For the PepsiCo Group, Akomag developed the new machine intended for washing recycled glass bottles.
Akomag is a flexible and dynamic company that bases its policy on customer satisfaction, the quality of its systems and assistance services and technological innovation. Akomag has been working for several years in the bottling sector, and thanks to the experience acquired in this field, it can guarantee to its customers the maximum yields, user-friendly operation, minimum operational costs as well as a long working life of its machines built with top quality materials.
The long experience and research are to meet the needs of customers looking for quality and wanting to reduce their environmental impact. Recovering glass from bottles used in the beverage industry, for example, is ethical and environmentally friendly. But doing it in a traditional way entails a series of drawbacks: more waste management costs, more pollution caused by road transport, more CO2 emissions, more time and personnel involved in the cycle and consequently higher operational costs.
On the other hand, recovering glass with the Akomag method reduces or completely eliminates the disadvantages listed. For this reason, the company builds bottle washers for all production capacities, able to meet the needs of the bottling industry. Akomag recently tested a new machine for the PepsiCo Group, designed for washing recycled glass bottles at high speeds. The machine for the PepsiCo Group is a Hydra 8.2.
Characterised by a very high production speed of 37,500 bottles/h, this machine allows the customer to reach a mechanical efficiency equal to 99.4%. It has been installed by Akomag after having passed with flying colors the standards required by the customer in the contractual phase, confirming its position as world leader in the construction of glass washing machines.
Minimum environmental impact
The bottle washer has been specially designed to minimise the environmental impact. In fact, Akomag paid particular attention to water and steam consumptions, and to the duration of the detergent bath. The completely automated wash cycle includes an initial bottle-emptying station followed by a pre-wash spraying and first pre-soak bath. This significantly reduces detergent bath pollution and markedly decreases energy consumptions.
In the pre-soak area a belt filter has been installed that allows to automatically remove the main impurities typical of recycled bottles (straws, paper, cigarette butts, for instance). The washing of bottles is completed with the internal and external high-pressure detergent wash sprays, using self-cleaning and self-centring rotating nozzles. The accurate rinsing is performed with water sprays (at decreasing temperature), which accompany the bottles to the final rinse using mains water. And right on the final rinsing sprays Akomag focused its attention.
The expedients developed during the design stage have allowed to achieve extraordinary results. By installing a special valve with integrated flow meter on the mains pipe (controlled directly by the control panel), it is possible to detect the instantaneous and daily water consumption required for the proper washing of the bottles. Thanks to these expedients, the new machine has a water consumption equal to 0.098 litres per bottle, i.e. a lower value than rigidly imposed in contractual phase by the customer.
The system is completed with many completed functions, including sensors for slowing down or stopping the machine in case of missing or clogging of the bottles on the conveyor belts; synchronization the bottle washer speed with that of the filling monobloc; control and introduction of detergent and additives in the washing bath and of sequestrants/disinfectants in the spray tanks; self-cleaning filters in the tanks; automatic bottle loading and unloading, perfectly synchronized with the movement of the main chain.
