Money saved plus more efficient can/bottle drying for Türk Tuborg

Financial savings combined with ensured consistent and accurate labelling were the chief drivers for the Türk Tuborg* filling operation in Izmir, Turkey installing new can and bottle drying systems. The drying systems were installed as retrofit units to replace compressed air jets and heated tunnels, and are reported to be achieving significant savings whilst also helping to avoid the problem of label slippage resulting from inefficiently dried bottles.

The can and bottle drying machines are from Air Control Industries (ACI) and were supplied by the company’s Turkish distributor, Yük. Müh. Nihat Kagnici, Sanayi Müsavirligi ve Mümessilligi. The principal reason for the substantial cost savings is the fact the ACI units are all blower powered, a more cost-effective and cleaner way of delivering air for drying bottles and cans.

Prior to opting for the ACI systems, Packaging Engineers Arda Sengöz and Mehmet Kaynak at the Türk Tuborg plant investigated a number of different suppliers. However, a combination of good references from existing customers, competitive pricing and the easy self-installation/running maintenance persuaded them that ACI offered the best solution for the company’s needs. Also, with a local distributor they were confident of professional back-up if required.

Five ACI drying systems are installed, three of which are fully enclosed. Two of the fully enclosed units are installed on canning lines and incorporate ACI’s purpose-engineered ‘CanTunnels’ with Airknives, whilst the third is employed for bottle drying and is equipped with ACI’s ‘JetPlate’ system plus a pair of Airknives. The open units are EL (blower at Eye Level) packages and are CanTunnel systems.

The CanTunnel systems are installed in pairs with dryers located before and after can ‘twisters’ which invert cans so that both top and bottom are dried. Throughput for each of the two parallel lines is 40,000 cans/hr (either 33 or 50cl).

The bottle drying line has a capacity of 60,000 bottles/hr and the ACI dryer must cope with up to 14 different shapes/sizes of bottle, drying neck, cap and bottle in one pass.

“The ACI drying systems are working very well and the support has been excellent, both from ACI and Nihat Kagnici,” said Arda Sengöz, Packaging Engineer. “What’s more, we are saving money. The compressed air systems and heating tunnel were much more expensive to run and maintain so we expect a rapid payback on our investment.”

*Part of CBC Group – Carlsberg’s partner in Israel, Romania and Albania.

Produces Carlsberg, SKOL and a number of Tuborg brands on licence.

ACI innovation recognised with award

ACI is always endeavouring to find new ways of employing blower power effectively and improve ways of doing things.

Our new 'DRI-Line PowerPack' system for drying water cooled cables/extrusions has been recognised as achieving this by being awarded one of the prestigious DPA (Design Products & Applications) magazine's Innovation awards for 2009. The award was made following a vote by readers of the magazine - a prize awarded by our peers!

The 'DRI-Line Powerpack' is a new energy-efficient drying unit for water-cooled extruded and coated/insulated products.

It achieves vastly superior drying efficiencies to both compressed air alternatives and other blower-driven solutions available to the industry today.

Impressive payback periods have been demonstrated by extensive customer field trials. When compared to compressed air systems up to 10 fold energy savings have been achieved which potentially equates to savings of £1000s per annum.

Removing water from extruded/coated products during manufacture following extrusion or coating application is difficult to achieve due to the way water adheres to products. The DRI-Line Powerpack delivers air at high velocity very close to the surface of the product breaking the surface tension of the retained water, allowing it to be removed effectively.

Utilising high efficiency blowers, ACI's DRI-Line Powerpack delivers warm (80o C/176oF) clean, contaminant free air at constant volume and pressures to ensure the drying process is consistent and reliable. It also has the advantage of being 'plug and play' as it runs off a 230V, single phase supply. A 110V version will also be available shortly.

The unit has the ability to successfully dry extruded products from 5 to 25 mm diameter at speeds in excess of 500 m/min. Its drying effectiveness is achieved by passing extruded product through a pair of hinged drying heads that deliver the high velocity airflow directly to the product. The hinged heads are sprung allowing any defect/knot to pass through without any requirement for adjustment.

Aluminium recycling efficiency boosted by using airknives

Specialist aluminium scrap processing company, Alutrade Ltd of Oldbury, has upgraded its can processing operation to achieve purity levels of 0.03%. This level of purity meets international recycling standards for the drinks can industry and has opened the door to many new markets. In addition, it has enabled the company to get a better price for its higher quality recycled aluminium. An essential part of this improved efficiency is the use of airknives during the separation of aluminium from non-conductive materials.

Alutrade was set up originally to recycle aluminium profile scrap but 6 years ago it entered the aluminium can recycling business. This involves accepting cans in various forms including bailed, ‘clean’ loose cans and cans separated out from mixed rubbish such as domestic curb-side collections.

The original multi-stage can recycling operation involved pre-shearing of the cans on entry to the process, initial magnetic removal of ferrous metals and then separation of waste from conductive material using an eddy current technique. This was followed by a hand-picking belt, a shredder, a vibrating fines separator and then one more travel over an eddy current sorting arrangement for final removal of contaminants from the shredded aluminium before weighing and bailing.

This procedure achieved purity levels of around 0.15% and was acceptable at that time for can manufacturers in Europe. Then the purity specification was upgraded by Alutrade’s principal customer to 0.03%. This meant the company had to find new markets for its product whilst it found a way to improve the quality of its recycled aluminium cans.

How did they do it? By adding our blower powered airknives!

“Since the introduction of the ACI airknives the purity levels of our recycled product has improved significantly,” said Malcolm George, Director. “Consequently, this has enabled us to meet higher purity standards, broaden our markets and obtain better prices for our enhanced product quality.”

The airknives are located below the two eddy current units: the first where heavies (waste) are separated from the shredded cans after the magnetic removal of ferrous metals and the second for final cleaning of aluminium shreds before weighing and bailing.

Their purpose is to boost the flight of the conductive aluminium as it is ejected by the electric field created by the eddy current device (positives repelling each other) beyond a separating baffle. This greater distance of travel ensures a more positive separation of materials to achieve a cleaner end product.

This same technique is also employed on another smaller line, again helping to achieve improved recycling efficiency.

New fans extend potential industrial application opportunities

Three new fans have been added to our ‘Slimline’ range, which is intended for enclosure/cabinet cooling and fume extraction. The new fans have been introduced to extend the performance capabilities of the range to expand potential applications into areas involving higher air volumes and pressures.

The new fans (VBL12/3, VBL14/3 & VBL 16/3) are 3-phase units and therefore intended for more demanding industrial applications than the existing single phase units. In addition, they are centrifugal fans so they offer high power to size performance.

They are driven by a high efficiency inside out motor with the impeller mounted on an external rotor that rotates around a central fixed stator. This design employs the impeller to operate as an efficient heat sink for cooler running whilst the rotor becomes a high resistance unit to facilitate speed control.

Precision balancing of moving components smooths operation and provides quiet operation whilst ensuring reduced wear on bearings for extended working life. Air flow rates for our new Slimline 3-phase fans reach up to 8500m3/hr (5000cfm) with operating pressures up to 1180Pascals (4.75 In.SWG).

Blower helps give projected graphics new spherical perspective

Projected graphics for such different events and locations as concerts, museum exhibitions, conferences and TV studios took on a different perspective – quite literally – in 2005 when Pufferfish introduced its spherical displays.

Flat screen projection suddenly became passé! Now images, videos, text and other graphics effects can be shown in-the-round. This is achieved via special projection techniques involving custom engineered lenses that project media onto the inside of an inflated sphere that can be suspended from ceilings, hung from walls or simply floor ‘standing’.

This projection technology has been developed over last few years by Pufferfish and is now being used worldwide for major music events, important business conferences and eye-catching exhibitions. At the same time as the core projection technology was being proven the key factor of keeping the spheres inflated correctly was also being refined with ACI’s help.

ACI was approached by Pufferfish after consultations with specialists in inflatables regarding appropriate blower manufacturers. Initially an off-the-shelf centrifugal fan was specified. A simple solution that both inflated the sphere and cooled the projection equipment as the excess air was ducted away.

Today’s version of the Pufferfish digital spherical display is now more sophisticated and larger in size calling for a different blower solution. Unlike most inflatables, the Pufferfish sphere is non-venting; air does not escape via the seams. So the blower must be able to maintain a consistent level of inflation in response to feedback from pressure sensors. This calls for extreme opposites of performance, from the initial inflation of the sphere through to continuous ‘tick-over’ to maintain pressure without overheating. In between, there are the pressure changes resulting from variations in ambient conditions which call for different blower outputs.

“ACI has been with us from the start giving us advice on inflating our spheres,” said Will Cavendish, Chief Technology Officer for Pufferfish. “The latest blower satisfies all our inflation requirements whilst also helping us to achieve system design improvements.”

The ACI blower providing this controlled inflation is the company’s MS8/DC. The fan motor is a 24V external rotor unit and is controlled by varying the voltage. This configuration provides simple, compact, control solution that is quiet. The compactness of system facilitates easy transportation and installation, whilst the latter is essential for some applications, such as TV studios.

Custom-engineered heaters help ensure maximum passenger comfort

Custom-engineered heaters from ACI help ensure the passengers on the Venice Simplon-Orient Express’ ‘Northern Belle’ enjoy their classic 1930s rail travel experience in maximum comfort.

A luxurious, romantic travel experience is the promise offered by the Venice Simplon-Orient Express for its Orient-Express rail services. Passengers enjoy travelling in the splendour of carriages restored to the highest standards of the classic 1920/30s railway, when royalty and the glitterati demanded far more than transport for their trains.

Excellent food, exquisite wines, first class service and the ultimate in travel comfort were the prerequisites of travellers during these heydays of rail travel. Orient-Express rail services endeavour to reproduce this same high level of service for its customers today.

An essential ingredient of the travel experience is ensuring that the ambient temperature is at the optimum level at all times, so customers are always comfortable, even when wearing those exotic dresses for very special occasions. Helping to ensure this on the ‘Northern Belle’ are custom-engineered heaters supplied by ACI.

Our units are used to heat the vestibules between passenger compartments so that when communicating doors are opened no cold air comes into compartments to cause any discomfort.

The heaters were installed following a feasibility study by Resco Railways Ltd, an international rail vehicle engineering consultancy, that looked at price, performance and reliability. After looking at off-the-shelf options, it was decided that a specially engineered solution was the best route. This would ensure not only that the heaters would meet the heat output requirements but also comply with RSSB (Railway Safety & Standards Board) build, performance and reliability standards for components used on railways, which are similar to those for the aircraft industry.

“The heaters do exactly what is required”, said Geoff Armstrong, Senior Consultant for Resco. “ACI supplied a unit for a prototype installation. Following which a slight adjustment to airflow levels and noise attenuation were effected to the full satisfaction of Orient-Express. The heaters are now installed throughout the Northern Belle.”

The installed heaters on the Northern Belle are 3kW units with a key-operated, 4-position switch for adjusting heat output. The warm air from the heater is delivered by a specially adapted ACI fan, which draws in and filters air from the passenger compartment. The fan has been ‘silenced’ using special attenuation material, which again helps to avoid annoyance of passengers.

The heater is a 3Ø heater unit with a single phase fan and is designed to achieve a 25ºC temperature rise. Standard options available include 24V, 48V & 110V DC and 115V, 230V & 400V AC.

Exhibiting - Home and Overseas

September has been a busy month for ACI on the exhibition front. We have participated in two major industrial shows: Offshore Europe in Aberdeen (Sept 8-11) and Drinktec in Munich (Sept 14-19).

Aberdeen is a major exhibition for the oil and gas exploration and offshore-well operation industries, attracting exhibitors and visitors from around the world.
ACI’s principal exhibits were our ATEX fans for hazardous areas. They attracted a lot of interest, a lot from new potential customers, whilst generating important sales leads to follow up.

Drinktec again proved to be a very worthwhile venture, enabling us once more to exhibit our bottle and can drying systems to a worldwide market. Drinktec attracts all the big names from both the alcoholic and soft drinks industries. This exhibition also resulted in some very significant enquiries, again from known and potential new customers.