correct label. Filled weight can be checked using a scale that has the package plus a known weight on one side and samples of filled product placed on the other side (Figure 20). The number of samples required to be checked depends on the amount of food produced and the method of filling. In general hand filling is more variable than machines and therefore more samples are required. As a rough guide one in every twenty packs should be checked.

Figure 30 Filled weight can be checked using a scale that has the package plus a known weight on one side and samples of filled product placed on the other side. 5.1.4.11. Collation for transport/distribution Once the containers have been filled, sealed and labelled they are grouped together to make transport and handling easier. Cardboard boxes are most commonly used and these can be bought or made up on site. A paper label can be used to cover existing printing on reused boxes and also advertise the product during distribution. The required size of a box can be
31

found by placing together the containers to be packed, together with dividers, and measuring the size to find the minimum internal dimensions (see Figure 31).

Figure 31

Measuring the size to find the minimum internal dimensions

Newer methods of collating containers include shrinkwrap or stretch wrap films which hold the bottles or jars together on card trays (Figures 32).

Figure 32

Newer methods of collating containers include shrinkwrap or stretch wrap films which hold the bottles or jars together on card trays

5.2.PET bottle Beer in PET bottles has been challenging the entire European beer-brewing industry as well as allied (co-dependent) industries. Until recently, this packaging used to exist more in theory than in practice; however, due to faster progress PET packaging has become more and more attractive for use with oxidation-sensitive beverages (different juices, wine, beer, etc.). On extremely competitive markets where beers do not only battle other beer trade-marks but also many other alcoholic beverages (i.e. beer blends, various alco-pops, wine, etc.), the differentiation and recognition of packaging is also of great importance. Obviously, PET has

32

great potential. Market competition became even stronger after Slovenia entered the EU, and beer in PET packaging on our market was only a question of time. Pivovarna Lako, d.d. launched 0.38 l PET packaging in 2004 as the result of years-long research and testing of suitable materials. At the beginning of 2005, the initial PET packaging was followed by the introduction of 0.5 l and 1.0 l PET multilayer packaging due to low market interest for the 0.38 l capacity. In view of previous market activity, the Slovene market was found to be completely comparable to the traditional Western market, where this kind of packaging has gradually been making inroads the share of beer in PET packaging is practically negligible at present,however.

33

Figure 33 5.2.1. PET material

Beer in PET packaging

34

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a very important polymer material used for packaging food products. Since the 70s when it was first introduced as a packaging material, its use has risen sig-nificantly. In fact, it is mostly involved in the beverage industry (more than 80% of all PET use) instead of traditional packaging previously dominated by glass and metal. It has also been replacing other plastic packaging materials, such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polyvi-nyl chloride (PVC). The material itself became attractive in the field of non-re-turnable packaging mostly as the result of its properties and reasonable price. PET is a linear, thermoplastic polyester produced by the esterification reaction of glycol and terephthalic acid. The combination of the aromatic compo-nent, which derives from terephthalic acid, and the aliphatic component of glycol determines the specific proper-ties of the material. Copolymerization with other monomers produces resins of different degrees of crystallinity, in-cluding amorphous material. Polymer strength, durability, bonding power, gas permeability and thermal stability are consequences of crystal structure. However, the specific extension, abil-ity of retracing to an elementary state, toughness, clarity and diffusion depend on amorphous areas in the polymer. In practice, the PET characteristics of spe-cific extension depend on its molecular mass, tensile ratio, level of crystallisa-tion, humidity, temperature and kind of copolymer and its structure. Not only do properties as the out-come of polymerisation have a huge effect on PET material, but there are also various additives that are incor-porated during the process of extru-sion and moulding of a plastic resin or applied externally on the formed material. These substances are added in order to achieve suitable process-ing and the ultimate properties of the material (antioxidants, UV stabilizers, softeners, colorants, dyes, fillers, anti-statics, etc.). 5.2.2. Advantages and disadvantages of PET packaging Typical PET plastic bottles usually weigh only 24 to 40 g (0.5l), which represents only onetenth of the weight of comparable glass packag-ing. They are also fracture or smash resistant (appropriate for picnic use, concerts, sports and other outdoor events where traditional glass packag-ing involves safety risks). With screw caps, the bottles can be reclosed and their transparency makes the content visible (a clear advantage over aluminium beer cans); good flex-ibility of colour and a variety of PET bottle designs are also made possible. Furthermore, these bottles can be ac-curately manufactured and, like glass, the material is completely recyclable. The biggest PET packaging disadvan-tage is its permeability to gases. In order to achieve the minimum expected shelf life of beer, i.e. six (6) months, it is of great significance to assure PET material resistance to oxygen uptake and loss of carbon dioxide. It is true that no material is 100% imperme-able to gases. Carbon dioxide plays a characteristic role in beer it is re-sponsible for its fresh taste and affects the beers stability and sharpness; its content in beer ranges from 3.5 to 5.5 g/l normally and it can be character-ized as having good solubility, which it holds as the temperature rises, but the pressure in the packaging rises as
35

well. The loss of carbon dioxide during storage depends on the pack-aging material. PET does allow a high degree of CO2 permeability from the bottle as the consequence of partial pressure; oxygen penetration into the plastic bottle is quite possible. Oxygen is found to be approximately 40-times less soluble in beverages than carbon dioxide. It may enter the beverage during the process of filling and storage. For this reason, we have to make the right decision about the material which the bottles are made from; the bottling process itself is also very significant and should enable as little oxygen penetration during the process as possible and even the appropriate material from which the bottle closures are made should be taken into account. Oxygen dissolved in beer responds in different ways ac-cording to different ingredients, which causes organoleptic modification, thus lessening the shelf life of beer drastically. During the process of bot-tling under pressure and use of CO2 as the supplanting gas, the oxygen value should not exceed 0.1 mg/l. Beside the material of the plastic bottles and closures, and the system of bottling and storage, it is also the size of the plastic bottles that affects gas migration. The ratio between the volume and surface of bottles favours larger bottles the permeability effect is lower. Oxygen migration should not exceed 1.0 mg/l over a period of six months; on the other hand, the loss of carbon dioxide is not expected to be higher than 15%. With reference to the above facts, we can claim that the development of new materials has been focused on the implementation of PET bar-rier characteristics lately because the standard PET plastic bottles without additives are only suitable for bottling less oxygensensitive beverages, such as water, lemonade and cola drinks. For oxygen-sensitive beverages, in-cluding beer, it is very important to reduce the permeability of the mate-rial, which can be achieved in several different ways, of which the following three methods are important: barrier masses, coating and multilayer tech-nologies.

Figure 34 5.2.3. Method of barrier masses

PET barrier

36

This method is based on the principle of passive barriers that can retard gas permeability through the material. They can be used like monomaterial with added PET (blends) or can act like a special layer in multilayer plas-tic bottles. PEN has been considered the most effective monomaterial (polyethylene naphthalate) because of its more favourable barrier characteristics than pure PET (up to five times less oxygen and carbon diox-ide permeability) it is more durable when exposed to high temperatures, although it has not been commer-cially successful due to its high cost (up to three times more expensive). PET/PEN copolymers are more com-mon in practice.

Figure 35

PET barrier masses

5.2.4. PET plastic bottles with barrier coatings (monolayer plastic bottles) Coating methods can be divided into two categories: first, the methods which involve vacuum or plasma routes to deposit extremely thin films of organic (ethylene vinyl alcohol EVOH, polyvinylidene chloride PVDC, epoxy amines, polyamides nylon) or inorganic material (amor-phous carbon or glass silicon dioxide) as passive barriers on the inner or outer surface of a blown plastic bottle; and second, methods which are based on the atomised spraying of liquid organic materials onto the external surfaces of the plastic bottle (this method has not been commercially accepted). In the beverage industry, the method of in-ner plasma coating involving inorganic materials has been most popular. Both carbon and silicon dioxide allow good barrier protection against oxygen and carbon dioxide, and since they are applied to the inner surface of plastic bottles, they do prevent the oxygen dis-solved in the PET matrix from migrating into the beverages (beer) within the first several weeks of storage.
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Figure 36

PET barrier coatings ( monolayer plastic bottles )

5.2.5. Multilayer technologies In order to improve PET packaging permeability characteristics, the use of multilayer technology has already proved itself a perfect alternative. A particular material is used as an inde-pendent layer in a multilayer structure,i.e. a sandwich method where the inner layer is enclosed by additional layers of some other material (PET andother polymers) up to sevenlayer plastic bottles have already been introduced (three-layer plastic bottles have been used in beer bottling). These layers come together as manufactur-ing preforms for plastic bottles and play a role in protection against gas permeability. Such materials based on EVOH, PA and PEN were found to be good passive barriers, proving themselves to afford protection from the loss of carbon dioxide from bever-ages, but less effective against oxygen penetration. For this reason, different manufacturers developed the combi-nation of inner chemically active and outer passive (physical) barriers. The function of the inner active barrier is toabsorb oxygen that penetrates through the plastic bottle before it reaches the end product (e.g. beer) together with the already present oxygen in the head-space of the plastic bottle and the oxy-gen which is in the end product itself, the total oxygen content is reduced. These materials are given the common name oxygen scavenger. In fact, they all are polymers that are not stabilized against oxidation and that start to decompose when they are in contact with air. Therefore, it is very important to have a good passive barrier which allows as little oxygen as possible to enter the bottle, depending on time, temperature and relative humidity of the storage environment. Along with a rise in temperature, oxygen perme-ability rises too, thus the scavenger material is used up more rapidly. The combination of good passive protec-tion and at least 1% active protection is the best solution. Besides the previously mentioned problems with gas permeability through the material, another disadvan-tage of plastic bottles is their inability to be heated (pasteurisation difficulties) as the result of deformation caused byhigh temperature and thus physical instability. Preevacuation with CO2 is not possible either, to the same degree as with glass
38

packaging, which may lead to higher initial oxygen values. In com-parison with glass, plastic bottles havelower solidity. For this reason, closing the plastic bottles causes problems as well.

Figure 37 5.2.6. Bottle closures

PET Multilayer coating

In addition to making the right decision about the material which plastic bottles are made from, the same importance holds true for closure material and type, since all components are a significant factor in oxygen intrusion and, consequently, self-life. At the moment, there are different possibilities being offered on the market, such as plastic (HDPE or LDPE) screw closers or aluminium ones, crown corks and so-called ring-pull closures, all having both good and bad aspects. The main advantage of the most commonly used plastic screw closures is the possibility of reclosing the bottle; however, the average one-piece screw cap is highly gas permeable. A two-piece cap has a separate insert or liner to improve the seal on the neck of the bottle. For oxygen-sensitive beverages (beer), the liner can also be made from a gas barrier material or an oxygen scavenger material (or both) to remove oxygen from the bottle
39

headspace and improve the barrier performance of the cap. Similar characteristics also obtain with aluminium screw caps (they always require a liner); however aluminium caps may damage the plastic bottle when closing it. Crown corks are the most widespread form of glass packaging closure, owing to good price and low gas permeability; however, they cannot be used to close plastic bottles since the high pressure involved in the capping head might damage the bottle. Reclosing is not possible either. On the other hand, ring-pull scavenger caps have been recognised as extremely attractive, as they require lower capping power than corks and no damage to plastic bottle necks have been reported. Unfortunately, they are not reclosable and may injure the user (cuts). Thus, it is more or less up dependent on consumer requirements which type of closure should be used and, of course, to our own packaging possibilities. 5.2.7. PET filling systems Modern technology has made PET filling quite a simple procedure, with high bottling velocity and only a small group of employees required. At Pivovarna Lako, d.d. the filling capacity of the line is 12,000 plastic bottles per hour with only five line operators. The line capacity is more or less determined by the capacity of the stretch blow-mould-ing unit. From this step on, the plastic bottles are transported by air transport to the filling unit. In our company, a safer method of filling has been used, which involves rinsing the plastic beer bottles in a rinser unit. In order to avoid undesired oxygen intrusion, the rinsing is carried out with degassed water. Filling PET packaging can be performed in various ways: by fixed volume, fixed weight or a required level inside the plastic bottle. The first and last systems have come into use mostly, but both have their advantages and disadvan-tages. Volume filling enables precise filling and is more appropriate for plastic bottles of large diameter, in which 1 to 2 mm of level difference can mean higher losses. This system of filling has been well used in filling cans.Since plastic bottles have not been physically stable enough to permit pre-evacuation with CO2 and, consequently the reduction of oxygen in the plastic bottle, the method of rinsing with CO2 under atmospheric conditions has become more common with beer filling in PET packaging. The classic system of level filling involving short tubes, whichis used with glass packaging, enables low oxygen values including additional rinsing with carbon dioxide. In the caseof double preevacuation of 0.5 l glass bottles, about 260 g CO2/hl of beer is used, while in case of the average filling system involving short tubes andno preevacuation, as much as 3000 gCO2/hl of bottled beer is used in fill-ing 0.5 l plastic bottles. As the result of the large CO2 consumption, it was necessary to develop new filling sys-tems. One such system is level filling with long tubes and this has already been implemented at Pivovarna Lako, d.d. In fact, the system is based on filling from the bottom to the top of the plastic bottle without preevacuation. We are able to achieve extremely low values of charged oxygen (from 0.02 to 0.03 mg/l), and the use of rinsing CO2 is lower than in the classic system (up to 700 g CO2/hl of beer).
40

5.2.8. Testing procdures in Pivovarna Lako,d.d. In our company, initial tests were carried out with various mono-layer blend materials. Tests were performed by comparing these bottles with bottles made from 100% PET without any additives as the least inert packaging and glass packaging as the packaging with the lowest gas permeability. Ring-pull scavenger caps were use on the samples, except on the glass samples, where common crown corks were used. For all samples we used the same beer type and rank. The particular ratios between materials turned out to act as an extremely suf-ficient gas barrier, but some specific reactions between the layers (barriers) has occurred, which affected the final stage of beer sensority drastically. However, only an expert would be able to notice any modification of the characteristics of pale beer when the content of oxygen exceeds 1 mg/l. When repeating the testing proce-dures we focused mainly on the plastic bottles. Taking into account all PET packaging and the beer characteristics listed, we decided on multilayer plas-tic bottles produced by a recognized manufacturer with an integrated active layer and equipped with plastic scavenger closures (active layer made of sodium sulphite) as the subject of our further testing. Filling conditions and beer characteristics were kept unmodi-fied. With the use of these materials we managed to achieve more than a six-month shelf life. No significant or-ganoleptic modifications of the beer were detected during this time.

Figure 38

PET packaging system

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5.2.9. Conclusion A major step in PET packaging development has been taken lately in order to meet beverage company and consumer expectations. Both segments require as long a shelf-life as possible, in which the main role is played by the stability of the organoleptic properties of the beverages as the result of decision making about the appropriate plastic bottles and closure material as well as the proper system of filling. Now it is the consumers turn to decide on the suitability of beer in plastic bottles and, of course, both price and tradition will be important factors in this decision. 6. THE ALUMINUM BEVERAGE CAN 6.1.Introduction Makers of beer and soft-drinkcontainers in the U.S. produce 300 million aluminum beverage cans a day, 100 billion of them every year. The industrys output, the equivalent of one can per American per day, outstrips even the production of nails and paper clips. If asked whether the beverage can requires any more special care in its manufacture than do those other homey objects, most of us would probably answer negatively. Infact, manufacturers of aluminum cans exercise the same attention and precision as do makers of the metal in an aircraft wing. The engineers who press the design of cans toward perfection apply the same analytical methods mused for space vehicles.As a result of these efforts, todays can weighs about 0.48 ounce, down from about 0.66 ounce in the 1960s, when such containers were rst constructed. The standard American aluminum can, which holds 12 ounces of liquid, is not only light in weight and rugged but is also about the same height and diameter as the traditional drinking tumbler. Such a can, whose wall surfaces are thinner than two pages from this magazine, withstands more than 90 pounds of pressure per square inchthree times the pressure in anautomobile tire. Yet the can industry is not standingpat on its achievement. Strong economic incentives motivate it toward further improvements. Engineers are seeking ways to maintain the cans performance while continuing to trim the amount of material needed. Reducing the cans mass by 1 percent will save approximately $20 million a year in aluminum (and make still easier and even less meaningful the macho gesture of crushing an empty can with a bare hand). Aside from the savings it yields, the modern manufacturing process imparts a highly reective surface to the cans exterior, which acts as a superb base for decorative printing. This attribute adds to the enthusiasm for the aluminum can among those who market beverages.Indeed, that industry consumes about a fth of all aluminum used in the U.S.Consequently, beverage cans have emerged as the single most important market for aluminum. Until 1985, most cans held beer, but now two thirds of them store nonalcoholic drinks. 6.2.Aluminum beverage can production

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The aluminum beverage can is a direct descendant of the steel can. The rst of these vessels appeared in 1935, marketed by Kreuger Brewing Company, then in Richmond, Va. Similar to food cans, this early beverage container comprised three pieces of steel : a rolled and seamed cylinde and two end pieces. Some steel cans even had conical tops that were sealed by bottle caps. During World War II, the government shipped great quantities of beer in steel cans to servicemen over-seas. After the war, much of the production reverted to bottles. But veterans retained a fondness for canned beer, so manufacturers did not completely abandon the technology even though the three-piece cans were more expensive to produce than the bottles. The rst aluminum beverage can went on the market in 1958. Developed by Adolph Coors Company in Golden, Colo., and introduced to the public by the Hawaiian brewery Primo, it was made from two pieces of aluminum. To produce such cans, Coors employed aso-called impact-extrusion process. The method begins with a circular slug that has a diameter equal to that of the can.A punch driven into the slug forces material to ow backward around it, forming the can. The process thus made the side walls and the bottom from one piece. The top was added after lling. This early technique proved inadequate for mass manufacturing. Production was slow, and tooling problems plagued the process. Moreover, the resulting product could hold only seven mounces and was not ecient structurally: the base could not be made thinner than 0.03 inch, which was much thick-er than it needed to be to with stand the internal forces. Nevertheless, the popularity of the product encouraged Coors and other companies to look for a better way to make the cans. A few years later Reynolds Metals pioneered the contemporary method of production, fabricating the rst commercial 12-ounce aluminum can in 1963. Coors, in conjunction with Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation, soon followed. But pressure from large can companies, which also purchased steel from Kaiser for three-piece cans, is said to have obliged Kai-ser to withdraw temporarily from alu-minumcan development. Apparently, these steel-can makers feared the com-petition of a new breed of container. Hamms Brewery in St. Paul, Minn., be-gan to sell beer in 12-ounce aluminum cans in 1964. By 1967 Coca-Cola and PepsiCo were using these cans.

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Figure 39

Structure of aluminum can

ANATOMY OF MODERN BEVERAGE CAN reveals the dimensions that design and engineering must achieve on a daily basis. The goal of can makers is to reduce the amount of aluminum needed without sacricing structural integrity. A can now weighs about 0.48 ounce; the industry hopes to reduce that weight by about 20 percent. Today aluminum has virtually displaced steel in all beverage containers. The production of steel three-piece cans, which are now rarely made, reached its peak of 30 billion cans in 1973. The number of two-piece steel cans topped out at 10 billion in the late 1970s. This
44

design now accounts for less than 1 percent of the cans in the U.S. market (they are, however, more popular in Europe).

Figure 40

How to make aluminum can

STEPS IN CAN MANUFACTURE begin with an aluminum alloy sheet. Blanks 5.5 inches in diameter are cut from the sheet; a punch draws the circle to form a 3.5-inch-diameter cup. A second machine then redraws the blank, irons the walls and gives the base its domeall in approximately one fth of a second. These procedures give the can wall its nal dimen The process that Reynolds initiated is known as two-piece drawing and wall ironing. Aluminum producers begin with a molten alloy, composed mostly of aluminum but also containing small amounts of magnesium, manganese, iron, silicon and copper. The alloy is cast into ingots. Rolling mills then at-ten the alloy into sheets. The rst step in can making is cut-ting circular blanks, 5.5 inches in diam-eter. Obviously, cutting circles from a sheet produces scrap. The theoretical loss for close-packed circles is 9 percent; in practice, the loss amounts to 12 to 14 percent. To reduce this waste, sheets are made wide enough to in corporate 14 cups laid out in two stag-gered rows. Each blank is drawn into a 3.5-inch-diameter cup. The next three forming operations for the can body are done in one con-tinuous punch stroke by a second ma-chinein about one fth of a second. First, the cup is redrawn to a nal inside diameter of about 2.6 inches, which increases the height from 1.3 to 2.25 inches. Then, a sequence of three iron-ing operations thins and stretches the walls, so that the body reaches a height of about ve inches. In the last step, the punch presses the base of the can body against a metal dome, giving the bottom of the can its inward bulge. This curve behaves like the arch of a bridge in that it helps to prevent the bottom from bulging out under pressure. For added integrity, the base of the can and the bottom of the side walls are made thicker than any other part of the can body.

45

Figure 41

The initial draw transforms the blank into a small cup

Figure 42

Transformation from decorate to fill and seam

DRAWING AND IRONING constitute the modern method of beverage can manufacture. The initial draw transforms the blank into a small cup (1). The cup is transsions. After the ears at the top of the walls are trimmed, the can is cleaned, decorated and then necked to accommodate the smaller lid. The top is anged to se-cure the lid. Once lled and seamed shut, the can is ready for sale. Because the alloy does not have the same properties in all directions, the can body emerges from the forming operations with walls whose top edges are wavy, or eared. To ensure a at top, machinery must trim about a quarter inch from the top. After trimming, the cup goes through a number of high-speed operations, including washing, printing and lacquering.
46

Finally, the can is automatically checked for cracks and pinholes. Typically, about one can in 50,000 is defective. Ironing is perhaps the most critical operation in making the body of the can. The precisely dimensioned punch holds and pushes the cup through two or three carbide ironing rings. To thin and elongate the can, the punch must move faster than the metal does in the ironing zone. The clearance between the punch and each ring is less than the thickness of the metal. The friction generated at the punch surface assists in pushing the metal through the iron-ing rings. To increase this friction, the punch may be slightly roughened with a criss-cross scratch pattern (which can be seen, impressed on the inside of a can). On the exterior of the can the shearing of the surface against the iron-ing rings yields the desired mirror nish. The side walls can be thinned with-out loss of integrity because, structur-ally, the can is a pressure vessel. That is, it relies for part of its strength on the internal force exerted by carbon dioxide in beer and soft drinks or by the nitrogen that is now infused into such uncarbonated liquids as fruit juice. Indeed, most beers are pasteurized in the can, a process that exerts nearly 90 pounds per square inch on the material. Carbonated beverages in hot weather may also build up a similar pressure. Filling introduces a different kind of stress on the can. During this stage, the can (without its lid) is pressed tightly against a seat in a lling machine. It must not buckle, either during lling and sealing or when lled cans are stacked one on another. Hence, can makers specify a minimum column strength of about 250 pounds for an empty can body. Thin-walled structures do not easily meet such a requirement. The slightest eccentricity of the loadeven a dent in the can wallcauses a catastrophic collapse. This crushing can be demonstrated by standing (carefully) on an upright, empty can. Manufacturers avoid failures by using machines that hold the cans precisely. The second piece of the can, the lid, must be stiffer than the body. That is because its at geometry is inherently less robust than a curved shape (dams, for instance, bow inward, presenting a convex surface to the waters they restrain). Can makers strengthen the lid by constructing it from an alloy that has less manganese and more magnesium than that of the body. They also make the lid thicker than the walls. Indeed, the lid constitutes about one fourth the total weight of the can. To save on the mass, can makers decrease the diameter of the lid so that it is smaller than the diameter of the cylinder. Then they neck down the top part of the cylindrical wall, from 2.6 to 2.1 inches, to accommodate the lid. An ingenious integral rivet connects the tab to the lid. The lid is scored so that the can opens easily, but the piece of metal that is pushed in remains connected.

47

Figure 43

The punch pushes the can past ironing rings

ferred to a second punch, which redraws the can; the sleeve holds the can in place to prevent wrinkling (2). The punch pushes the can past ironing rings, which thin the walls (3). Finally, the bottom is shaped against a metal dome (4). In addition to clever design, making billions of cans a year demands reliable production machinery. It has been said that in order to prove himself, an apprentice Swiss watchmaker was not required to make a watch but rather to make the tools to do so. That sentiment applies to can manufacturing. As one production manager remarked, If at the end of a bad day, you are a half milion cans short, someone is sure to notice. A contemporary set of ironing dies can produce 250,000 cans before they require regrinding. That quantity is equivalent to more than 20 miles of aluminum stretched to tolerances of 0.0001 inch. Die rings are replaced as soon as their dimensions fall out of specication, which occurs sometimes more than once a day. 6.3.UV-Curable Coatings for Aluminum Can Production The UV curing technology in use at the Coors Can Manufacturing Plant has been a proven technology for the past 20 years. Very substantial benefits are evident with this technology in very low, or zero, VOC and HAP emissions, and much lower CO, emissions as compared to the alternative thermal curing technology. Estimates also indicate that the UV technology consumes less energy than the thermal technology, and that the UV technology is operationally more cost effective than the alternative technology. The UV technology at the Coors plant is currently dedicated to a beer beverage market, and can product quality is fully acceptable for this market. A higher abrasion resistance can coating is currently desired for other beverage markets. Therefore newer generation UV over varnishes with higher abrasion resistance ratings will have to be investigated or implemented in order to fully convert this technology. 6.3.1. CAN PRINTING TECHNOLOGIES: Past can decorating technologies trials have included the use of solvent based coatings, high solids coatings, powder coatings, electrocoat, and UV curable coatings. Among other factors, these techniques differ in the content of solvents in the coatings.

48

Solvent based coatings contain solvents at concentrations of approximately 70 to 75 percent by volume (1). The solvent composition is typically a mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbons, aromatics, ethers, cellosolves and acetates. As a result, this method produces significant VOC (volatile organic compound) and HAP (hazardous air pollutant) emissions. The coatings have good abrasion resistance and high quality, but the high VOC emissions have virtually eliminated their use in can plants. High solids coatings contain less solvent than the conventional solvent based coatings (1). In water based high solids coatings, the solids content ranges from 10 to 35 percent, the water content from 45 to 72 percent, and the solvent content from 13 to 27 percent. The solvent is used to control viscosity, disperse pigments and aid in wetting. Curing is achieved with a thermal oven which requires a high operating temperature due to the high water content in the coating. Since the coating does contain solvents, VOC emissions are still present. This coating method is the one most widely used in can manufacturing plants. UV curing of can decoration coatings is currently accomplished with either acrylate based coatings or cationic coatings. UV acrylate coatings contain photochemical initiators which form free radicals upon exposure to UV light. The free radicals initiate the cross linking of monomers and oligomers, which results in a rapid curing of the coating. A newer cationic coating forms Lewis acids after a brief exposure to UV light. Cationic initiated curing then proceeds even after UV light is removed (dark curing). The UV chemicals are approximately 100% solids in content, with essentially zero solvent contents. The UV coating technology is also in use in can production. A review of feasible technologies has indicated that only the high solids water based coating technology and the UV coating technology are currently practical for can manufacturing. 6.3.2. UV TECHNOLOGY PROCESS DESCRIPTION: Aluminum cans are made from large coils of aluminum sheet stock by punching aluminum disks into cups, and sequential drawing and ironing to form the can body. The can body is trimmed, washed, dried and transferred to the printer, where the decorative ink and clear protective overvarnish is applied. The ink and overvarnish are cured by either UV light, or in the conventional method, by heating in a natural gas fired oven. An internal coating is next sprayed in the interior of the can, and the internal coating is cured through an additional thermal oven. The can necks are reduced in size and flanged so as to accept the can end during filling with product. In the can printing process (Figure 2.12), separate UV ink fountains supply the ink to rollers, which coat individual printer plates. The plates, one for each color, are raised positive images of the graphic design which will be printed on the cans. The printer plates contact, in registration, a rubberized blanket on a rotating wheel, resulting in the formation of a complete negative color image on the blanket. Clean cans are fed into the printer and are placed on a steel mandrel. The spinning mandrel then rotates the can body against the rotating blanket, resulting in the transfer of the final graphic image onto the can body. The rotating mandrel
49

wheel then immediately carries the can to an over varnish wheel, and the UV over varnish is directly coated over the wet ink on the can body.

Figure 44

UV printer

The overvarnish application directly on top of colored inks is termed a wet on wet coating application. The inks and overvarnish chemicals, however, are pastes with only a trace amount of water and essentially no solvents at all. The overvarnish and ink chemistries are matched to allow the curing of a wide variety of ink colors without requiring photo-initiator additions to the inks. The product viscosities are also matched in order to provide a clear, non-smearing application of overcoat on top of the inks. The cans are carried on short chains from the printer to vacuum belts, where they are transported to and through the UV oven (Figure 45). The vacuum belts stabilize and support the cans in an optimal geometry for UV light exposure. The UV ovens in use at Coors are designed by Fusions Systems (Rockville Maryland).

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Figure 45

UV Oven

One UV oven is typically paired to one printer. The UV ovens are approximately 9 feet long, 5 feet wide and 5 feet high. The ovens operate at about 110 F, warmed slightly above ambient temperature due to the heat evolution from the UV lamps. The UV oven contains between six and eight 10 inch, 300 watt/inch, microwave energized mercury lamps. The lamps are positioned with parabolic reflectors in a geometry to focus maximum illumination on the exterior surface of the aluminum cans. The interior surface of the can is also exposed to UV light in order to ensure complete curing of all ink residues. The entire UV can decorating process is very rapid: printing speeds are approximately 1600 to 1800 cans per minute, and the oven cure time is approximately 0.7 seconds. Internal coating is next sprayed into the interior surface of the cans, followed by thermal curing in natural gas fired ovens.

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6.3.3. PROCESS EFFICIENCY: The Coors Can Manufacturing Plant has, in the past, utilized a thermal technology can line side by side with the main UV technology can lines. As a result, production operators have had the opportunity to evaluate practical operations of the UV technology in comparison to the conventional technology. The conventional thermal technology utilizes natural gas fired ovens to thermally cure the inks and over varnishes. The thermal curing ovens are operated at 350 F or higher in order to achieve the ink and over varnish curing. Thermal ovens are approximately 60 to 80 feet long, 8 feet wide and 25 feet high. A long pin chain, approximately 400 feet long, is used the transport the cans through the oven. The large dimensions of the thermal oven, and the long transport chain, are required to provide the thermal contact time and still achieve production rates of 1500 cans per minute or higher (2). The UV ovens can be started up much faster that thermal ovens (only a 5 minute start up time is required). The controls for the UV ovens are simpler. The newer UV ovens utilize vacuum can conveyance belts, which are simpler, more reliable, and easier to maintain than the long 400 foot pin chains which transport cans through hot thermal ovens. The low operating temperature of the UV oven is also beneficial for front line production operation and maintenance. 6.3.4. ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: A cost analysis has been conducted to compare the UV and conventional thermal can printing technologies. The cost analysis rated according to billion cans produced, and UV is compared to both thermal curing and the thermal technology with incinerator air emission controls applied (Table 3). Electrical costs are similar for UV and conventional thermal curing. Chemical costs are currently approximately 5% higher for UV inks and over varnishes. Natural gas is not required for UV ovens, therefore the UV technology provides an estimated savings of $170,000 to $420,000 per billion cans produced. As previously mentioned, thermal ovens require more maintenance. Overall, approximately $20,000 per billion cans savings is provided with UV technology in comparison to thermal with no emissions controls, however the savings grows to approximately $450,000 compared to thermal curing ovens with stack controls. Table 3 Economic analysis ( dollars/billion cans) Thermal 207.000 420.000 1.010.000 192.000 1.829.200 UV 170.000 0 1.180.000 21.2000 1.371.200

Thermal 171.000 Electricity 170.500 Natural gas 1.010.000 Chemicals 41.600 O&M 1.393.100 Total costs 6.3.5. ENERGY EFFICIENCY:

52

The total energy consumption requirements have been compared for the UV and thermal technologies (Table 4). The analysis is indexed in units of millions of BTUs per billion cans produced, and UV is compared to both thermal curing and the thermal technology with incinerator air emission controls applied. Both types of ovens require similar levels of electrical power. Electrical power consumption is slightly higher for UV than for thermal, due to the energy demands of the UV lamps, however the thermal ovens also require comparable electrical power to run blowers and can chain conveyors. The net energy savings with UV technology is approximately be 14,000 million BTUs in comparison to thermal curing alone, and 50,000 million BTUs per billion cans produced in comparison to thermal curing with air emissions control. Table 4 Electricity Natural gas Total energy Energy efficencies ( MMBtu/ billion cans) Thermal 6.400 60.100 66.500 UV 15.900 0 15.900

Thermal 5.600 23.900 29.500

6.3.6. PRODUCT QUALITY: The print quality of the UV technology process is an important consideration. All cans produced at the Coors Can Manufacturing Plant are now made with the UV process, and print quality is comparable to that obtained with thermal curing (Table 2.3). Similarly, color and gloss is equivalent to that obtained from the thermal process. The over varnish is applied in order to provide a protective coating over the decorative label; currently the abrasion resistance of the over varnish is dependent on the film thickness of the over varnish. For a fully commercial can market, with markets including all beverage categories in addition to the beer beverage, more technical development is needed to formulate a higher abrasion resistance. This should be achievable with newer formulations of cationic UV overvarnish (3). Table 5 Product Quality

6.3.7. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:

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Over the past two years, several studies have been conducted at the Can Manufacturing Plant to estimate the environmental impact of the UV printing technology. The procedures ranged from the laboratory analysis of ink and over varnish to full EPA protocol stack testing. This analysis has provided a comparison of the UV to the thermal conventional technology. The comparison off the UV process to the uncontrolled and incinerator controlled thermal technologies shows that the UV process has a significantly lower environmental impact (Table 6). This analysis includes not only the air emissions from the direct oven source, but also the air emissions from the power utility generating electricity for the UV or thermal ovens. Volatile organic compound emissions have been validated to be extremely low, approximately 0.3 tons per billion cans. This emission factor is lower than that estimated for a thermal oven with incinerator controls, and much lower than the approximately 100 times lower than that of a thermal oven with no control devices. Particulate and sulfur oxide emissions between UV and thermal are similar, again due to the gyration of electricity at power plants which is then used to power the UV or thermal ovens. Another large difference is observed for CO, emissions. The UV process does result in CO, emissions at the power plant, however levels are much lower than those for the thermal processes as no natural gas is consumed. Significantly more CO, is generated when incinerator control devices are used for the thermal process. Data from protocol stack testing has also indicated that only trace amounts of HAPs are emitted in the UV process. The UV technology is therefore essentially a zero HAP process in addition to being a ultra low VOC process.. Table 6 Environmental Impact Including Energy Source

The Coors Can Manufacturing Plant implemented the UV printing technology in 1975, and the plant is the only can manufacturing plant using this technology. If the conversion had not taken place in 1975, significant emissions of VOCs and HAPs would have occurred. The implementation of the UV operation has thus had a very significant pollution prevention effect. The magnitude of this is depicted in Figure 2.14. The upper part of the chart depicts
54

the potential emissions from a current thermal process; the small lower area of the chart depicts the worst case estimate for UV technology emissions.

Figure 46

Cumulative VOC Emissions Comparision

Approximately 80 to 100 tons of VOCs would have been emitted each year since 1975. The sum of these savings in potential emissions is 1,740 tons of VOCs. This comparison is conservative, since it is based on VOC contents of current UV and current thermal coatings, and earlier thermal coatings were much higher insolvent content. 6.3.8. NATIONAL IMPACT: If the UV technology were transferred industry wide, there would be subsequent notable pollution prevention impacts. The can manufacturing industry is large, with approximately 130 billion cans produced each year. The vast majority of these cans are aluminum cans, approximately 100 billion per year (4). Estimates for a national technology impact have been calculated by comparing the annual production of approximately 4 billion cans/year at the Coors Can Manufacturing Plant to the national production rate. Pollution prevention estimates of 3,000 tons/year of VOCs and 130,000 tons/year of CO2 emissions have been calculated. These impacts are even more substantial taking into account the regional clustering of can manufacturing plants in several states. The implementation of UV technology could therefore have a significant regional pollution prevention impact. 6.3.9. ACCEPTANCE:

55

Barriers have existed which prevented the acceptance of the UV technology by the rest of the can manufacturing industry. These concerns have included the abrasion resistance level of UV coatings, color quality, higher current costs for UV chemicals, and reports of worker skin sensitization to early generations of acrylate coatings. Current UV acrylate coatings in use at Coors have sufficient abrasion resistance for the beer beverage market. Newer cationic coatings are currently being developed which have the potential to fully resolve abrasion resistance concerns (3). A full spectrum of ink colors are in continual use at Coors to satisfy marketing requirements and continually changing graphics designs. Fine color matches to thermal colors may require some additional research and process control work. Chemical costs for UV coatings are estimated to be between 5 and 17% more expensive than conventional coatings (5). The higher cost is likely due to the more limited market which currently exists for UV chemicals. With expansion of the UV technology, these chemical costs should become more competitive with the conventional chemical costs. Early formulations of acrylate coatings did cause skin sensitization in some workers. The generation of UV chemicals now in use at Coorshas greatly reduced this effect. In addition, with proper work practices and the use of protective gloves, skin now no longer a problem. The use of conventional coatings with even low to moderate solvent compositions is likely to result in greater health effects than the current system at Coors. The cationic coatings also have demonstrated improvements in health and safety (3). 6.4.Improvement features of aluminum can Much of the success behind the consistent and precise production lies in the strong yet formable alloy sheet. The metallurgical properties responsible for the performance of modern can sheet have been proprietary and therefore not well known. Only within the past decade has that situation changed. Through the efforts of Harish D. Merchant of Gould Electronics in Eastlake, Ohio, James G. Morris of the University of Kentucky and others, scientic papers on the metallurgy of can sheet have become more widely published. We now know that three basic factors increase the strength of aluminum. We have already mentioned one of them: manganese and magnesium dissolved into the material. These atoms displace some of the aluminum ones in the substance. Because they are slightly different in size, the manganese and magnesium atoms distort the crystal lattice. The distortions resist deformation, thus adding strength to the sheet. The second contribution comes from the presence of so-called intermetallic particles. Such particles, which form during the processing of the sheet, consist of a combination of dierent metals in the alloy (mostly iron and manganese). They tend to be harder than the alloy itself, thus supplying strength. Perhaps the most important contribution to sheet strength, however, is the work hardening that occurs when the sheets are cold-rolled (attened at room temperature). During this
56

shaping, dislocations, or imperfections, in the lattice materialize. As the metal deforms, the dislocations move about and increase in number. Eventually they become entangled with one another, making further deformation more difficult. Unfortunately, this work hardening dramatically reduces the ability of the material to stretch. Tensile tests indicate that the elongation capacity drops from 30 percent to about 2 or 3 percent. Conventional wisdom had it that sheets can be formed only if the material has a high tensile elongation. Certainly in the automotive industry, body parts are formed from fully annealed sheets that can elongate more than 40 percent. This philosophy guided the early attempts to make two-piece aluminum cans. Researchers concentrated on annealed or partially work-hardened sheets, which sacriced strength for ductility. The understanding of formability received a major boost from studies in the 1960s by Stuart P. Keeler and Walter A. Backofen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Zdzislaw Marciniak of the Technical University in Warsaw, among others. Looking at the behavior of various sheet metals, they considered more than just the behavior under tension applied in one direction (as is done in the tension test). They also looked at what happens when tension is applied simultaneously in two directions. They showed that a small window of strains exists that permits forming without structural failure. Although work hardening greatly reducesthe size of this window, a small slit nonetheless remains openenough to permit the doming of the base and drawing and redrawing of the side walls. The crucial advance that made the aluminum can economical, however, came from Linton D. Bylund of Reynolds. He realized that cans could be made from a fully work-hardened sheet using a carefully designed process that specied the placement of the ironing rings, the shape of the punch and dies, and many other parameters. The strong, fully work-hardened sheet made it possible to use sheet that was thinner, saving enough weight to make the cans economically competitive. Nowhere is the technique of forming work-hardened sheet more apparent than it is in the cleverly designed rivet that holds the tab on the can lid. The rivet is an integral piece of the lid. To make it, the center of the lid must be stretched by bulging it upward a bit. This extra material is drawn to form a rivet and then attened to secure the tab (which is a separate piece of metal ).

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Figure 47

Number or cans produced in the US

ANNUAL BEVERAGE CAN PRODUCTION in the U.S. has increased by several billion over the past few years. The two-piece aluminum can overwhelmingly dominates the market; steel cans constitute less than 1 percent. Three-piece steel cans, which are now rarely made, reached their peak production in the mid-1970s.. Besides making the can sheet stronger, manufacturers also sought to reduce the amount of aluminum needed by controlling the waviness, or earing, which as we have seen takes place at the top of the can after ironing. The effect derives from the crystallographic texture of the aluminum sheet, that is, the orientation of its crystal structure. Hence, earing is inevitable to some extent. Hans-Joachim Bunge of the Technical University in Clausthal, Germany, and Ryong-Joon Roe of Du Pont and others have developed x-ray diraction techniques to describe qualitatively the textures that cause earing. Laboratory technicians prepare specimens by grinding away layers of the sheet to expose material at dierent depths. X-ray
58

diffraction coupled with elegant analytical techniques automatically produces threedimensional diagrams that reveal the preferred orientation of crystals as a function of depth in the sheet. Such diagnostic approaches have enabled aluminum companies to produce sheet that yields much smaller ears. Metallurgists balance the two predominant crystallographic textures that exist in the aluminum. One kind of texture arises during annealing of the alloy after the alloy is hot-rolled from ingots. It causes four ears to appear every 90 degrees (at 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees) around the circumference of the can. The second kind of texture results from coldrolling the sheet, which produces an ear at 45, 135, 225 and 315 degrees. Proper control of annealing and rolling can lead to a combination of the two textures such that ears caused by one ll the valleys caused by the other. The result is eight very low ears. The maximum height of an ear is often less than 1 percent of the height of the cup. Consistent processing of metal and careful design have now made each part of the can about as strong as any other. It is not unusual to nd cans in which the opening on the lid fractures, and the bottom dome and lid bulge at nearly the same pressure, within the range of 100 to 115 pounds per square inch. Despite the success of current design and manufacture, can makers are still searching for renements. Much of the investigation focuses on ways to use aluminum more eciently, because the metal represents half the cost of the can. One possibility for saving would be to cast the molten alloy into thin slabs rather than into thick ingots, as is currently done. A typical ingot may be 30 inches thick, which is rolled down by a factor of 2,500 to 0.011 or 0.01 inch. So much rolling requires expensiv capital equipmentfurnaces and rollin mills and consumes a lot of energy. It is possible to cast aluminum continuously into slabs that are an inch thick or less. These thin slabs would require much less rolling to reach the desired nal sheet thickness. Continuous casting is used for some soft aluminum alloysfor example, aluminum foil is made from material cast to a thickness of 0.1 inch. Unfortunately, production of satisfactory can stock from thin slabs thwarts the metallurgists. The faster cooling and decreased rolling inherent in continuous casting do not yield the desired metallurgical structure. Two main problems arise. First, crystallographic texture cannot be properly controlled to prevent large ears. Second, the faster cooling rate produces severe diffculties in ironing the can walls. These ironing problems develop because of the nature of the intermetallic particles that form when the molten alloy solidies. Intermetallic particles that develop during solidication are much larger than those that originate during processing (which as we have seen impart strength to the sheet). Because of their size, they play a key role in ironing. During this procedure, aluminum tends to adhere to the ironing rings. Ordinarily, the intermetallic particles, which are about ve microns in size, act like very ne sandpaper and polish the ironing rings. The faster cooling rates of continuous casting, however, produce intermetallic particles that are much smaller (about one micron). At this size, the particles are not very
59

effective in removing aluminum that sticks to the ironing rings. As a result, aluminum builds up on the rings and eventually causes unsightly scoring on the can walls. The problem of achieving thin slabs with the desired intermetallic particles may yet be solved, perhaps by altering the composition of the alloy or by shifting the rate of solidication from the materials molten state. 6.5.Aluminum can filling systems 6.5.1. Production line

Aluminum can

Cleaning

Filling

Putting on the lid

Packaging

Product

6.5.2. Producton line explanation. Aluminum can filling system is similar to glass filling system, so in this session we just forcus in some special characteristic of aluminum can filling system. Cleaning With new aluminum can we just use gravity cleaning, drying and then filling. If cans are required sterilize we can clean it by chlorine water with low concentration, UV, drying and then filling. Filling Filling beer in aluminum can by isobaric method Figure 48 Beer filler

Putting on the lid

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Aluminum can after filling, it pass by put the lid machine, principle of this machine look like put the lid of stannic can.

Figure 49

Seam between body and lid

Nowaday, people putting the lid and seaming in the same operation by automatic 6.6.Production efficiency The control of casting epitomizesa recurrent feature of the whole can story: one behavior is carefully traded off against another, from the control of earing and ironability to economical sheet production, from can weight to structural integrity. Yet one cost element eludes an easy balance: the energy needed to make cans. Most of this outlay lies in the aluminum itself. Taking into account ineffciencies in electricity distribution and smelting, industry experts estimate that 2.3 megajoules of energy is needed to produce the aluminum in one can. This value is equal to about the amount of energy expended to keep a 100-watt bulb lit for six hours, or about 1.7 percent of the energy of a gallon of gasoline. Although small, it represents the major expenditure of a can. EASY-OPENING LIDS were introduced on three-piece steel cans in 1961. The original caption reads: Housewives of ancient Greece and the space age compare containers for the kitchen at the press debut of the new canning innovation by the Can-Top Machinery Corp., Bala-Cynwyd, Pa. One way to reduce this expense is through recycling, which can save up to 95 percent of the energy cost. Indeed, more than 63 percent of aluminum cans are now returned for remelting. Recycling also has an important part within the aluminum mill. For every ton of can bodies made, a ton of scrap metal is produced. This scrap is remelted and thus injected back into the manufacturing cycle. Developing simpler ways of producing can sheet and nding stronger materials that can lead to lighter cans should save more money and energy.
61

Meeting these goals presents a great challenge. Existing cans already use a highly strengthened, well-controlled sheet. Their shape is nely engineered for structural strength and minimum weight. And with little tool wear, the production machinery in a single plant is capable of making many millions of cans a day with few defects. The re- wards of even small improvements, however, are quite substantial. The demand for aluminum beverage cans continues to grow everywhere in the world; their production increases by several billion every year. The success of the can is an industrial lesson about what can be achieved when scientic and engineering skills are combined with human perseverance. 6.7.PET, Glass and Aluminum Beer Bottle comparison PET bottle Glass bottle Light heavy Weigh Difficult to open Difficult to open Usage Ensure because Not ensure because of reusing, Hygient, we dont reuse, difficult to clean contamination we recycle it. Difficult Easy when colliding, reusing Broken many time, increase/decrease temperature suddenly (pasteurization) Difficult Easy Crippling because of having elastic Not Not Corrosion

Aluminum can Light Easy to open Ensure because we dont reuse, we recycle it. Difficult

Easy

Heat transfer when pasteurization Cooling rate label

Difficult to heat

Difficult to heat

Beer can react with aluminum, must coat varnish Good heat transfer rapid Easy to label (indium, coat, blow) on the can automatic Rarely

Procedure Defect structure 7. KEGGING

Low Easy to label (indium, coat, blow) on the can automatic rarely

Low Difficult to label directly on the bottle handwork Easily

Sales of beer in draught form are greater than in small-pack in only the UK and Ireland. In these countries the sale of beer in kegs is important. Kegging is about filling carbonated, pressurized, pasteurized beer into sterile containers. These containers usually contain 25, 30, 50, or 100 litres of beer. In the UK volumes of 9 imp. gal. (firkin), 18 imp. gal. (kilderkin or kil), or 36 imp. gal. (barrel) are still common. All kegs are returnable. The collection of empty kegs from depots, bars and public houses is an important part of the overall management of keg packaging. Kegging has similarities with the packaging of beer in returnable bottles. The major differences concern the handling and cleaning of the much

62

bigger container and the sterilization of the beer. As noted beer in kegs cannot be tunnel pasteurized. The theory of pasteurization shows how beer can be pasteurized in bulk. 7.1.The keg Kegs are normally made of stainless steel or aluminium. Stainless steel kegs are made of a chrome/nickel alloy. They are heavy; a 50 litre keg will weigh 1215 kg (around 30 lb.). Aluminium kegs are made of an alloy also containing magnesium and silicon. These kegs are lighter than stainless steel kegs and were originally more popular. However aluminium kegs are more frequently stolen than stainless steel kegs because of the ease with which aluminium can be melted down and sold. Aluminium kegs cannot be cleaned with caustic alkali-based detergents because hydrogen gas is formed. Cleaning is with acid or dilute alkalis. Stainless steel kegs can be cleaned with acid or alkaline detergents and generally are more robust in use, a property that is particularly important as the container ages. Generally, therefore, stainless steel kegs are preferred. All kegs have a neck containing a threaded bush (Barnes neck) into which fits a keg valve fitting (Fig. 50). This fitting is called the spear or extractor tube and through it the filling, emptying, cleaning and automatic closing of the keg is achieved. Kegs have advantages over bottles. They allow the partial dispense of the product and they operate as closed vessels with in-built leakage detection. Keg extractors should not be withdrawn outside the brewery and kegs are returned containing excess gas pressure, which prevents contamination entering. On modern keg filling lines there is a pressure test to demonstrate internal pressure and any kegs not having such a pressure will be rejected and not filled.

Figure 50

Vertical section of a 50l beer keg, height 472mm; diameter 382mm (by courtesy of Alumasc Ltd).

Kegs are delivered with the extractor installed and protected from dirt during delivery with a plastic keg cap. To dispense the beer a bayonet-type dispense head is clamped onto the extractor at the bar. This allows the ingress of the top pressure gas and the outlet of the beer to the dispense tap. There are several types of fitting which means that kegs from different brewers are often not interchangeable on the dispense equipment in the bar.

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Well-fittings contain two valves, one for the beer, normally a ball valve and one for the top pressure gas. A flat-top fitting has one valve which seals separately the gas and the beer. It is easy to use but is bigger than the well-fitting. The `combi' fitting is a combination of the well and flat top fitting, but has two valves. Great efforts have been made to make these fittings safe and tamper-proof. It is now an integral part of the filling operation to test for extractor tightness as well as internal pressure in the keg before filling. 7.2.Treatment of beer for kegging Beer for kegging is normally conditioned to yield 1.5 to 2.5 vol/vol carbon dioxide. This applies to ale and lager. Some `smooth-flow' ales in the UK are now packaged at carbon dioxide levels of 1.0 volume and with nitrogen contents of 3040mg/l. Nearly all beer for kegging is bulk (flash) pasteurized in a continuous flow pasteurizer at high pressure, say 10 bar (150 lb./in.2 ), against a back pressure of 1 bar (15 lb./in.2) Flash pasteurization Flash pasteurization is carried out in a plate heat exchanger in which there are four sections: regeneration section heating section holding tube cooling section

Beer is pumped to the regeneration section where it flows counter-current to hot beer and is therefore pre-heated. In the heating section it is brought up to pasteurization temperature by passing counter-current to hot water or steam. It is then held for a predetermined period in the holding tube. The beer then passes back to the regeneration section where it loses heat to the incoming beer. It subsequently runs counter-current to cold brine or alcohol in the cooling section. The maximum temperature achieved is between 71 and 79 C (160175 F) and the holding period is usually between 15 and 60 seconds. It is very important that all the beer flowing through the heat exchanger receives the same pasteurization treatment. Turbulent flow ensures that this is the case. The Reynolds number can be used to ensure that the condition of turbulent flow is achieved. This number is the product of liquid density, velocity and tube diameter divided by liquid viscosity. At Reynolds number values below 2,000 flow is laminar but above 3,000 flow is increasingly turbulent and this should be aimed for. To change the number of pasteurization units given to beer the temperature is altered. The heat exchanger is designed for a particular flow rate for maximum efficiency. There is a substantial pressure drop through the pasteurizer and to keep carbon dioxide in solution beer is pumped in at 8.5 to 10 bar gauge pressure against a back pressure of 1 bar. The use of buffer tanks before and after the pasteurizer is essential to prevent interruptions of flow and pressure surges on the beer in the bright beer tanks and the keg racker.

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Heat transfer in the exchanger is achieved mainly by convection. An important design factor is the surface area required for efficient heat transfer: A = Q/HT where Q is the heat load in joules/h, A is the area in m2, H is the overall heat transfer coefficient in watts/m2/K, and T is the logarithmic temperature difference (Hough et al., 1982) Advantages of flash pasteurization compared to tunnel pasteurization are: less space required lower capital cost of equipment lower operating costs (only 15% of the cost of tunnel pasteurization (Hyde, 2000)) shorter periods of exposure of the beer to temperatures where chemical changes are rapid but pasteurization is slow.

Figure 51

Flash pasteuriser; (a) raw unpasteurized beer, (b) pasteurized beer (by courtesy of APV Co. Ltd)

There are dangers for flavour stability of beer with flash pasteurization. If dissolved oxygen levels are >0.3mg/l more marked flavour changes may occur in flash pasteurization than in tunnel pasteurization. This is owing to higher temperatures and turbulent flow but more importantly, from the recycling of beer back to the buffer tank when the process conditions have not been met or packaging has been interrupted. This leads to excessive pasteurization. It is good practice to circulate water, and not beer, when flow is stopped but this is difficult to control and can lead to beer losses and dilution.

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As the beer is sterilized before filling, the kegs that receive the beer must be sterile and filling must be an aseptic operation. Strict microbiological checks downstream of the pasteurizer are essential. A typical pasteurizer may hold the beer for 20 seconds at 75 C (167 F) and this is equivalent to 50 PU. This high PU value illustrates the need for close control of the pasteurizer to avoid excess pasteurization and consequent flavour deterioration of the beer. 7.3.Handling of kegs Kegs are transported in stacks, which can be arranged horizontally using pallets or vertically using spacer boards. Horizontally configured cradle pallets are very heavy and contribute considerably to the overall weight on a distribution vehicle. Plastic spacer boards are light and allow the vertical stacking of containers up to five stacks high. This system is now preferred in the UK and Ireland. Empty kegs returning to the brewery first have to be destacked or depalletized. The principle of operation of these machines resembles that of the machines used for handling crates of returned bottles. Destacking is performed layer by layer by pushing the kegs together and lifting by pneumatic grippers. The spacer board can be removed manually or by machine. Stacking the full containers at the end of the line and after labelling is performed by similar machines. The spacer boards can be placed in the stacks manually or by machine. Efficiency of operation is critical to any kegging line. It depends as much on the supply of the containers as it does on the supply of the beer. It is essential that kegs are `fit to fill' and that kegs that are not fit do not proceed to the racking machine (International Bottler and Packer, 2000). After destacking, empty kegs are tested for internal pressure and tightness of the extractor tube in the Barnes neck. Kegs that fail are removed from the line for subsequent inspection and repair. These kegs may have been tampered with and thus be heavily infected or unsafe. Plastic protective caps will have been removed at the dispense site. The next requirement is to wash the exterior of the keg. Most returned kegs display a self-adhesive label, which will show the details of the previous filling, i.e., the beer quality and `best before' data. These old labels must be removed. This is achieved by pre-soaking, scrubbing and spraying with hot detergent at 70 C (160 F). Detergent is re-circulated. Hot water sprays remove detergent before the kegs leave the washer. External keg washers take up a lot of space and use much energy and water (at least 10 hl/hour at 1.4 bar). The supply of hot water is frequently waste process water and condensate, which may already have been used several times in the brewery. Roller or flat top chain conveyors convey kegs through these machines. 7.4.Keg internal cleaning and filling Kegs are filled with pasteurized beer. Kegs must, therefore, be sterile as well as clean prior to receiving the beer. For this reason cleaning, sterilizing and filling are carried out on one machine called a keg racker. The extractor (spear) remains in place during this operation. On most machines the cleaning takes place with the keg inverted, when the drainage is quicker and more complete and water forced up the spear cleans the side and base of the keg more effectively. In most systems filling also takes place with kegs inverted but any misalignment
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of the filler and the neck can lead to large beer losses and so sometimes each keg is returned to the upright position for filling. These tasks demand the inclusion in the line of 180 turning machines, which must operate reliably and be of robust construction. Automatic keg cleaning and filling machines are generally of two basic types, in-line or rotary. In-line machines have a number of `lanes' at which cleaning, sterilizing and filling takes place in sequence at a series of `heads'. The number of lanes (typically 824) governs the capacity of the machine. The lanes are at right-angles to the conveyor bringing the empty kegs to be filled. In-line machines are often used in the UK and they have to cope with three sizes of keg, e.g., 50 l (11 imp. gal.), 18 imp. gal. and 36 imp. gal. In these machines kegs are fed from one side and leave from the other and proceed in a straight line to the labeller and capper .These diagrams show a typical overall layout and the detail of the cleaning and filling operation. A simple two-head machine is shown at which washing takes place on the first head and filling on the second. Recently machines with four heads have been developed to provide a longer cleaning cycle (Carter, 2001). These machines have two washer heads, a sterilization station, a pre-filling head and a filler head. Stringent washing using water and detergent can be carried out. In-line machines can handle frequent size changes and short runs of different beer qualities, though this will considerably reduce efficiency. Downtime on an individual lane will not affect the other lanes and individual lanes can be taken out for maintenance during normal production. Lanes can also be added to an existing machine to increase production. Production rates of 1,200 kegs/h are achievable. On rotary machines kegs are handled simultaneously on a series of stations in a circular motion around a central core. A typical rotary machine would comprise a washing machine with 24 stations and a filling machine with 12 or perhaps 16 stations. Rotation times are 65125 seconds. Kegs are broached once and then rotate with services switching on and off as the kegs move around the circle. Services of water, detergent, steam, carbon dioxide gas and beer and condensate return have to be connected into the centre of the machine. This requires complex sealing with two discs to prevent mixing .These machines require less space than in-line machines and are capable of production rates of up to 2,000 kegs/h. The mechanical design of rotary machines is simpler than in-line machines and downtime is usually less, however, if one part of the machine fails the whole line is stopped. Rotary machines are not suitable for frequent container size and beer quality changes. In the UK the cleaning agent is usually acid (e.g. 2% phosphoric acid). This allows mixed populations of aluminium and stainless steel kegs to be processed on the same machine. Constant use of acid will lead to build up of protein residues on the inside of the keg and from time to time kegs should be sorted and stainless steel kegs cleaned with caustic alkali. Aluminium kegs can be cleaned with dilute alkali. On the mainland of Europe caustic soda is normally used as stainless steel kegs predominate. On some machines there is the facility to use both acid and alkali in the same cleaning sequence. This is not common practice in the UK.

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Figure 52 Automatic linear (lane) internal keg washing and filling machine, equipment shown in (a) is found in the washer/racker area of (b) (Eaton, 2002; Hough et. al., 1982).

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Figure 53 A rotary keg racking machine shown in plan from the top. Kegs move around the central core at the series of stations which comprise: 1 cylinder down; 2 leak test; 3 rinse head; 4 blow out head; 5 pressure test; 6 counter-pressure; 7 fill; 8 disconne pressure relief; 11 cylinder up; 12 close keg; 13 release keg clamp; 14 discharge keg (Eaton, 2002 and courtesy of KHS Till). Sequences of cleaning, sterilizing and filling vary considerably in practice and for in-line machines will depend on the number of heads on the lane. The washes can be pulsed to give more reliable cleaning and each wash except the final one is purged from the keg with sterile air. The final wash is purged with steam. Effective sterilization and prevention of oxygen pick-up is essential. Steam is used for sterilization. Counter-pressuring with an inert gas such as carbon dioxide is used to keep out oxygen. A temperature of 105 C (190 F) must be recorded inside the keg for it to be effectively sterilized. Counter-pressures can be varied but are usually in the range 0.73.5 bar (1050 lb./in.2). Gas is removed down the spear as filling proceeds through the gas ports of the keg. The beer flow is modulated to avoid fobbing, starting and ending at about 10% of full flow. This procedure also allows more precise volume control (see below). The sequences demonstrate the longer time for processing the larger keg. The time sequence will be shorter on a two-head machine but the cleaning and sterilization may not be as effective (Hough et al., 1982). It is advantageous to process long runs of beer into one keg size; frequent changes of size during a shift must be avoided. Washer heads and filler heads have manifolds for detergent, water, steam, carbon dioxide and beer. All these mains must be
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cleaned and steam sterilized before beer is passed through. Keg plants require frequent cleaning. This can take up to six hours twice a week depending on the volumes of beer being processed. After filling, the Barnes neck is usually air-dried, though this step is sometimes omitted, and the keg proceeds to be capped and labelled. These tasks were traditionally manual but machines are now available for automatic capping and labelling. A major factor in filling is an accurate determination of the contents of the keg. This is required by statute in most countries and is subject to audit. There are two requirements: the contents must meet a prescribed amount so that the customer is assured of receiving the appropriate volume and is not defrauded, and containers must not be consistently overfilled or the correct amount of excise duty will not be paid. Control of volume to meet these criteria is not easy. A gross and tare weighing system can be used with success on smaller volumes but this system has been unsuccessful with barrels (36 imp. Gal containers) still in use in the UK. A volumetric control is preferred although recently other devices have been described (Carter, 1998; Brewer and Carter, 2000). An on/off beer filling valve can give a keg brim fill to 0.5%. This can be improved to 0.25% with an electro-magnetic flow meter (Carter, 1998). More advanced systems (Brewer and Carter, 2000) incorporate a modulating back pressure valve with the flow meter. This system delivers pressure profile filling with a precision of 0.02%. No mechanical valve is required to regulate flow and 100 l/min. is achievable. A slow initial fill is possible, which reduces carbon dioxide breakout and the potential for oxygen pick- up. After the speeding-up of the flow a quiet cut-off ensures low carry-over into the extractor tube and the retention of internal pressure. Other developments incorporate an inductive flow meter in a direct flow control filling head (International Bottler and Packer, 2000). The keg is counter-pressured with 1.4 bar (20 lb./in.2) carbon dioxide or mixed gas and the flow meter coupled with a valve allows an exact pre-set amount of bee into the keg. A sensor in the return gas pipe keeps the counter pressure gas, and so the fill rate, constant. Filling by weight can be achieved using load cells incorporated into the line. Many keg lines incorporate a check-weigher to determine satisfactory operation of the volumetric system. A weighing platform fits within the conveyor and under-weight kegs are rejected, usually by a pneumatic ram onto a reject line. 7.5.Keg capping and labelling A plastic cap is applied to the Barnes neck to protect the filling and dispense valve from dirt and to deter tampering. A number of designs are available. Some caps are formed in the applicator machine whilst other cap types are supplied with an appropriate logo affixed by the manufacturer. Automatic machines must be capable of 125% of the rate of the filler so as not to be rate limiting in the overall process. Some caps attach by shrinking and some by clipping to the neck of the keg. The most important aspect is the degree of security it provides against interference. Labels on kegs are important in providing the customer with information as to the beer quality in the keg and its `best-before' date, and the brewer and the customer with complete
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traceability of the container. Barcodes applied to paper labels are essential to contain this information. Machines are now available which, when programmed, print and subsequently apply the labels to the containers. Quality of printing and application is now high. (International Bottler and Packer, 2000). Barcodes can contain the sequential number of the container in the packaging run as well as the quality and best-before date. These barcodes can be scanned at various points in the supply chain, e.g., at despatch, on the delivery vehicle, at the selling point and on return to the brewery. These labels must be removed prior to reuse of the keg. This means that the labels can be damaged and made unreadable during the supply chain history of the container. Containers frequently disappear and the paper label will not protect against this. Brewers have sought more innovative solutions to the problems of container management and traceability. In some systems the entire population of kegs is handed over to a third party who, for a fee, manages the population, thus reducing the capital employed by the brewer (Nelson, 2000b). Radio frequency identification tags can be embedded into the keg, which identify the keg as a unique container throughout its whole life history. This could be an extremely valuable system if it could be coordinated on a national (or even international!) scale between competing brewers. Progress on this in the UK has been slow. Probably further developments will occur in ways of tracking containers, because of the desire for complete traceability for quality assurance and because of the high cost of containers (approx 40/container). 7.6.Smooth flow ale in kegs As stated earlier, beer for kegging is normally conditioned prior to pasteurization to a carbon dioxide content of 1.5 to 2.5 vol/vol. Pasteurization and filling must then be managed to maintain this carbon dioxide concentration. In an analogous way to the development of the widget in canning there is a desire in the UK and Ireland to produce keg beers with the drinking characteristics of cask ales. This demands a carbon dioxide content of around 1.0 vol/vol and a thick creamy head. The use of nitrogen gas provides a solution (Carrol, 1979). The problem with keg beer is getting the nitrogen into the beer and keeping it in solution through packaging and up to the point of dispense. Nitrogen can be introduced into a roused bright beer tank at the inlet through a sinter. The tank will be top pressured with nitrogen and considerable manual involvement will be needed to achieve a satisfactory result (Fitch, 1997). The carbon dioxide content of the beer must be known and, since the nitrogen is being added before the flash pasteurizer, the pasteurizer must have the pressure capability to keep nitrogen gas in solution as well. An improvement is to use a mass flow system. A measurement is made of the initial carbon dioxide and nitrogen contents of the beer (which should be below specification) and both gases are added. Turbulent flow in the pasteurizer ensures good mixing and the boost pump of the pasteurizer system provides sufficient pressure to prevent gas break-out. This system demands very careful control of the operating pressures to achieve the desired level of nitrogen consistently. In the `Nitroset' system (Lindsay et al., 1995) nitrogen is injected directly into the beer after the pasteurizer. A boost pump can achieve 15 bar (220 lb./in.2)
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pressure to keep the gas in solution. Accelerator mixers create further turbulence to aid solution. Variable flow rates of between 150 and 450 hl/h are achievable. Nitrogen concentration can be determined pre- and post-addition with `Orbisphere' thermal conductivity nitrogen monitors. Further techniques have been described using hydrophobic membranes (Gill and Meneer, 1997). The membrane is in the form of a hollow fibre, which allows gas to diffuse into or out of a liquid without the need for intimate mixing. Each membrane comprises a bundle of fibres with the gas on the inside and the liquid on the outside. Gases can be exchanged into or out of the liquid by varying the partial pressure and gas composition on the inside of the fibres. Pilot scale work has been carried out and scale up to 500 hl/hour has been claimed to be feasible. This technique could be valuable for both the addition of nitrogen and the removal of carbon dioxide, particularly if this could be achieved by a single pass through the gas exchanger. At present direct injection systems are the most widely used. Nitrogenated beer has both carbon dioxide and nitrogen in solution and these gases must be kept in solution at the appropriate concentrations up to the point of dispense of the beer. Dalton's Law demands that the same two gases must be in the head space of the tank or the keg in the same balanced proportions. The beer can therefore be filled into the keg using the mixed gas proportion of dispense or, for very low carbon dioxide beers (` 1 volume), 100% nitrogen can be used. A typical `smooth-flow' English ale would have a dissolved gas analysis of: nitrogen (mg/l) 35 (Range 32 to 38) carbon dioxide (vol/vol) 1.1 (Range 1.0 to 1.2).

In the UK virtually the whole of the keg ale trade is in high nitrogen, smooth flow beer. There is virtually no interest in this type of beer in other parts of the world. There have been lagers packaged at high nitrogen levels in the UK. These have not been entirely successful because of the need to maintain a significant carbon dioxide content (say 2.2 vols) to achieve the sparkle typical of good lager. The nitrogen `softens' the flavour so that the pleasure of drinking a sharp, effervescent lager is lost. 8. CASK BEER The final type of packaging to consider is the packaging of naturally conditioned beer into casks. This beer is not filtered and stabilized in the brewery. It contains live yeast and depends on a secondary fermentation in the cask to provide condition (carbon dioxide) to the beer before it is drunk. The beer is not served under pressure and is dispensed by hand pumps. This type of beer is produced in large volumes only in the UK. Of the 59 million hl of beer produced in the UK in 1998, 38 million hl were sold in draught form and of this volume 11%, about 4.2 million hl was cask beer. Originally beer was filled (racked) into casks made of wood. These are now rare and almost all casks are stainless steel or aluminium.

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Cask beers tend to be rich in flavour and aroma, particularly those flavours associated with hops and this makes them unique and much sought after by some drinkers. The advantages to the brewer of producing cask beer relate to the relatively low cost of the equipment needed and the low energy input. Disadvantages include the inherent variability of the product, its proneness to infection if consumed slowly and the skill required of the publican to dispense it properly. Some brewery marketing departments do not like these attributes of cask beer and are more comfortable with the predictable behaviour of keg, bottled and canned beer. As a consequence most ale brands in the UK are sold in keg as well as cask form and for some brands the relative volumes are much more in keg. This trend has been resisted by a consumer organisation called CAMRA the Campaign for Real Ale. This is a powerful pressure group and has done much to persuade brewers to continue to produce high-quality cask beers. Most brewers seek to develop good relationships with their local CAMRA branch. CAMRA operates in all areas of the UK. The issues involved in producing sound cask beer revolve around the handling of the casks and the handling of the beer. 8.1.The cask Casks are not pressurized containers and are simpler in construction than kegs (Fig. 54). Casks contain a hole on the top of the belly called the shive hole that is protected by the shive boss. Through this hole the cask is filled and then closed with the shive, which can be made of wood or plastic. A second hole on the end of the cask is stoppered with a plug called a keystone prior to filling. This plug is usually made of wood and through this plug is driven, where the beer is to be served, the tap from which the beer leaves the cask to be drunk. Casks are usually of 9, 18, or 36 imp. gal. capacity. In the 1970s much beer was sold in hogsheads (54 imp. gal.) but these are now very rarely seen.

Figure 54

Vertical section of 18 imp. gallon beer cask, height, 520mm; diameter, 470mm

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8.2.Handling casks Equipment for handling empty and full casks and removing them and stacking them on pallets or spacer boards is identical to the equipment used for kegs. In small breweries (<1,000 imp. brl/week; 1,600 hl) there will be much more manual handling. To achieve efficiency in filling, only those casks `fit to fill' should proceed down the line to the racker. Making casks fit to fill requires the removal of beer and hop residues (ullage), the removal of the old label and external washing of the cask, and the removal of the shive and keystone. Until recently these tasks were almost always performed manually with consequent high demand for labour. Vision systems, sometimes using lasers, have now been developed (International Bottler and Packer, 2000) which automatically locate the position of the shive and the keystone, facilitating their removal by screws, which bore into the wood or plastic and then lift the remainder of the shive or keystone clear of the cask. Hot water and brush systems will remove labels and clean the outside of the cask. The most important machine prior to filling is the internal cask washer (Fig. 55). These machines are of very robust construction to withstand the weight of the casks and the frequent turning required to ensure effective cleaning. The filling of cask beer is not an aseptic operation but the internal surface of the cask must be as clean as possible and practically nearly sterile to prevent the growth of bacteria and hence the development of `off' flavours. Cask washers vary in design but the main agent in achieving effective cleaning is the hot water used. A temperature of at least 80 C (175 F) is needed and pressure of the sprays needs to be about 70 bar (1,000 lb./in.2). Caustic alkali and/or acid can be used but effective cleaning is possible with water alone provided the temperature is correct. A frequent problem in cleaning is the removal of wood from pieces of keystone and shive, which entered the cask when broached. This has resulted in the use of plastic shives but keystones are still mostly made of wood. From time to time casks must be taken off-line for inspection and manual removal of wood.

Figure 55 Internal cask washing equipment: nine station chain machine with moving centre beam; HL, hot liquor (water); det, detergent applied to outside of cask (not used in all installations) (by courtesy of Porter Lancastrian Ltd.).
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8.3.Preparing beer for cask filling Cask beer contains live yeast and an important aspect of preparing beer for the cask is controlling the yeast count at racking. Beer can be racked directly from the fermenting vessel after skimming and an appropriate settling time, but with this arrangement it is difficult to get a consistent control of yeast count. After fermentation beer is usually run into racking tanks or backs. In these tanks the beer is given a time to settle, 1648 h, depending on the state of the beer and demand from trade. The yeast will partly settle. The objective is to achieve a yeast count at rack of around 1 million cells/ml of beer. The range of yeast count at which cask beer can be successfully packaged is from 0.25 to 4 million cells/ml, but nearer to 1 million is to be preferred. Too much yeast suspended in the beer will result in a violent secondary fermentation and when the casks are vented prior to sale beer and foam will gush from the cask and will be lost. The remaining beer will be dull and lifeless and will have little to no head retention or foam character. If too little yeast is present the secondary fermentation will be too slow and there will be insufficient carbon dioxide in the beer at dispense with the consequence of a flat, lifeless beer. Settling controls yeast count but to aid this process, finings are used. Isinglass finings are added at the rate of 1 to 4 pints/imp. brl (0.361.44 l/hl). These finings can be added in the racking tank or at any point up to when the beer is dispensed. The usual point of addition is at rack with perhaps a prior addition in the racking tank. In any event the beer will require from 1248 h and possibly up to 72 h to fine and settle before it is sold. The fining of cask beer is one of the most difficult of all brewery operations to control consistently. Often brewers experience periods of poor fining which are difficult to explain. Isinglass finings bear a positive charge because of the rich collagen content and interact with the negative charge on the yeast cell wall. In most circumstances this interaction is sufficient to achieve effective clarity. Some beers, sometimes will not fine with isinglass alone. The yeast may have a too low negative charge or the concentration may be too high (say >2 million cells/ml), or there may be too high a concentration of positively charged colloids in the beer. In this situation auxiliary finings derived from alginates, carrageenan or silicic acid, and having a negative charge, can be added to the beer before isinglass finings to precipitate the positively charged colloids (Vickers and Ballard, 1974). An effective method is often to add the auxiliary finings in the racking tank and separate the flocs thus formed in this vessel and then to add the isinglass at the rack of the beer. Priming sugars are also added to some beers at this stage. These are normally solutions at 1150 Sacch (37 P) and are added at rates of 1 to 5 pints/barrel (0.351.75 l/hl). The priming sugar provides a small quantity of fermentable carbohydrate (often sucrose) to assist the yeast to achieve effective secondary fermentation in the cask. The pH value of cask beer is usually in the range 3.904.20. Some brewers add potassium metabisulphite to beer, which has a bacteriostatic action at pH values below 4.20. This can give some protection against infection but is not a substitute for good practice in cask washing and filling.
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8.4.Cask filling The size of breweries producing cask beer varies considerably from those producing national brands at over 5,000 imp. brl (8,000 hl)/week to those producing less than 100 imp. brl (160 hl)/week. Further, micro-breweries or pub breweries may produce only enough beer to be sold in their own premises and this may be only 110 brl (2150 hl)/ week. This means that cask filling operations can vary from single head manual fillers to large, multi-head racking machines. Cask beer has a shelf-life from packaging to consumption of a maximum of four weeks. It contains considerable quantities of yeast, which provides protection against flavour defects which might be attributable to excess oxygen. While the elimination of oxygen ingress during packaging is not as critical as with the packaging of brewery conditioned beers, it is minimized. Modern cask racking machines usually incorporate a stage of counter-pressure with carbon dioxide gas. After washing, casks are conveyed by roller or flat chain conveyor to the racking machine. Prior to racking a keystone is driven into the cask. The casks are rotated belly- up so that the shive hole is vertically uppermost. The cask is located beneath the filling tube at a `head' on the racker (Fig. 56). There may be up to eight heads on the racker and therefore up to eight casks can be filled simultaneously. The filling tube will comprise a tube for the beer and a tube for carbon dioxide gas and this is lowered onto the shive hole to make contact with the cask, which is so sealed from outside air. The cask is first counter-pressured with carbon dioxide, the bottom valve is opened and the beer then flows at atmospheric pressure into the cask. Air/carbon dioxide in the cask flows through the return air-pipe, which usually contains a sight glass. The cask is deemed to be full when beer can be seen in the return air-pipe.

Figure 56

Traditional cask ale racking back

Fillers controlled by a volumetric meter are also available. The beer supply is then shut off and the filling head is raised. Beer in the return air-pipe is evacuated to a fob tank and can be added to a following cask. This requires scrupulous attention to the cleanliness of the mains,
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as this procedure is a frequent source of infection to the cask beer. However, if this beer is not returned losses will be high. After raising the filling tube the cask is closed by manually driving a shive into the boss. Isinglass finings (14 pints/imp. brl) can also be added at this stage when the beer is said to have been `fined at rack'. This is now usually the case in the UK because tax (duty) on the beer is paid on the volume and strength of the beer leaving the brewery and this cannot be controlled if the cask is broached for fining in a depot or at the point of sale. Cask beers are renowned for hop character and this derives from the particular hops used in the copper and also from the practice of dry-hopping beers on the racker so that hop aroma can develop in the cask in its period of storage prior to dispense. Dry hops are usually added in the form of pressed pellets at rates of 0.56 ounces (1484 g)/barrel. The pellets are formed from whole cone hops and are lightly pressed to avoid rupture of lupulin glands. They are supplied in weights of , and ounce (7 and 14 g). The pellets have a short shelf-life and should be kept at below 15 C (60 F) and a batch should be used in four months. The pellets are added by hand prior to closing the cask with the shive. The weight of the pellets and hence the essential oil content is very variable. This has led to the development of various extracts in which more consistent levels of essential oil can be added . These products are, however, difficult to handle on the line, are expensive and have not enjoyed wide favour with brewers particularly as the sales of cask beer are in decline. Many different hop varieties have been used for dry-hopping and particular varieties are favoured for particular beers. These can be as diverse as East Kent Goldings, Fuggles, Wye Northdown and Styrian Goldings. Brewers should pay particular attention to securing adequate supplies of hops for several crop years ahead to ensure beer flavour is not compromised. After filling the cask is labelled. The comments made on the labelling of beer in kegs (21.5.5) equally apply to beer in casks. To ensure that the beer is in optimum condition when drunk requires considerable effort in storage and dispense. In the UK cask beer remains a favourite choice of experienced drinkers but its wider appeal is limited by inherent inconsistencies and the desire to drink beers at lower temperatures (<8 C; 46 F), which seriously limit the flavour experience of the true cask product.

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