March 2010
BEVERAGE MACHINES
GEA Procomac presented the first machine in beverage industry employing electron beam cap sterilisation. The machine's process and automation are managed by a Rockwell Automation controller.
Established in 1979, Procomac joined GEA group in 2007and is recognized as a leader in the sensitive beverages bottling technology. Based in Sala Baganza, near Parma, in Northern Italy, the company designs, manufactures and installs filling and packaging lines for juices, teas, isotonics, soft drinks, dairy products and water in PET bottles.
Fitting the needs of those industries requiring a clean filling environment, GEA Procomac serves worldwide major players. At Drinktec 2009 in Munich the company has shown its new Sterilbeam caps steriliser, whose automation core has been built using the Rockwell Automation control platform. «The machine provides sterile caps to the Procomac capper machine», explains Roberto Delmonte, Automation Department Manager, GEA Procomac. «Fed by a cap sorter, it is mounted on the top platform of a filling machine and it is the first machine in beverage industry employing electron beam cap sterilization».
The machine is about 4 m long, 2 m wide and 3 m high; its weight is around 4 tons - mainly due to lead shielding. A shielded cap channel is created by the closure of a movable part onto a static one. On both parts, shielded boxes house two electron emitters. The emitter windows irradiate the middle section of the cap channel. Caps are delivered through the electron numb and are sustained by guide rails. The guided channel is sloped and caps move by gravity. The shielding is mounted on a stainless steel frame. The sterile air system, for channel pressurisation, is placed behind the channel. Behind this system there is the electrical cabinet, housing the emitters power supply and all the electronics. On the top of the frame, a cap sorter feeds the caps channel, while a chiller on the lateral side provides water-cooling for the emitters.
«The process is simpler, since only voltage, current and time are monitored and there is no chemicals consumption, except for a small amount of hydrogen peroxide needed for environmental sterilization», Mr Delmonte underlines, pointing out that the main feature of the solution conceived by GEA Procomac is that «it provides sterility using a dry process. No water is required and the machine validation is easier too, since it can be carried out without any BI Test. Only doses delivered to caps need to be measured».
Process control
An Allen-Bradley CompactLogix L32 controller from Rockwell Automation controls all the process and the automation of the machine. The controller receives and sends data to the HMI, while the integrated TCP port is used for HMI communication and programming. I/O, valves blocks, inverters and dedicated electronics are connected via DeviceNet™ network. From a strictly technical point of view, the CompactLogix™ controller allowed GEA Procomac to help reduce programming efforts and to help minimize installation and start-up time, while the distributed I/O solution helped them to minimize wiring. Actually, the company could rely on main CompactLogix™ systems benefits: high func-tionality, flexible installation, simplified configuration and advanced system connectivity.
«We also got easier testing and validation, while the open control platform from Rockwell Automation provided the machine with a better flexibility for future changes», underlines Mr Delmonte.
Anyway, GEA Procomac wasn't surprised by all these benefits, being the company familiar with Rockwell Automation technology; as Mr Delmonte finally comments: «Rockwell Automation is a worldwide recognised leader in the automation solution and all aseptic Lines produced by GEA Procomac use its products. Due to its open and common environment, the Rockwell Automation control platform represents a natural solution to get a full integration to the rest of the automation system».