Production line for filling bottles
Bottling lines
are
production lines
that fill a liquid product, often a
beverage
, into
bottles
on a large scale.
[1]
Many prepared foods are also bottled, such as sauces, syrups, marinades, oils and vinegars.
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
Bottling lines usually include label application equipment, capping operations, date stamps, etc. Quality assurance verification equipemt is often included.
Beer bottling process
[
edit
]
Packaging of bottled beer typically involves drawing the product from a holding tank and filling it into bottles in a filling machine (
filler
), which are then capped, labeled and packed into cases or cartons. Many smaller
breweries
send their bulk beer to large facilities for
contract
bottling?though some will bottle by hand. Virtually all
beer bottles
are
glass
.
The first step in bottling beer is
depalletising
, where the empty bottles are removed from the original
pallet
packaging delivered from the manufacturer, so that individual bottles may be handled. The bottles may then be rinsed with
filtered
water
or
air
, and may have
carbon dioxide
injected into them in attempt to reduce the level of
oxygen
within the bottle. The bottle then enters a "filler" which fills the bottle with beer and may also inject a small amount of
inert gas
(usually carbon dioxide or
nitrogen
) on top of the beer to disperse the oxygen, as oxygen can ruin the quality of the product via
oxidation
. Finally, the bottles go through a "capper", which applies a
bottle cap
, sealing the bottle. A few beers are bottled with a
cork
and
cage
.
Next the bottle enters a labelling machine ("labeller") where a label is applied. To ensure
traceability
of the product, a
lot number
, generally the date and time of bottling, may also be printed on the bottle. The product is then packed into boxes and
warehoused
, ready for sale.
[6]
Depending on the magnitude of the bottling endeavor, there are many different types of bottling machinery available. Liquid level machines fill bottles so they appear to be filled to the same line on every bottle, while volumetric filling machines fill each bottle with exactly the same amount of liquid. Overflow pressure fillers are the most popular machines with beverage makers, while gravity filling machines are most cost effective. In terms of automation, inline filling machines are most popular, but rotary machines are much faster albeit much more expensive.
[7]
Wine bottling process
[
edit
]
The process for bottling
wine
is largely similar to that for bottling beer, except
wine bottles
differ in volumes and shapes. Traditionally, a cork is used to provide
closure
to wine bottles. After filling, a bottle travels to a corking machine (
corker
) where a cork is compressed and pushed into the neck of the bottle. Whilst this is happening, the corker
vacuums
the air out of the bottle to form a
negative pressure
headspace
. This removes any oxygen from the headspace, which is useful as latent oxygen can ruin the quality of the product via
oxidation
. A negative pressure headspace will also counteract pressure caused by the
thermal expansion
of the wine, preventing the cork from being forced from the bottle.
Champagnes
and
sparkling wines
may further be sealed with a
muselet
, which ensures the cork will not explode off in transit.
Alternative wine closures
such as
screw caps
are available.
Some bottling lines incorporate a
fill height detector
which reject under or over-filled bottles, and also a
metal detector
.
After filling and corking, a
plastic
or
tin
capsule is applied to the neck of the bottle in a
capsular
. Next the bottle enters a
labeller
where a
wine label
is applied. The product is then packed into boxes and warehoused, ready for sale.
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Paine, F.A.; Paine, H.Y. (2012).
A Handbook of Food Packaging
. Springer US. p. 100.
ISBN
978-1-4615-2810-4
. Retrieved
November 2,
2017
.
- ^
Yates, R.E. (1998).
The Kikkoman Chronicles: A Global Company with a Japanese Soul
. McGraw-Hill. p. 22.
ISBN
978-0-07-134736-5
. Retrieved
November 2,
2017
.
- ^
Krasner, D.; Krasner, E.; Stratton, A. (2002).
The Flavors of Olive Oil: A Tasting Guide and Cookbook
. Simon & Schuster. p.
8
.
ISBN
978-0-7432-1403-2
. Retrieved
November 2,
2017
.
- ^
Western Canner and Packer
. Miller Freeman Publications of California. 1953. p. 283
. Retrieved
November 2,
2017
.
- ^
Glass Packer
. Ogden-Watney publishers. 1951. p. 717
. Retrieved
November 2,
2017
.
- ^
Brody, A. L., & Marsh, K, S.,
Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology
, John Wiley & Sons, 1997,
ISBN
0-471-06397-5
- ^
"How to Buy A Bottling Line"
. Kinnek.com
. Retrieved
2013-06-25
.
Further reading
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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General
topics
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Product
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Containers
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Materials
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Processes
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Machinery
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Environment,
post-use
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