Packaging

ABF Aseptic Blow Fill – Innovation story

Friday 22. April 2011 - GEA Procomac S.p.A. will for the first time exhibit the ABF (Aseptic Blow Fill) system, the world’s first rotary aseptic blow moulding machine (Airstar) with an integrated aseptic filler and capper, at the Interpack exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany.

These true innovations have been increasingly improved on the basis of GEA Procomac’s extensive experience: since 1993 when its first aseptic filling line was installed, GEA Procomac has introduced 5 generations of aseptic filling systems, always focusing on reducing the total cost of ownership, the environmental footprint and the space requirements.
Starting from the simple concept that shifts the sterilization process from a macro level to a micro level by reducing the decontamination scale from bottle surface to preform surface, the GEA Procomac Development team took a step forward compared to existing technologies: they thought of a blow moulding machine designed to have aseptic sterility as a core concept right from the beginning.
ABF decontaminates the preforms with H2O2 dry process, and maintains this sterility when blow moulding the PET bottles and throughout the entire filling and capping process. The designers took great care to minimise any possible risk of contamination during blow moulding and bottle transfers: ABF brings the whole process together within a sterile zone and all non-cleanable components are located outside the machine.
The ABF system on show at GEA Procomac’s stand will be integrated with a Fillstar FX volumetric electronic filler, an industry standard for filling still beverages. The Fillstar FX is a volumetric electronic filler that uses magnetic flow-meters. The bottles are neck handled throughout filling and capping. There is no contact between the filling nozzle and the bottle neck. The Fillstar FX filler can fill any still product including products with pulp and fibers.
ABF is an extremely flexible solution that can blow and fill up to 48,000 bottles an hour and operate at different levels of decontamination: this allows products with different shelf lives – low-acid aseptic beverages, high-acid aseptic beverages, ESL beverages, etc. – to be produced on the same system.
Furthermore, ABF can be ranked as GEA Procomac’s answer to sustainability, since the system uses almost no chemicals or water, and energy usage is kept to a minimum by the elimination of air conveyors, sterilization and rinsing turrets and water UHT sterilization.
The whole system is more compact than traditional technology and requires fewer operators allowing a considerable operational and maintenance cost saving.
Even if Interpack represents the GEA Procomac “official” presentation of ABF system to its Customers, the first GEA Procomac Airstar 10 integrated with a Fillstar FX Pet2 mod. 100.15.113 will be started up in Poland on a production plant for still drinks, fruit based products and flavored water, within a few months. The line will blow and fill up to 17,000 bottles an hour with 1.5 litres, 1.75 litres and 2.0 litres PET bottles.