Last September at Drinktec in Germany, Alfa Laval launched two filling machines: an aseptic beer-in-box filler it claims provides a user-friendly alternative to steel kegs, and an ultra-speed aseptic bag-in-box filler, pictured above.
Discussing the latter machine, Alfa Laval Food Solutions business unit manager, Pierluigi Decio, claimed the rotating filler was 4-5 times faster than standard aseptic fillers for beverages and foods.
Six filling heads work concurrently to fill consumer bag-in-boxes (3-20 liters) with a dispenser cap at a speed of 30 10-liter bags/minute.
Swedish firm eyes massive foodservice market
The machine, developed with Sealed Air Corporation and marketed by them, is designed for low-acid applications and complies with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations for North America.
Decio said the new filler’s potential extended beyond RTD beverages to foodservice applications for bag-in-box including juice concentrates, syrups and smoothie bases, coffee creamers, flavored milks and sundaes on the beverage side alone.
“Virtually every beverage or ingredient dispensed from a machine at a cafeteria, fast food and family restaurant or stadium is delivered from a bag or pouch below the counter or in the back of the facility,” Decio added.
Alfa Laval’s other new filler for beer-in-box can fill 25 liter bags and three machines for ultraclean or aseptic filling are offered with 1,000, 4,000 and 6,000 liter/hour capacities.
‘Bright beer’ idea? New centrifuge
Alfa Laval says its centrifuge module is well suited for bright beer styles beloved of craft brewers and will save them money on raw materials.
Juan Jurado, manager of filtration and separation at Alfa Laval said that for every 1,000 tonnes of beer brewed, up to 173 tonnes of waste can result in terms of spent grain, trub from wort production, waste yeast and kieselguhr.
The BREW80 centrifuge module is designed to clarify beer after fermentation or after maturation, where the centrifuge minimizes oxygen pick-up, minimises loss of volatile aromas and CO2 losses.
The skid-mounted module has a capacity of up to 50 hectoliters/hour and Alfa Laval claims that beer losses are very low since yeast and other discharged solids are dry.