GEA Decontamination Blow Fill System DBF

The GEA DBF system make the advantages of preform decontamination and blow-fill integrated technology available to a wide range of sensitive beverages, with options for shelf stable to ESL based on the distribution chain.

The concept

Sterilizing the preform, rather than the bottle, offers many advantages such as using less PET and chemicals, resulting in an effective and sustainable architecture design solution. By offering its preform sterilization technology combined with a blowing module, which is not part of the aseptic process, has allowed GEA to further optimize the TCO of the line, thus making the integrated blow-fill technology available to a wide range of sensitive beverages, both high acid – intended for distribution at ambient temperature – and low acid – when transported and sold within the cold chain.

How the GEA DBF system works

A preform heating treatment performed in the oven is optimized by adopting dedicated air flows for independent cooling of the neck from the body: this makes the preforms suitable for high speed capacity production and consistent with the decontamination process that takes place immediately after they leave the oven.

The sterilization treatment is sustainable and completely dry, since it is performed using VHP (Vapor Hydrogen Peroxide) which does not require any water consumption. In order to reduce the critical control points and to make the monitoring of the decontamination effectiveness easier, the treatment is performed in a single process and with a single media for both internal and external surfaces of the preforms.

Bottles are then blown with sterile air using a blowing module which is not part of the aseptic process: this allows the format changeover operations to be carried out quickly and easily, making the DBF system ideal for manufacturers and copackers with a wide product range and high productivity requirements.

The aseptic filling module was also developed to offer extreme SKUs variability, from large volume to single serve containers, as well as the possibility to fill a large variety of sensitive beverages including still or carbonates, clear or viscous beverages, and those with pulp, fibers and pieces of fruit or cereals with dimensions up to 10x10x10 mm.

The VHP-based closure sterilization system handles caps featuring both sport and flat design, as well as the capping module, specifically designed for aseptic applications.

Benefits: 

• Environmental and economic sustainability: the preform decontamination offered by GEA is a completely dry technology requiring reduced usage of sterilization agent and allowing the weight of the bottle to be reduced thus avoiding the risk of shrinkage
• Maximum safety: a Smart Sensor checks the sterilization effectiveness of each preform
• Minimal footprint (thanks to the elimination of air conveyors, bottle sterilization and rinsing turrets) and fewer operators required compared to traditional processes

Performance

The versatile GEA DBF production system can handle sensitive, still or carbonated beverages, with or without particles, delivering different levels of decontamination to preserve the shelf-life of the beverage, with options for shelf stable to extended shelf life (ESL) under refrigerated distribution depending on the product acidity. The decontamination technology on preforms and the wide high-pressure blowing angle design of the blowing molds allow high speed outputs even in case of sterile production of lightweight, complex-shape bottles.